Staff Chemist – Focused Ion Beam–Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB-SEM)

MRI Global • Charlottesville, VA

9d • Onsite

About The Position

MRIGlobal is seeking a Staff Chemist to join the Integrated Defense Solutions Business Unit in Charlottesville, Virginia. The position supports chemical forensics and analytical research using elemental analysis, chromatography, and mass spectrometry. The successful candidate will bring strong technical expertise, sound scientific judgment, and the ability to work effectively within a collaborative laboratory team.

The Staff Chemist will support and lead research and development laboratory activities while ensuring compliance with applicable federal program requirements, quality assurance practices, safety requirements, and standard operating procedures. The role requires an understanding of spectroscopy and chromatography theory, practical experience operating analytical instrumentation, and the ability to apply scientific judgment to solve complex problems and meet client expectations. The candidate must be able to obtain and maintain a government security clearance, and U.S. citizenship is required.

Requirements

• Ph.D. in Chemistry or a related field; or an M.S. in Chemistry or a related field with at least 3 years of related experience; or a B.S. in Chemistry or a related field with 6–8 years of related experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Strong organizational skills, problem-solving ability, and adaptability to changing priorities.
• Ability to maintain complete, legible, and logically organized laboratory records and documentation.
• PC skills in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Project, and Outlook, and the ability to learn new software and systems.
• U.S. citizenship and eligibility to obtain a Department of Defense clearance.
• Strong technical expertise, scientific judgment, and ability to work effectively in a collaborative laboratory team.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with Focused Ion Beam–Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB-SEM).
• Prior experience with GC-MS and LC-MS instrumentation, including high-resolution mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry.
• Experience maintaining laboratory compliance with applicable safety and security requirements.
• Prior experience leading laboratory activities, technical projects, or scientific teams.
• Experience reviewing laboratory records for completeness, accuracy, and compliance with applicable procedures.

Responsibilities

• Direct or perform standards preparation, sample preparation, and sample analysis tasks.
• Operate, maintain, and troubleshoot a variety of analytical instrumentation.
• Develop and validate analytical methods.
• Prepare standard operating procedures (SOPs).
• Perform technical reviews of analytical data and reports.
• Write or contribute to technical proposals, reports, and papers for publication, presenting clear results and concise, well-supported conclusions.
• Communicate with clients to provide updates and summarize testing results.
• Support and lead research and development laboratory activities while maintaining compliance with applicable federal program, quality assurance, safety, and standard operating procedure requirements.

What This Job Offers

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