Staff Materials Engineer, Metals

Ōura • San Francisco, CA

15h

About The Position

Our mission at Oura is to empower every person to own their inner potential. Our award-winning products help our global community gain a deeper knowledge of their readiness, activity, and sleep quality by using their Oura Ring and its connected app. We've helped millions of people understand and improve their health by providing daily insights and practical steps to inspire healthy lifestyles.
Empowering the world starts with living our values and empowering our team. As a quickly growing company focused on helping people live healthier and happier lives, we ensure that our team members have what they need to do their best work — both in and out of the office.
The Staff Metals and Alloys Engineer acts as the principal technical expert for metallic material systems and their integration into high-performance hardware, with a critical emphasis on Color, Material, and Finish (CMF). This role drives the strategic selection and development of alloys, surface treatments, and coatings to achieve superior mechanical performance, scratch resistance, reliability, and aesthetic quality for next-generation consumer electronics. The engineer will lead multi-functional efforts to qualify new metallic materials and fabrication processes, ensuring components meet rigorous demands while maintaining quality and reliability.

Requirements

• 10+ years of deep expertise in metallurgy, metals engineering, or surface engineering, specifically focused on alloy development and advanced coatings/finishes for high-volume manufacturing.
• Formal Metallurgist qualification or degree in Metallurgical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field; Masters or PhD preferred, but not required.
• Proven track record of shipping complex metallic components in the consumer electronics, medical, aerospace, or automotive industries.
• Expertise in the metallurgy of Titanium
• Demonstrated ability to translate fundamental materials science into scalable engineering solutions for mass production

Nice To Haves

• Masters or PhD preferred, but not required.

Responsibilities

• Acts as the principal technical expert for metallic material systems and their integration into high-performance hardware, with a critical emphasis on Color, Material, and Finish (CMF).
• Drives the strategic selection and development of alloys, surface treatments, and coatings to achieve superior mechanical performance, scratch resistance, reliability, and aesthetic quality for next-generation consumer electronics.
• Leads multi-functional efforts to qualify new metallic materials and fabrication processes, ensuring components meet rigorous demands while maintaining quality and reliability.
• Lead the development and characterization of high-performance alloys (e.g., Titanium, Steel and non-ferrous alloys) for critical wearable device components and outer housings.
• Apply deep knowledge of phase diagrams and kinetics to optimize heat treatment cycles, ensuring desired microstructural phases and mechanical properties.
• Implement advanced strengthening strategies such as precipitation hardening, work hardening, and grain refinement to enhance component durability.
• Partner with manufacturing teams to refine metal forming processes including MIM, 3D printing, forging, extrusion, and precision casting for high-volume production.
• Design and validate thermal processing routes to manage residual stresses, improve dimensional stability, and optimize grain structure.
• Collaborate on the interaction between bulk metal properties and secondary surface treatments to ensure robust adhesion and finish quality.
• Lead the development, characterization, and qualification of advanced thin film coatings and surface treatments, including PVD, CVD, Platings, and Anodizing, to optimize CMF and wear resistance on Titanium components.
• Drive innovation in coatings and finishes to achieve superior scratch resistance and reliability under long-term user wear.
• Collaborate with design and manufacturing teams to develop optically clear, scratch resistant coatings for metallic surfaces.
• Utilize advanced metallographic techniques (SEM, EBSD, XRD) to characterize grain size, phase distribution, and crystalline orientation.
• Perform deep-dive root cause investigations of metallic failures, including fatigue, stress corrosion cracking (SCC), and brittle fracture.
• Establish comprehensive testing protocols for tensile, hardness, and toughness evaluation to correlate microstructure with real-world performance.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and equity packages
• Health, dental, vision insurance, and mental health resources
• An Oura Ring of your own plus employee discounts for friends & family
• 20 days of paid time off plus 13 paid holidays plus 8 days of flexible wellness time off
• Paid sick leave and parental leave

What This Job Offers

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