A public-interest organisation in Belgium operates within the nuclear sector and is developing a process to recover valuable radioisotopes from waste streams for use in nuclear medicine, research, and industry. This process analyst role combines laboratory-scale process development and validation with chemical, physical, radiological, and radiochemical analysis, producing results that process and project engineers can use to advance the project.
The mission
The laboratory work is part of a new initiative to make valuable radioisotopes available again for medical, research, and industrial applications. The process team relies on well-designed tests, chemical and physical analyses, radiological measurements, and documented validation to assess new or modified techniques. The results support safer, more sustainable use of scarce raw materials and provide the evidence needed for process decisions in the Belgian nuclear sector.
As a medior process analyst, you will determine how process steps should be tested and validated at laboratory scale. You will work with process and project engineers to analyse samples, develop validation methodologies, interpret data, and formulate conclusions and advice. Your work connects day-to-day laboratory execution with the implementation of new analytical techniques and the expansion of the laboratory's analysis package.
Your responsibilities
- Define testing and validation approaches for new or modified process techniques, giving engineering teams a sound basis for process development decisions.
- Develop validation methodologies through scientific literature review and consultation with colleagues, then document recommendations for process and project engineers.
- Perform chemical and physical analyses for process validation, alongside physicochemical, chromatographic, and radiological analyses and activity measurements on project samples.
- Test and assess process steps at laboratory scale, using analytical results to determine whether techniques meet project requirements.
- Consolidate, register, and report measurement data, drawing clear conclusions that support project and process decisions.
- Implement new analyses and techniques, follow relevant developments, and prepare advice reports that expand the laboratory's analytical capabilities.
Your profile
Essential skills
- Translate process and project questions into practical test plans and validation methods, with the autonomy and judgement expected at medior level.
- Carry out chemical and physical analyses and interpret results in the context of process development.
- Apply knowledge of radiochemical analysis and separation techniques, including chromatographic methods and activity measurements.
- Work safely and accurately within procedures involving remote handling and radiological analysis.
- Process, register, assess, and report analytical data in a complete and traceable manner.
- Conduct literature review and other research to identify suitable analytical approaches and validation methods.
- Identify relevant innovations and contribute to their implementation in the laboratory.
- Communicate conclusions and technical advice clearly to process engineers, project engineers, colleagues, and management.