Battery Materials QC Technician

Graphenix Development•Rochester, NY

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Graphenix Development Inc. (GDI) is seeking a Battery Materials QA/QC Technician to support internal quality assurance, incoming materials inspection, and process improvement activities within a battery research and development laboratory setting. This position will be responsible for inspecting and evaluating incoming anode materials, collecting and analyzing quality data, assigning numerical quality grades, and communicating results to battery engineers and scientists. The successful candidate will operate specialized scanning and inspection equipment with proprietary/internal software to evaluate incoming electrode materials against established quality specifications and criteria. The role will combine hands-on laboratory work with data analysis, root cause investigation, quality trending, and process improvement. This is an excellent opportunity for an early-career scientist or technician interested in developing expertise at the intersection of battery materials, quality control, data analysis, and manufacturing process development.

Requirements

Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Materials Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Battery Technology, or a related technical field; equivalent technical experience may be considered.
0–5 years of experience in laboratory testing, quality control, materials characterization, manufacturing, or a related technical environment.
Strong attention to detail and ability to consistently identify differences and abnormalities in material or inspection data.
Comfortable working with computer-based inspection and analysis systems.
Strong quantitative and analytical skills.
Ability to accurately collect, organize, analyze, and document data.
Proficiency with Microsoft Excel or similar data-analysis tools.
Ability to follow standardized procedures while recognizing when results fall outside expected conditions.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
Ability to work collaboratively with engineers, scientists, and laboratory personnel.
Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States and have reliable transportation.

Nice To Haves

Experience with battery materials, electrodes, lithium-ion batteries, or battery manufacturing.
Experience inspecting or characterizing anode or cathode materials.
Experience operating scanning, imaging, microscopy, or other inspection equipment.
Experience working with specialized laboratories.
Experience with statistical analysis, data visualization, SPC, or quality trending.
Familiarity with root cause analysis methodologies such as 5 Whys, fishbone/Ishikawa analysis, or similar structured problem-solving approaches.
Experience working with material specifications, Certificates of Analysis, and lot-level traceability.
Experience with laboratory information management systems (LIMS) or quality-management systems.
Familiarity with DOE and experimental data analysis.
Experience working in a battery R&D or manufacturing environment.

Responsibilities

Receive, identify, sample, and inspect incoming anode materials according to established procedures and specifications.
Operate specialized scanning and imaging equipment to inspect incoming electrode materials for defects, variation, and other quality characteristics.
Utilize internal software and analytical tools to process inspection data and evaluate material quality.
Analyze scanned material data and assign numerical quality grades based on established quality criteria.
Identify material defects, abnormalities, dimensional variation, surface characteristics, and other indicators of potential quality issues.
Compare incoming material quality against specifications, historical data, and established acceptance criteria.
Maintain accurate and complete records of incoming material inspections and quality grades.
Identify and document out-of-specification or unusual material conditions.
Maintain full traceability of material lots, samples, inspection results, and quality grades.
Analyze inspection and quality-control data to identify trends, patterns, variation, and potential sources of material or process instability.
Develop and maintain spreadsheets, databases, reports, prepare presentations, and other tools used to track material quality.
Monitor quality metrics and communicate changes or trends to engineering and R&D personnel.
Compare material quality across suppliers, lots, batches, and processing conditions.
Support development of statistical methods and quantitative approaches for evaluating material quality.
Help establish and refine quality thresholds and acceptance criteria using historical and experimental data.
Identify correlations between incoming material characteristics and downstream electrode-processing or cell-performance results.
Participate in investigations of material-quality issues, defects, and unexpected process results.
Perform structured root cause analysis using inspection data, historical trends, process information, and laboratory observations.
Work with engineers and scientists to identify potential relationships between incoming material quality and downstream process performance.
Support investigation and documentation of nonconformances and out-of-specification results.
Help evaluate corrective and preventive actions designed to reduce defects and improve material consistency.
Track the effectiveness of corrective actions through subsequent inspection and quality data.
Provide engineers and scientists with timely feedback regarding incoming material quality and observed trends.
Communicate material-quality findings that may impact electrode processing, yield, or battery performance.
Work collaboratively with engineering teams to identify opportunities for process improvement and yield enhancement.
Support development of experiments and data-collection plans designed to investigate quality issues.
Assist engineers in correlating material inspection results with downstream process and performance data.
Provide quantitative feedback that can be used to optimize material specifications, processing parameters, and quality-control criteria.
Contribute to continuous-improvement initiatives focused on reducing defects, minimizing material variation, and increasing overall process yield.
Follow established SOPs, work instructions, safety procedures, and quality-control protocols.
Maintain inspection equipment and perform routine checks to ensure equipment is operating properly.
Assist with calibration and verification of inspection and measurement equipment.
Prepare and maintain material samples for additional laboratory characterization when required.
Work closely with battery scientists, engineers, technicians, and other laboratory personnel.
Assist with other battery-materials testing and laboratory activities as needed.