Research Scientist, Coating & Materials Scale-Up

Ecellix•Seattle, WA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Ecellix is seeking a hands-on Research Scientist, Materials & Coating Scale-Up to lead development and scale-up of silicon-anode material processing and electrode coating workflows. This role is for someone who can take a promising lab material and turn it into a robust, repeatable process. The right candidate will have strong experience in materials synthesis or post-processing, powder handling, slurry formulation, coating, drying, and process optimization. This is not primarily an electrochemical characterization role. Instead, the focus is on materials process development, coating quality, reproducibility, and scale-up readiness. This person will work closely with battery technicians and other team members, but will personally own the development of scalable materials and coating processes.

Requirements

BS or MS in Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, or a related field
4+ years of hands-on industrial experience in materials process development, coating development, or scale-up in batteries or closely related materials systems
Strong hands-on experience with powders, particulate materials, or slurry-based processes
Experience developing or optimizing coating processes and associated drying workflows
Experience with structured process development, DOE, or other disciplined experimental methods
Demonstrated ability to translate lab-scale methods into reproducible, scalable processes
Strong documentation habits and comfort working in a hands-on lab environment

Nice To Haves

Experience with silicon anodes or other difficult-to-process particulate materials
Experience with high-solids slurries, rheology control, dispersion, or conductive/binder networks
Experience with pilot-scale or production-relevant materials processing or coating tools
Experience with powder characterization and process-relevant analytical methods such as particle sizing, SEM, XRD, BET, TGA/DSC, rheology, density, or porosity measurements
Experience writing SOPs, batch records, and process specifications
Experience mentoring technicians or junior team members in process execution

Responsibilities

Lead development of scalable processing methods for silicon-based anode materials
Own key unit operations such as materials preparation, washing, drying, milling, sieving, blending, and related post-processing steps
Develop slurry formulations suitable for electrode coating, including control of solids loading, dispersion, viscosity, and stability
Develop and optimize coating and drying workflows for consistent electrode quality
Build process-structure-property relationships across powder characteristics, slurry behavior, coated electrode quality, and downstream performance
Design and execute structured experiments to identify critical process variables and define robust operating windows
Scale processes from benchtop methods to pilot-relevant workflows and identify scale-up risks early
Establish SOPs, batch records, specifications, and documentation needed for repeatable execution
Select, qualify, and help commission relevant process equipment and tools
Work cross-functionally with internal staff and external partners to transfer and improve materials and coating processes
Troubleshoot process variability, yield loss, and reproducibility issues in a fast-moving startup environment