Chemical Engineer/Materials Scientist

About us
Recupere Metals has developed a new wire-forming technology that produces high-conductivity copper wire without the need for 99.95% pure copper raw materials. Our process uses scrap copper and eliminates conventional smelting and refining steps. By removing these costly and highly polluting steps, we aim to reduce the cost of copper-wire production while putting copper scrap currently unsuitable for electrical use to work. Our technology supports fully circular copper-wire production for the energy transition. We have raised over EUR 5m in our first round of funding from leading investors and secured strong interest from large commercial offtakers. We’re now building our core team as we move towards industrial deployment.

About the role
We’re looking for a Chemical Engineer or Materials Scientist with a PhD and strong metallurgy experience to advance the science behind our recycled copper wires. You will investigate how chemical composition and processing affect microstructure, electrical conductivity, mechanical properties and surface quality, and turn that understanding into practical improvements. Working closely with our R&D, laboratory, production and data-science teams, you will own scientific investigations from hypothesis and experimental design through analysis, validation and process recommendations. This is a hands-on role for someone who can combine rigorous research with the pace and practical constraints of an industrial startup. Your responsibilities Copper metallurgy and feedstock development
• Assess how impurities and their interactions affect conductivity, ductility, grain-boundary behaviour and processing of recycled copper.
• Develop and evaluate feedstock blends and trial compositions, balancing material performance, scrap availability and cost.
• Use literature, thermodynamic reasoning and experimental evidence to identify promising compositions and flag metallurgical risks. Process development and defect investigation
• Design and help execute trials across casting, deformation and annealing, alongside the laboratory and production teams.
• Investigate recovery, recrystallisation, grain growth, segregation and oxidation to recommend processing and heat-treatment conditions.
• Identify the causes of cracking, wire breakage and surface defects, and validate improvements that support downstream applications such as enameling. Characterisation and experimental analysis
• Define characterisation plans and interpret chemical analysis, microscopy, EBSD, tensile testing and conductivity measurements.
• Connect microstructure and texture to measured properties, distinguishing composition effects from processing history and measurement uncertainty.
• Build reproducible datasets and test plans, including suitable reference samples and repeat measurements, to validate scientific hypotheses. Materials modelling and scientific collaboration
• Develop and validate physics-informed and empirical models linking composition and processing to electrical and mechanical properties.
• Collaborate with our data-science team to translate metallurgical mechanisms into useful predictors and feedstock optimisation constraints.
• Evaluate thermodynamic and kinetic modelling approaches where they can guide experiments and process decisions.
• Document methods, results and recommendations clearly, share progress, risks and next steps, and support knowledge transfer within the team. Ideal background
• PhD in Materials Science, Metallurgy, Chemical Engineering or a closely related field, with substantial research on metallic materials.
• Relevant experience beyond the PhD in industrial R&D, applied research or process development, with evidence of independently delivering complex technical projects.
• Strong grounding in physical metallurgy, including phase transformations, impurity effects, deformation and heat treatment. Experience with copper, copper alloys or recycled non-ferrous metals is particularly valuable.
• Practical experience designing experiments, interpreting materials characterisation and connecting findings to manufacturing decisions.
• Ability to analyse data and build or adapt scientific models using Python, MATLAB or equivalent tools.
• Experience with EBSD and texture analysis, CALPHAD tools such as Thermo-Calc, or diffusion and kinetic modelling is a strong plus.
• Sound scientific judgement: able to challenge assumptions, recognise the limits of a model and propose the next experiment that will resolve an uncertainty.
• Comfortable taking ownership, working across disciplines and balancing scientific depth with delivery deadlines.
• Clear written and verbal communication, fluent English and an interest in industrial technology, electrification and the circular economy. French is a strong plus.

What we offer
You will help shape the scientific foundations of an industrial deep-tech company and see your work translated into copper wires tested by major industrial customers.
• CDI contract with competitive compensation.
• 50% health-insurance coverage.
• A role based around our Nanterre laboratory, with flexibility for analysis and modelling work where compatible with experimental needs.
• Ownership of meaningful R&D projects and scope to grow into broader technical leadership as the company develops. We believe deep tech needs deep diversity. If you have the core scientific background and are excited by our mission, we want to hear from you even if you don’t meet every additional criterion. Recupere Metals is an equal opportunity employer.