Chemical or Materials Engineer/Scientist

Exponent Inc. • Seattle, WA

3d • $140,000 - $162,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Exponent is seeking a Chemical Engineer or Materials Engineer/Scientist for its Polymers and Chemistry Practice in Seattle. The role contributes to interdisciplinary consulting projects across industries including construction materials, consumer products, energy, and infrastructure. Work ranges from technical failure analysis in litigation contexts to troubleshooting products during design and development.

The successful candidate will investigate polymeric material performance through inspections, scientific analysis, and testing; diagnose failures; analyze technical data and records; and communicate findings to audiences in engineering, business, law, and industry. Projects may involve laboratory testing and materials characterization, analysis of large datasets, coding and tool development, review of industrial processes, and synthesis of extensive technical records. Collaboration with colleagues across practices and offices is important, and some travel is required. A long-term goal is to develop business by obtaining new projects and clients.

Exponent describes its work environment as collaborative, dynamic, multidisciplinary, and primarily in-person at the office except when traveling for client work or other business. Consultants have flexibility to balance work and personal schedules. Compensation includes a base salary, bi-weekly bonuses for high-intensity efforts, an annual bonus, and a 401(k) employer contribution of 7% of base salary at the Associate and Senior Associate level. The stated base salary range is $140,000–$162,000 per year, depending on experience and capabilities.

Requirements

• Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Chemistry, or a related field.
• Strong theoretical and practical background in macromolecules and associated chemistry and physics.
• Experience with sampling techniques and analysis of data generated by FTIR, DSC, TGA, microscopy, and related techniques.
• Experience designing and validating novel or non-standard testing approaches.
• Proficiency with Python or another programming language and interest in using code to automate, analyze, visualize, or simplify technical work.
• Strong analytical judgment and ability to identify important questions or observations within large amounts of information.
• Curiosity and initiative, including willingness to learn new technical areas and develop new approaches when established methods are insufficient.
• Ability to contribute quickly to unfamiliar projects and enthusiasm for a wide variety of assignments.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including ability to explain complex technical subjects to nontechnical audiences.
• Ability to work effectively within interdisciplinary project teams and a strong desire to contribute.
• Strong educational and publication credentials.

Nice To Haves

• Related industrial experience.
• Experience with manufacturing processes, mechanical characterization, chromatography, and other analytical techniques.
• Industrial experience with chemical process design, management, and optimization.
• Experience managing budgets, projects, and timelines.

Responsibilities

• Conduct inspections, scientific analyses, and testing to address real-world challenges involving polymeric material performance.
• Perform root-cause analyses of failures arising during product development, process design, manufacturing, installation, and end use.
• Analyze technical data from diverse sources and develop efficient, reproducible approaches to extract useful information from large or complex datasets.
• Review and synthesize technical literature, project records, test data, process instrumentation data, and other large bodies of information to identify relevant facts and patterns.
• Convey technical findings and results to broad audiences in engineering, business, law, and industry.
• Work collaboratively across disciplines and take on technical challenges outside the immediate area of expertise.
• Collaborate with Exponent personnel in other practices and offices; some travel is required.
• Develop business by obtaining new projects and bringing new clients to the firm as a long-term goal.

Benefits

• Competitive benefits and compensation and recognition programs.
• Base salary, bi-weekly bonuses for high-intensity efforts, annual bonus, and 401(k) employer contribution of 7% of base salary at the Associate and Senior Associate level.
• Programs and resources to support health and well-being.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree