---
title: 'Lab Technician at Kunin Technologies'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/lab-technician-kunin-technologies-process-engineering-62k61s3z37ya'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-09'
---

# Lab Technician at Kunin Technologies

- **Company:** Kunin Technologies
- **Location:** Process Engineering
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-02-07
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kunin/600e4fc3-690e-4a14-91a0-691e440b9052

## Job description

Location: On-Site (Chattanooga, TN)

Type: Full-Time

## WHO WE ARE

Kunin Technologies is revolutionizing the critical mineral supply chain by implementing advanced separation technologies to capture value from overlooked resources.

Metals are everywhere - in solar panels, smartphones, electric vehciles - but as ore grades plummet globally, traditional extraction methods are failing. China dominates critical minerals markets by developing superior separation technologies that extract value from materials American mines discard as waste.

Utilizing Kunin Technologies' breakthrough mass manufacturable nano-separation systems, significantly more value can be produced from each resources, reducing waste, and unlocking domestic critical mineral production.

## MISSION FOR YEAR 1

Kunin's R&D team is rapidly iterating on polymer and functionalization chemistry to optimize our ion-exchange media. This experimental throughput depends on reliable, well-documented lab execution.

You will be the hands that turn experimental designs into data - preparing polymer solutions, running chemistry reactions, and generating the samples that drive our technology forward.

By the end of 2026, we expect:

- Consistent execution of polymer and chemistry experiments developed by chemists and engineers.
- Complete , audit-ready lab notebooks documenting all experimental work, observations, and results.
- A well-organized , fully stocked, EHS compliant laboratory environment.
- Reliable sample preparation supporting scale-up trials and analytical testing campaigns.
- Proficiency in operating and maintaining core analyticl sample prep-equipment.

## WHAT YOU’LL LEAD

- Prepare polymer solutions, dopes, and reagent mixtures following established protocols for experiments
- Set up and execute reactions under direction from chemists and engineers
- Prepare samples for analytical testing including DSC/TGA thermal analysis, FTIR spectroscopy, SEM, and ICP-OES.
- Perform basic wet chemistry measurements - titrations, pH, conductivity - and swelling/mass optake studies on polymer samples.
- Maintain detailed lab notebooks with complete documentation of procedures, observations, deviations, and results.
- Manage chemical inventory, coordinate reagent orders, and maintain proper waste segregation and disposal per EHS protocols.
- Keep laboratory organized, clean, and compliant with safety standards including proper handling of organic solvents and PPE requirements.
- Support scale-up trials by preparing bulk sample quantities and assisting with reaction monitoring.

## WHO YOU ARE

- Lab technician with a high school diploma and 1-5 years of hands-on experience in a chemistry, polymer, or materials science laboratory.
- Comfortable with bench chemistry- solution preparation, reaction set-up, filtration, drying, and basic characterization techniques.
- Experience handling organic solvents and hazardous materials with strict adherence to safety protocols and PPE requirements.
- Meticulous documenter who maintains complete, legible lab notebooks and follows SOPs precisely.
- Organized and proactive in maintaing lab cleanliness, chemical inventory, and equipment readiness.
- Team player who takes direction well and supports multiple scientists and engineers simulataneously.

## COMPENSATION

This role will pay $60,000 - $90,000, with benefits.

Company facilities include gym, sauna, and ice batch.

## ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

- Must be willing to relocate to Chattanooga, TN

Chattanooga is more beautiful than expected, and Tennessee has no income tax.

- Ocassional travel to toll manufacturing partners and equipment vendors.
- Flexibility for extended hours during critical project phases.

