Materials Science Manager - Inorganic Materials

Helion Energy • Everett, WA

95d • $165,000 - $190,000

About The Position

You will lead the Inorganic Materials Science team, bringing together expertise in new materials design, analytical engineering, prototyping, and scale-up. In this role, you will guide the development of advanced inorganic materials for extreme environments, aligning cross-disciplinary efforts to deliver reliable, high-performance solutions that support Helion’s mission. You will report to the Director of the Materials Science team in this onsite role located at our Everett, WA office.

Requirements

• Experience developing new inorganic and hybrid materials from ideation to launch.
• Experience or deep knowledge of high purity monocrystalline and polycrystalline ceramics processes including sintering, CVD, slip casting, sol-gel, hydrothermal, and injection molding. Experience with SiC is preferred.
• Hands-on experience in analytical equipment to characterize ceramics properties including structural, mechanical, thermal and electrical properties (e.g., XRD, SEM, TEM, TGA/DSC, ICP-MS).
• Ability to organize the team to execute with urgency, and favor learning through rapid prototyping.
• Experience managing a materials science team that delivered a high-impact final product, expanding a talent-dense team via a hiring process, and owning the schedule for a critical path facet of a milestone project.
• Successful and autonomous mentorship of employees of a wide range of expertise, experience, and backgrounds, demonstrated via several performance review cycles and successful coaching of direct reports.
• Fluent in some people management systems (e.g., recruiting, timecard management, spend approval, and performance reviews) and applying company policies as described in an employee handbook.

Responsibilities

• Lead, develop, and support subject matter experts driving the development and scale-up of advanced inorganic materials engineered for extreme environments, including elevated temperature and radiation exposure.
• Own and manage the delivery of Helion’s inorganic materials needs such as plasma containment vessels, insulators, and resistors.
• Translate annual goals into objective tasks and manage month-to-month planning towards completing goals and objectives.
• Drive schedule ownership to accelerate the completion of milestones.
• Build and manage a network of collaborative relationships, both internally and externally, to develop new materials that can survive a fusion environment.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, and Vision plans for employees and their families.
• 31 Days of PTO (21 vacation days and 10 sick days).
• 10 Paid holidays, plus company-wide winter break.
• Up to 5% employer 401(k) match.
• Short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance.
• Paid parental leave and support (up to 16 weeks).
• Annual wellness stipend.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Number of Employees: 251-500 employees