Senior R&D Scientist

AeroShield Materials • Waltham, MA

1d • Onsite

About The Position

AeroShield is seeking a Senior R&D Scientist to join their collaborative team of 25+ people focused on delivering innovative new materials for sustainability. The company is developing super-insulating, transparent inserts for windows based on aerogels to improve thermal comfort and energy efficiency in buildings. This role offers autonomy within a dynamic small startup environment, with opportunities for learning and close collaboration. The Senior Scientist will lead efforts in material and process formulation, support manufacturing scale-up, and modify material properties to enhance performance. Responsibilities include conducting lab-scale trials, developing test methods for quantitative decision-making, and informing process controls for commercial production. The ideal candidate will have a background in chemistry, materials science & engineering, and structure-function relationships, with a hands-on approach to working with aerogel materials. This role is crucial in optimizing the material, creating scalable and economic production, and developing a safe and sustainable product. The Senior Scientist must be highly organized, experienced with lean project management, and skilled in prioritization, evaluating material and process changes for long-term benefits. They will develop efficient experimental designs, provide guidance on evaluation tools, and embody AeroShield’s values. A commitment to safety and data integrity is essential, thriving in a startup environment with shifting priorities where their work advances new technologies to market.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a tech-related field
• Ability to pay close attention to detail, focusing on accuracy and quality
• Strong interpersonal skills including the ability to listen, distill information, consult, and suggest new approaches
• Experimental design
• Wet chemistry techniques
• Material characterization
• Data management
• Data interpretation and presentation
• Experience with transition from lab bench to pilot scale industrial processes
• Experience in providing R&D support to industrial manufacturing operations
• Chemical inventory management
• Chemical waste management
• Time management
• Microsoft Office
• Quick learner and creativity: Ability to learn quickly by leveraging all possible resources
• Highly detail-oriented and organized
• Works well in teams
• Ability to train and lead others
• High emotional intelligence
• Takes initiative
• Strategic thinking
• Ability to receive constructive feedback
• Passion for AeroShield values

Nice To Haves

• Organosilane chemistry
• Analytical instrumentation (FTIR, GCMS, UV-Vis, etc.)

Responsibilities

• Design and execute experimental plans to tune properties of our aerogel materials
• Design and execute experimental plans to support pilot scale manufacturing process optimization and troubleshooting
• Identify new technologies or raw materials to explore, design and execute experimental plans to evaluate their performance
• Develop from scratch or refine existing test methods to enable meaningful quantification of material properties and performance, ultimately shaping the incoming, in-process, and release testing criteria used on the production floor
• Develop new test methods or engage with third party labs to execute testing to support pilot scale troubleshooting
• Take the lead on patent filings produced by Advanced Research team projects
• Mentor other members of the team, particularly in laboratory and documentation best practices
• Support development of processes and systems that will help a manufacturing R&D team run smoothly

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior