Hybrid | Senior Materials Scientist — $60–$100/hour

24-Mag • San Francisco, CA

5d • Hybrid

About The Position

We are sharing a specialised full-time opportunity for senior materials science and engineering professionals with substantial research or industrial R&D experience across advanced materials, characterisation, simulation, and materials development. This role supports advanced research focused on improving how AI systems reason through real-world materials science and engineering work. Selected professionals will review complex technical tasks and outputs, develop authoritative reference solutions and instructions, and translate expert materials judgement into rigorous standards for scientifically sound problem-solving.

Requirements

• PhD in Materials Science, Materials Engineering, or a closely related discipline such as Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Applied Physics, or Metallurgy
• Master's degree may be considered for candidates with exceptional industrial depth
• 4+ years of substantive research or industrial R&D experience in materials science or engineering
• Professional experience within a research university, national laboratory, industrial R&D organisation, or comparable environment
• Genuine specialisation in at least one area such as: Energy storage and battery materials, Semiconductors and electronic materials, Polymers and soft matter, Structural alloys and metallurgy, Characterisation and microscopy, Computational materials and simulation
• Clear progression into senior responsibility, such as Senior Scientist, Staff Scientist, Research Lead, Principal Investigator, or comparable senior industrial R&D role
• Demonstrated ownership of research direction, development programmes, or major technical workstreams
• Peer-reviewed publications, granted patents, or commercially deployed materials programmes are highly valued
• Practical experience using large language models in professional or research workflows
• Strong judgement when distinguishing rigorous scientific reasoning from superficially plausible conclusions
• Excellent written communication and ability to provide precise, structured technical feedback
• Candidates must live in the Bay Area and be available to work on-site with the assigned team multiple days per week when required
• Candidates not currently based in the Bay Area must be willing to relocate there at their own expense before the engagement begins

Nice To Haves

• Relocation assistance is not provided

Responsibilities

• Evaluate materials science and engineering tasks for technical accuracy, completeness, and professional realism
• Review outputs for unsupported structure–property relationships, weak mechanistic reasoning, flawed assumptions, and missing considerations
• Identify conclusions that appear plausible but would not withstand expert technical scrutiny
• Assess whether interpretations are appropriately supported by experimental, computational, or literature evidence
• Apply senior-level judgement across complex materials problems
• Develop and review tasks involving relationships between material structure, composition, processing, and performance
• Evaluate mechanical, thermal, electrical, electrochemical, optical, and related material properties
• Assess whether proposed mechanisms are consistent with observed behaviour
• Identify gaps between experimental evidence and claimed conclusions
• Produce reference solutions grounded in established materials science principles
• Contribute expertise to scenarios involving electrode materials, electrolytes, interfaces, degradation, and performance
• Evaluate material-selection and optimisation decisions
• Assess electrochemical behaviour and structure–property relationships
• Identify unsupported claims around lifetime, stability, safety, or performance
• Apply practical research judgement to battery and energy-storage problems
• Develop and review tasks involving semiconductor materials, thin films, electronic properties, and device-relevant behaviour
• Evaluate processing, characterisation, and materials-selection decisions
• Assess defects, interfaces, transport properties, and structure–function relationships
• Identify inconsistencies between physical mechanisms and proposed interpretations
• Apply relevant materials and applied-physics knowledge
• Review scenarios involving polymers, composites, soft materials, alloys, and metallurgy
• Evaluate processing–microstructure–property relationships
• Assess phase behaviour, deformation, failure, durability, and performance
• Develop technically realistic materials-selection and optimisation tasks
• Apply practical understanding of industrial and research workflows
• Develop and evaluate tasks involving microscopy, spectroscopy, diffraction, and other materials-characterisation methods
• Interpret experimental outputs and determine whether conclusions are supported
• Assess method selection, sample preparation, limitations, and artefacts
• Identify when additional characterisation or validation is required
• Translate practical laboratory judgement into clear evaluation criteria
• Review problems involving computational materials science, modelling, and simulation
• Evaluate assumptions, boundary conditions, numerical approaches, and interpretation of results
• Assess whether computational outputs align with physical expectations
• Develop tasks involving simulation-driven materials analysis or optimisation
• Identify numerical or modelling limitations that materially affect conclusions
• Write detailed task instructions reflecting authentic materials science workflows
• Produce high-quality reference solutions to complex technical problems
• Define what constitutes a complete, scientifically credible, and professionally defensible response
• Translate tacit materials expertise into explicit evaluation criteria
• Develop new tasks based on realistic research and industrial decision-making
• Collaborate with research teams and specialists from adjacent scientific disciplines
• Help maintain consistent standards across materials-related evaluation work
• Identify recurring weaknesses and failure patterns in model outputs
• Refine evaluation criteria based on observed performance
• Contribute domain expertise to new materials-focused research workflows

Benefits

• Client-issued accounts and equipment may be provided for work within designated systems and workflows

What This Job Offers

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