Senior Metallurgist – Alloy Design & Advanced Manufacturing

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory•Laurel, MD

11d•Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking a Senior Metallurgist – Alloy Design & Advanced Manufacturing to lead the design, processing, and characterization of novel metals. This role will combine computational thermodynamics, experimental alloy development, and advanced manufacturing to develop materials tailored to specific performance and manufacturing requirements. You will work across the full materials development cycle: from defining alloy compositions and processing windows through manufacturing, heat treatment, characterization, and performance evaluation.

Requirements

Have an MS in Materials Science & Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related discipline.
3+ years of relevant experience in physical metallurgy, alloy development, or advanced manufacturing.
Have demonstrated experience in alloy design, processing, heat treatment, and processing–structure–property relationships in metallic materials.
Have experience using Thermo-Calc, CALPHAD, or related computational materials tools to guide alloy or process development.
Have hands-on experience with metallurgical processing and characterization, including relevant microscopy, diffraction, and mechanical testing techniques.
Are able to independently define technical approaches, interpret experimental results, and work effectively within multidisciplinary research teams.
Hold an active Secret security clearance. If selected, you will be subject to a government security clearance investigation and must meet the requirements for access to classified information. Eligibility requirements include U.S. citizenship.

Nice To Haves

Have a PhD in Materials Science & Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related discipline with research focused on alloy design, physical metallurgy, or advanced manufacturing.
Have significant experience developing alloys specifically for additive manufacturing or other advanced manufacturing processes.
Have experience designing, processing, and characterizing refractory alloys or other high-temperature metallic systems.
Have experience with compositionally or functionally graded materials, including gradient alloy design and characterization of composition–microstructure–property relationships.
Have demonstrated experience taking a material from initial alloy concept through processing, characterization, testing, and manufacturing demonstration.

Responsibilities

Develop processing strategies for conventional and additive manufacturing
Develop processing plans that connect alloy composition, solidification, thermomechanical processing, and heat treatment to desired microstructures and properties.
Design and evaluate alloys for additive manufacturing, accounting for rapid solidification, thermal cycling, segregation, defect formation, and process-specific constraints.
Establish processing windows and heat-treatment strategies that enable reproducible material performance and translation from laboratory-scale alloy development toward manufacturing.
Use computational thermodynamics and materials modeling tools such as Thermo-Calc/CALPHAD to explore composition space, predict phase stability and transformations, and guide experimental alloy development.
Design alloys around application-specific combinations of mechanical performance, environmental resistance, temperature capability, manufacturability, and material availability.
Plan and execute experimental campaigns to validate computational predictions and iteratively refine alloy compositions and processing conditions.
Develop characterization strategies using techniques such as SEM/EDS, EBSD, XRD, optical microscopy, and mechanical testing to understand alloy behavior.
Connect composition and processing history to phase evolution, microstructure, defects, and resulting material performance.
Use experimental results to identify mechanisms, refine alloy and process designs, and guide subsequent material development.