Critical Minerals Technical Advisor, Gov't BD

Job Summary

Battelle is seeking a Critical Minerals Technical Advisor, Government Business Development to help shape and grow our work across the critical minerals and rare earth elements value chain. This is a unique opportunity for an accomplished technical professional to apply their subject-matter expertise in a highly visible, client-facing role focused on government markets, mission needs, and emerging national priorities.

This position is designed for someone who understands the science, engineering, industrial landscape, and strategic importance of critical minerals and who is excited to use that expertise to help government clients solve consequential challenges. The successful candidate may come from a technical, scientific, engineering, programmatic, consulting, or industry background. Demonstrated success supporting federal government growth strategies focused on critical minerals recovery in the role of a technical, program, or growth lead is required.

Working alongside Battelle’s business development leaders, technical experts, program managers, and strategic partners, the selected candidate will help identify and qualify opportunities, engage government stakeholders, shape technical solutions, inform market and account strategies, and translate client needs into actionable pursuits. The individual will serve as a credible bridge between government mission requirements, industry developments, Battelle’s technical capabilities, and the teams responsible for developing and executing new business opportunities.

Responsibilities

Government Client Engagement and Market Development

• Build and maintain trusted relationships with government clients, industry partners, research organizations, and other stakeholders involved in critical minerals, rare earth elements, advanced materials, and supply-chain resilience.
• Lead or take an active role in client meetings, industry events, technical conferences, workshops, and other forums to understand emerging priorities, capability gaps, funding directions, and mission requirements.
• Partner with business development and technical leadership to develop client engagement plans, account strategies, and targeted conversations.
• Serve as a credible technical representative who can communicate complex scientific and engineering concepts in a manner that is clear, relevant, and actionable for government decision-makers.

Opportunity Identification and Pipeline Support

• Monitor government priorities, acquisition activity, research funding, policy developments, and industry trends to identify potential opportunities.
• Work with business development leaders to identify, assess, qualify, and prioritize opportunities that align with Battelle’s critical-minerals strategy and technical capabilities.
• Provide technical perspective during opportunity qualification, including assessment of client need, technical fit, competitive differentiation, potential partners, solution maturity, and execution considerations.
• Help identify teaming partners, technology providers, universities, laboratories, and industry collaborators that strengthen Battelle’s position.

Strategy and Solution Development

• Help develop and refine Battelle’s critical-minerals government market strategy based on client priorities, technical trends, competitive activity, funding direction, and Battelle’s differentiated capabilities.
• Translate government mission challenges into potential technical approaches, research programs, demonstrations, pilots, and scalable solutions.
• Connect client needs with Battelle expertise across science, engineering, applied research, technology development, testing, evaluation, demonstration, and scale-up.
• Contribute to strategic roadmaps, market assessments, account plans, investment recommendations, and opportunity-specific win strategies.
• Bring the voice of the customer into internal planning and help technical teams understand the outcomes, constraints, and decision factors most important to government stakeholders.

Technical Leadership and External Visibility

• Maintain strong awareness of scientific, engineering, commercial, regulatory, and policy developments affecting critical minerals and rare earth elements.
• Provide technical insight across relevant portions of the value chain, which may include resource characterization, extraction, mineral processing, separation, refining, recycling, recovery from secondary sources, process scale-up, and alternative-material technologies.

Key Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in mining engineering, metallurgical engineering, materials science and engineering, chemical engineering, chemistry, geosciences, environmental engineering, or another field relevant to critical minerals, rare earth elements, mineral processing, or advanced materials.
• At least ten years of relevant experience in critical minerals, rare earth elements, mining, mineral processing, metallurgy, extractive technologies, materials recovery, recycling, supply-chain resilience, or a related technical field.
• Successful acquisition and management of a federal award for critical minerals research with a focus on materials or geologic characterization or recovery.
• Active participant in the current dialogue surrounding the establishment of a U.S. critical-minerals value chain, in areas such as extraction, beneficiation, separation, processing, refining, recovery, recycling, or technology scale-up.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex technical concepts effectively to technical and nontechnical audiences, including government clients, business leaders, researchers, program managers, and potential partners.
• Demonstrated ability to connect scientific or engineering capabilities to broader client missions, operational needs, market opportunities, and strategic objectives.
• Strong analytical, written, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate across multidisciplinary teams and manage multiple priorities, relationships, and opportunity-development activities.
• Willingness to travel to client locations, conferences, partner meetings, and Battelle facilities as business needs require; up to 50% travel.
• U.S. citizenship required, with the ability to obtain and maintain a government security clearance if required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree or PhD in a relevant scientific or engineering discipline.
• Broad understanding of the critical-minerals ecosystem, including government priorities, industry participants, technology developers, research institutions, and supply-chain considerations.
• Prior experience engaging the Department of Energy, Department of War, Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, national laboratories, or other government organizations with responsibilities related to critical minerals, energy, materials, national security, or industrial resilience.
• Experience supporting government-funded research, technology development, demonstrations, pilot programs, or commercialization activities.
• Familiarity with government acquisition, research funding, contracting, proposal development, or competitive procurement processes.