Job Description

Who are we looking for

Thunderstone is looking for a high energy, creative, and dedicated R and D lead to help drive our research direction, experiments, and prototyping. We're looking for someone that genuinely wants to work with us to transform the future for the better. Ideal background: rapid hardware prototyping, understand porous media fluid flow, and experience with high voltage

Our energy and materials transition is dependent on metals we cannot supply. Thunderstone is using underground lightning to revolutionize tomorrow's metal mining - excavationless, environmentally compatible, cheap and scalable. We deploy high voltage into ore bodies underground to improve how fluids can flow, dissolve, and then extract metals without excavation.

Responsibilities

Your role will work closely with our technical CEO and board to drive creative ways to meet our challenging technical goals. We're looking for people that are great at breaking down complicated technical problems and can directly drive and get their hands dirty with rapid prototyping experimental iterations to gain real insight to hit our key milestones. Progress success at this stage takes place over weeks instead of months or years. Key responsibilities listed below

• Able to switch between big picture R&D strategy, down to details of experimental design 
• Able to identify what customers / investors need us to derisk
• Develop and adjust experimental roadmap based on derisking priorities and runway
• Design and implement prototyping and experiments to hit our milestones
• Manage and support the build out of our research team as Thunderstone grows
• Foster collaboration across disciplines and team members
• Rapidly develop and realize IP both directly and indirectly related to our primary focus
• Develop and assess the scalability of our technology
• Continually improve internal processes to increase quality and rate of innovation

Qualifications

We are seeking a trailblazer with a strong scientific and technical foundation, complemented by entrepreneurial drive.

Technical

• Deep intuition around flow through porous + fractured media
• Ideally advanced expertise in underground porous media flow and chemical reactions
• PhD or equivalent experience in geochemistry, metallurgy, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering or related sectors
• Innovative track record: proven history in developing and commercializing advanced technologies.
• Ability to rapidly build technoeconomic justifications to guide experimental direction
• Proficiency in characterizing ores and materials for conductivity, mineralogy, and hydrogeology
• Must be able to get hands dirty in the lab and directly assist builds
• Experience with high voltage prototyping and builds is a big plus.

Attributes / Skills

• Entrepreneurial mindset and an uncompromising drive to make the world a better place
• Strong critical thinking and problem-solving capabilities - particular emphasis on first principles
• Leader and team player: excellent project management skills, ability to lead interdisciplinary teams, and able to lead by example
• T-shaped knowledge - evidence of deep fundamental understanding in at least one field and a wide spread of knowledge across others.
• Effective communicator: outstanding verbal and written skills. Able to translate complex topics clearly and concisely to different audiences.
• Proven capacity to successfully navigate conflict
• High level of self-awareness and awareness of limitations
• High level of intellectual curiosity and variety of interests
• Most important: A genuine interest in being a good person and has a good sense of humor

Benefits

• Competitive salary starting at 150k USD
• Generous starting equity bonus and vesting options (>1%)
• Flexibly paid vacation
• Direct discussion with team to decide best incentive arrangements
• Ultimately: we want all of us to be happy - let's work together to ensure both you and the company can achieve what we need and get to what we want.

Who are we

Thunderstone is an early stage deep tech startup based out of NM / SF Bay Area. We spun out of London-based Deep Science Ventures (venture studio). We're a small team bent on revolutionizing the centuries-old processes in metal mining. Financially backed and supported by Roadrunner and Dangerous VC, Founders Factory and mining major Rio Tinto. Thunderstone.rocks

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