Geo-Chemical Scientist

Job Description

Our mission is to return the atmosphere to 280 ppm CO???. We convert excess inedible biomass into carbon-rich bio-oil and inject it into underground storage for permanent carbon removal. At scale, we can use bio-oil to make fossil-free iron.

Our carbon removal efforts began in 2020 with initial purchases from customers like Stripe, Shopify, and Microsoft. Since then, we've scaled to thousands of tons of carbon removal, grown to over a hundred employees, and established three locations in San Francisco, Colorado, and Louisiana.

We're expanding our team of ambitious, creative, and hands-on problem solvers. We value psychological safety, collaboration, and continuous learning. We take calculated risks and treat mistakes as opportunities to improve. If you're excited about tackling big challenges, we encourage you to explore our company values.

Come help us reverse climate change. Gigatons or bust!

About the Role

We are seeking a Chemist, Geochemist, or Petroleum Chemist to support permanent carbon sequestration via subsurface injection as a member of our Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) team at Charm. This role focuses on understanding how chemically complex, evolving bio-oils and other injectates behave under subsurface conditions and how their interactions with reservoir rocks, brines, and gases affect material injectivity and stability over time.

Bio-oils are distinct from conventional petroleum fluids: they contain oxygenated organics, reactive functional groups, water, etc. and undergo aging, polymerization, and phase evolution over time. This role is central to characterizing and managing those processes in the context of geologic storage. Your ability to leverage chemistry and analytical understanding of fluid behaviors across Charm's portfolio of injectates will directly solve for key business outcomes around injectivity improvements and subsurface uncertainty as we expand our carbon removal impact. Over the long term, these fluid interaction findings and analytical conclusions will serve as a foundation for Charm to employ more advanced subsurface strategies to improve injectivity, such as leveraging first principles from enhanced oil recovery (EOR), fracking fluid development, or related methods.

Your technical recommendations come to life through collaboration with fellow Charmers within Engineering, Operations, Measurement/Reporting/Verification (MRV), and Development organizations. This role will report to the Head of Engineering and Materials Science in Colorado.

Your Responsibilities

• Design and conduct laboratory experiments to study behaviors of pyrolysis-derived bio-oils under reservoir pressures and temperatures
• Deeply understand bio-oil aging mechanisms, including polymerization, condensation, phase separation, viscosity evolution, and solids formation; work with peers or 3rd parties to help characterize and study these mechanisms as needed
• Investigate chemical interactions between bio-oil, formation brines, reservoir minerals, and gases
• Analyze the role of oxygenated compounds, acids, phenolics, and other chemical species on reactivity, corrosion, and mineral interactions
• Evaluate risks to injectivity and operational performance such as plugging, precipitation, emulsions, scale formation, microbial interactions, and material compatibility issues
• Develop and apply geochemical and reactive transport models to predict long-term chemical evolution and storage permanence
• Support field operations by translating lab and modeling insights into fluid specifications, handling guidelines, and injection strategies
• Collaborate with pyrolysis engineers, geologists, and injection engineers to close the loop between biomass conversion and subsurface storage

You Bring

• A safety first approach
• A commitment to rigorous science
• Minimum 5+ years of professional experience + MS in Chemistry, Geochemistry, Petroleum Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a related field
• Strong foundation in organic chemistry and/or geochemistry, including thermodynamics and reaction kinetics
• Experience working with complex organic fluids such as bio-oils, petroleum fractions, heavy oils, or reactive mixtures
• Hands-on laboratory experience and strong analytical skills
• Ability to design & interpret research studies that link theory, experiments, and field data
• Comfort using digital communication and database tools to keep your team, internal Charm partners, and external partners up to date.

Bonus if you Bring

• PhD or advanced research/field experience in EOR, subsurface flow, or related disciplines
• Familiarity with or exposure to EOR concepts, reservoir engineering, or subsurface-focused research (ex. in-house or 3rd party coreflood or injectivity testing)
• Experience with chemicals, surfactants, and non-traditional injected fluids (e.g. polymers, emulsions, or complex fluids)
• Experience with oil & gas topside infrastructure (oil-water separation, blending tanks, filtration, process piping, pumps, etc.)
• Experience with biomass pyrolysis, bio-oil characterization, or upgrading processes
• Familiarity with subsurface or reservoir chemistry (e.g., brines, mineral reactions, high pressure/high temperature systems)
• Experience with geochemical modeling tools Field or pilot-scale experience supporting injection or subsurface projects
• Track record of technical publications, patents, or conference presentations
• Experience collaborating with universities, national labs, or research groups Familiarity with carbon removal practices, Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS), or carbon removal verification concepts

$165,000 - $185,000 a year

What We Offer

• Stock options
• Health benefits (medical, dental, vision)
• Traditional and Roth 401(k) with a 50% match on contributions up to 6%
• Paid time off, including parental leave
• A yearly professional development stipend
• Healthy snacks for onsite employees
• A chance to pivot into a role in climate!

Visa Sponsorship Policy

Since we are a small startup, certain accommodations for visa sponsorship may not be within our capability. At this time, Charm Industrial is only sponsoring E3 and TN visas.

Our Commitment

Charm Industrial is an equal opportunity employer. We hire based on skills, experience, and passion for our mission. Climate challenges require a wide range of perspectives and expertise, and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds. We're excited to grow our team with people who bring unique strengths and help us improve as a company.