Reliability Engineer

Periodic Labs • Menlo Park, CA

95d

About The Position

Join a world-class team of scientists and engineers pushing the boundaries of materials research in a groundbreaking lab where AI and automation unlock discoveries at unprecedented speed and scale. The Periodic Labs team is developing AI that can both simulate science as well as verify its predictions to train on the full scientific method. As part of this mission, the team is building a high throughput experimental materials science lab. For this facility, we are seeking a hands-on Reliability Engineer to drive uptime and throughput across our experimental platforms. You’ll lead maintenance operations, plan and manage the associated machine shop buildout, and design and integrate custom labware and fixtures to improve experimental efficiency and repeatability.

Requirements

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in an engineering field.
• 5+ years experience in reliability, mechanical, or systems engineering, especially related to supporting materials science/solid-state chemistry and/or thin-film processing research equipment.
• Familiarity with precision machining, mechatronics, or custom part design.
• Experience with CAD (SolidWorks/Fusion), shop tooling, and rapid prototyping.
• Strong knowledge of preventive maintenance systems.
• Comfortable collaborating across engineering, automation, and scientific teams.
• Certification and preferably contribution to accredited standards or bodies relevant to your field - e.g. SMRP, IEEE Reliability Society, relevant ASTMs.

Nice To Haves

• We’d love to hear about your accomplishments in globally recognized competitions relevant to your field (e.g. NASA Lunabotics, ASME’s competitions, etc.)

Responsibilities

• Establish preventive and predictive maintenance programs for lab and automation systems and associated CMMS.
• Lead root cause analysis and develop corrective actions for system failures or bottlenecks.
• Build and manage a machine shop for fabricating custom components.
• Design, prototype, and test custom labware tailored to automated experimental workflows.
• Collaborate with automation, controls, and scientific teams to integrate fixtures into processes.
• Track and improve equipment uptime, MTBF, and OEE.
• Build and train a world-class maintenance team of technicians to support the above systems.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree