Fully aligned with the global challenges of the energy transition, Sweetch Energy is working towards a carbon-neutral world by developing a large-scale electricity generation technology that harnesses osmotic energy—naturally produced when fresh water meets salt water.
Our INOD® technology will enable us to produce clean electricity competitively from a massively available yet still untapped energy source: osmotic energy.
We work closely with major industrial partners such as Compagnie Nationale du Rhône (CNR) and EDF Hydro to deploy these solutions at large scale. The first pilot osmotic power plant, located at the mouth of the Rhône River, aims to demonstrate the potential of this technology under real operating conditions.
Driven by a desire to push the boundaries of renewable energy, our team combines scientific expertise with an industrial vision.
Why join Sweetch Energy?
A meaningful job in a fast-growing sector: you will help avoid millions of tons of CO₂ and contribute to tackling the greatest threat facing humanity.
An opportunity to make a difference every day within a company we are building from the ground up as a responsible economic and social player.
Fun… we are an enthusiastic and ambitious team!
Within the Innovation team, your mission is to turn the material building blocks developed by the Exploration team into robust demonstrators, technically validated and ready to enter the product development phase (moving from TRL 3 to TRL 5).
You will contribute to the critical phase where a material idea becomes a functional, measurable, and reproducible Proof of Concept (PoC), before the handover to Product & Industrialization.
Responsibilities:
Technology maturation (TRL 3 to 5): Take ownership of material concepts (formulation, process) coming from Innovation and transform them into solutions demonstrated under controlled conditions (TRL 5), through rapid and structured iterations. Drive hypotheses, success criteria, and Go/No-Go milestones.
Materials × Stack Innovation interface: Work closely with the Stack Innovation Designer to integrate developing materials into system PoCs combining materials and the INOD® module. Ensure consistency between material performance, stack architecture, and integration constraints, in order to validate technological building blocks under representative operating conditions.
Materials and biopolymers expertise: Select existing materials that meet specifications and develop materials tailored to our needs. Contribute to the development of our bio-based membranes with the Innovation and Product materials teams.
Experimental engineering & validation: Design and lead DoE (Design of Experiments), define key performance metrics (permeability, selectivity, resistance, aging, etc.), and generate reliable and comparable data to validate the launch of industrial development.
Prototyping & equipment: Define, implement, and operate prototyping capabilities for producing our materials (coating, casting roll-to-roll, drying, heat sealing, lamination, etc.), and specify equipment needs for TRL scale-up in partnership with the Process Engineer. In collaboration with the Characterization team, define the analytical methods to be implemented for material characterization, both during innovation phases and production phases.
Innovation × Product interface: Work closely with the materials development team (TRL 5–7) to transfer robust materials ready for industrialization, along with the appropriate documentation (performance, processes, risks, limitations, and recommendations).
Education
Engineer / PhD in polymer chemistry, materials science, or equivalent
Experience
7 to 12 years of experience in the development of materials/membranes/films/coatings
Proven experience in an R&D → PoC → product transfer environment
Technical skills
Ability to turn material concepts into robust, reproducible, and validated PoCs, using a structured approach to technology maturity ramp-up (TRL 4/5).
Strong expertise in polymer materials, biopolymers and/or composites, ideally cellulose-based.
Strong command of Design of Experiments and physico-chemical, microstructural, and functional characterization of materials to link formulation, process, and performance.
Ability to develop material prototypes and integrate them into system PoCs (modules, stacks), taking into account interfaces and usage constraints.
Ability to structure, document, and transfer usable material building blocks to Product and Industrialization teams.
Soft skills
Excellent written and oral communication; strong documentation rigor.
Fluent technical English.
Technical leadership, team spirit, results-driven mindset.