## About Kunin Technologies

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Kunin Technologies develops modular ion-exchange equipment to recover critical minerals from U.S. mining waste streams, helping mines unlock byproduct metals.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Early-stage, pre-revenue)
- **Headquarters**: Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States
- **Founded**: 2025
- **Founders**: Daniel Rau (CEO)

## Core Business
- Primary industry/industries: Critical mineral extraction, mining technology, industrial process engineering
- Target customers: U.S. mining operations (B2B, Industrial/Enterprise), particularly mines that produce copper, lithium, or other primary metals and want to recover secondary byproducts like gallium, germanium, scandium, rhenium, and vanadium
- Mission or purpose statement: “Bringing mining back to America” by recovering trillions of dollars in stranded critical minerals from existing mining waste

## Products & Services
- **Modular Ion-Exchange Skids**: Pre-assembled, prefabricated treatment trains that use proven ion-exchange resin technology (invented by the company’s namesake, Robert Kunin, during the Manhattan Project) to separate target metals from mining wastewater and tailings streams.
- **Byproduct Financing & Asset Ownership Model**: Kunin helps mine owners finance critical mineral byproduct assets, sharing upside from recovered metals that would otherwise be lost.
- **Multiphysics Digital Twins & Process Controls**: Automated optimization systems that maximize metal capture rates and speed of recovery for each specific mining operation.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (early-stage startup)
- **Key Metric**: Small team of ~2-6 employees (as of mid-2026); active hiring spree with 4 open positions
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Tied into Department of Energy projects; selected by the DOE Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation to restart domestic primary gallium recovery; based at Brickyard in Chattanooga
- **Growth Signals**: Selected for DOE critical minerals program; reports its technology can uplift mine revenue by 10–30% over 10 years; U.S. mining industry facing critical supply shortages due to Chinese export restrictions on gallium, germanium, and other metals — creating massive tailwind for its market

## Competitive Advantages
- **Proven Chemistry, Novel Form Factor**: Uses ion-exchange resin chemistry with decades of in-field operating experience — no new material science required. The innovation is in the modular form factor and automated process controls, which dramatically reduce cost.
- **Vertically Integrated**: Kunin is America’s only vertically integrated ion-exchange technology developer, covering design, manufacturing, deployment, and financing.
- **Strategic Positioning**: Headquarters in Chattanooga strategically near Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory — all hubs for engineering talent.
- **Massive Addressable Market**: Estimates over $3 trillion in stranded critical minerals across U.S. mining waste that are currently not recovered.

## Strategic Focus
- Moving from pilot-scale demonstration to full production and deployment across the United States
- Scaling manufacturing to apply a lithium-ion battery-style learning curve to skidded system costs
- Building automated process controls for optimized metal recovery at existing mine sites
- Helping restore U.S. competitiveness in critical mineral production amid geopolitical supply chain disruptions

## Why Work Here
- **High-Impact Mission**: Directly contribute to U.S. critical mineral independence, domestic manufacturing, and national security — with measurable environmental benefit by recovering metals from existing waste rather than new mining
- **Tiny Team, Huge Ownership**: Currently 2-6 people; new hires (titles include “Damn Good Engineer,” Senior Scientist, Hydrometallurgist, Mechanical Lead) will have outsized influence on technology and company trajectory
- **Engineering-First Culture**: Emphasis on chemical process engineering, mechanical design, and multiphysics simulation — building real hardware that goes into the ground
- **Location**: Chattanooga, Tennessee — lower cost of living with proximity to top engineering universities and DOE national labs
- **EY: Remote/Hybrid/Office**: Likely onsite/hybrid given the hardware and lab focus; careers page does not specify remote options
- **Backed by DOE**: Credibility from federal selection for critical mineral recovery projects
- **Growth Trajectory**: Active hiring spree signals company is scaling from R&D toward deployment — early-stage equity opportunity

## Sources
1. [kunin.tech](https://www.kunin.tech/)
2. [Jobs.ashbyhq.com/kunin](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kunin)
3. [Hypepotamus](https://hypepotamus.com/startup-news/kunin-technologies-critical-minerals-mining-waste/)
4. [LinkedIn - Kunin](https://www.linkedin.com/company/kunin)

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