Scaling up chemistry and biology from the lab to giant plants that make fuels, medicines, plastics, paper, food and clean energy.
Top pay: highest pay, longest training
Chemical Engineer: Uses chemistry, physics and math to design the processes that make fuels, medicines, plastics, food and chemicals at huge scale. Typical pay $122k.
Refinery Process Engineer: Keeps one section of an oil refinery or chemical plant running safely and squeezes more product out of it. Typical pay $130k.
Catalysis Research Engineer: Invents catalysts, the special materials that speed up chemical reactions for cleaner fuels, plastics and fertilizer. Typical pay $130k.
Carbon Capture Engineer: Designs plants that pull carbon dioxide out of smokestacks or straight from the air and lock it away underground. Typical pay $120k.
Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Engineer: Develops machines that make hydrogen from water or turn hydrogen into electricity with only water as exhaust. Typical pay $110k.
Advanced Process Control Engineer: Builds smart control software that runs chemical plants and refineries more efficiently than human operators can. Typical pay $135k.
Electrochemical Engineer: Designs processes that use electricity to make chemicals, metals, batteries and green hydrogen. Typical pay $125k.
Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship
Process Engineer: Improves the step-by-step process a plant uses to make a product, making it faster, cheaper and safer. Typical pay $95k.
Bioprocess Engineer: Scales up living cells, yeast and bacteria to make medicines, vaccines and new foods. Typical pay $105k.
Pulp & Paper Engineer: Runs the process that turns trees into paper, cardboard and tissue at giant mills. Typical pay $100k.
Coatings & Paint Formulation Engineer: Develops paints and coatings that protect cars, bridges, ships and phones from rust, scratches and sun. Typical pay $95k.
Plastics Process Engineer: Sets up the machines that melt and mold plastic into everything from bottle caps to car bumpers. Typical pay $90k.
Consumer Products Formulation Engineer: Creates the recipes for shampoo, toothpaste, detergent and lotion and figures out how to make them by the ton. Typical pay $95k.
Chemical Plant Operator: Runs the control panels and equipment of a chemical plant or refinery, usually in 12-hour shifts. Typical pay $82k.
Chemical Technician: Runs lab tests and experiments that help chemists and chemical engineers develop and check products. Typical pay $58k.
Pilot Plant Technician: Runs a mini-factory where new chemical processes are tested before being built full-size. Typical pay $58k.
Rubber Compounding Engineer: Creates the rubber recipes for tires, seals, shoe soles and hoses. Typical pay $92k.
Chemical Recycling Engineer: Designs plants that break old plastic back down into raw chemicals so it can be made into new plastic. Typical pay $105k.
Gamma Scan (Column Scanning) Technician: Uses a small radioactive source to "x-ray" giant refinery towers while they run, finding broken trays and blockages inside. Typical pay $72k.
Lubricant Formulation Chemist: Designs the motor oils, greases and gear oils that keep engines, wind turbines and EVs from grinding themselves apart. Typical pay $95k.
Catalyst Handling Technician: Loads and removes the tons of pellet catalyst inside refinery reactors, sometimes working inside them in a sealed air-supplied suit. Typical pay $60k.
Refinery Turnaround Planner: Plans the giant shutdowns where thousands of workers overhaul a refinery in a few weeks, scheduled down to the hour. Typical pay $105k.
Starter: fastest way in
Quality Control Lab Analyst: Tests raw materials and finished products to prove they meet specs before they ship. Typical pay $50k.
Chemical Equipment Operator: Operates mixers, reactors and dryers that make chemicals following exact recipes. Typical pay $52k.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.