Modeling Specialist

Are you ready to move your career forward and help shape our company’s and customers’ futures?

If you aspire to challenge yourself, work with the best in the industry and join a successful team where you can make a meaningful contribution, then we invite you to join us at Ketjen Corporation, a provider of advanced catalyst solutions to leading producers in the petrochemical, refining, and specialty chemicals industries. Together, we can create a legacy marked by innovation, excitement, and energy.

For the Modeling and Application Technology team in Amsterdam we are looking for a:

Modeling Specialist

You will design, develop and maintain models and data solutions that enable our global technical service team to efficiently assess catalyst performance and deliver strong technical proposals. Your models will directly influence catalyst selection, commercial guarantees, and unit optimization studies for refineries and renewable fuel producers worldwide. You will have the opportunity to work on model development across a broad range of hydroprocessing applications in both conventional fossil‑based and renewables applications.

Key focus and responsibilities

• Contribute to and/or lead the development of models for catalyst performance forecasting and unit monitoring, with attention to accuracy, robustness, speed, and user‑friendly interfaces.
• Act as a subject‑matter expert in kinetic modeling and shape definition of modeling standards, validation approaches, and best practices across the organization.
• Support and maintain models and tools used globally, including bug fixing and user support, and provide training when new users, models, or features are introduced.
• Support the development of data infrastructure that makes laboratory and commercial data accessible to users across Technical Service, Sales, Business, and Research & Technology.
• Develop and share knowledge on reaction kinetics, catalyst application, feed characterization, and product properties. Leverage data science techniques to gain valuable insights and convert raw data into actionable insights.
• Stay up to date with relevant scientific literature and modeling tools and apply new insights where appropriate.

Background and experience

• PhD or MSc in Chemical Engineering, Computational Science, or a related field
• 4+ years of relevant (industrial) experience in kinetic and reactor modeling
• Strong knowledge of reactor engineering, kinetics, thermodynamics, and statistics.
• Strong software development skills, with an emphasis on reliability and code quality
• Experience with heterogeneous catalysis and hydroprocessing is a big advantage.
• Experience with Excel/VBA (.net apps), FORTRAN, Python, and SQL databases
• Experience with process simulation tools (such as AspenPlus)
• Proficiency in and analytical skills for data analysis and visualization of large datasets
• Excellent communication skills in English (proficiency in Dutch is preferred).
• Structured problem-solving, curiosity, and pro-active mindset.

Benefits of Joining Ketjen

• Competitive compensation
• Comprehensive benefits package
• A diverse array of resources to support you professionally and personally.

Apply today and help Ketjen unleash the POTENTIAL of advanced chemistry for industries that power the world.