Director/ Senior Director, Product, Materials Chemistry

Lila Sciences; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 168,000 - 272,000; Full time

Job summary

Lila Sciences in Cambridge, MA is seeking a Director/Senior Director of Product for Materials Chemistry to shape the vision and execution of platforms accelerating materials discovery and development. You will lead strategy across organic and polymer chemistry, simulation, lab automation, data, and ML.

You will translate chemistry capabilities into commercial programs, define target product profiles, and own end‑to‑end commercial outcomes.

Qualifications

• MS, PhD or equivalent experience in synthetic organic or polymer chemistry with bench fluency in retrosynthesis and characterization.
• Track record translating organic/polymer chemistry to commercial materials products.
• 7+ years of product leadership creating and launching complex technical products.
• Deep understanding of chemistry and materials R&D workflows and scale‑up constraints.
• Strong executive communication with technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Highly collaborative leadership across research, engineering, operations and commercial teams.

Responsibilities

• Set the long‑term product vision, roadmap, and portfolio priorities for materials chemistry platforms.
• Translate capability into commercial programs with defined target product profiles.
• Drive product execution from concept to launch across chemistry, simulation, automation, data, and ML.
• Represent product to executives, leaders, partners and customers as the domain voice.
• Own commercial outcomes end‑to‑end: shaping opportunities, proposals, and deal closure.
• Define success metrics and report progress clearly to leadership.

Skills

Product leadership

Executive communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Chemistry knowledge

Education

MS/PhD in chemistry

Job description

Director/ Senior Director, Product, Materials Chemistry

Cambridge, MA USA

Lila Sciences is hiring a Director/ Senior Director, Product, Materials Chemistry: a strategic, cross‑functional product leader who shapes the vision, roadmap, and execution for platforms that accelerate the discovery and development of new materials. Reporting to the Head of Physical Science Product, you will lead product strategy and delivery across capabilities at the intersection of synthetic and materials chemistry, simulation and physics‑based modeling, lab automation, data and ML, and scientific intelligence.

This role requires strong leadership, crisp prioritization, and the ability to translate complex chemistry into clear product direction and measurable outcomes for internal teams, partners, and customers. You will be deeply customer‑facing, serving as a trusted technical and product voice with prospects and partners, shaping proposals, driving commercial conversations, and closing deals that bring Lila’s materials chemistry platform to market. We are hiring a product‑focused chemist who speaks the language of organic synthesis and/or polymer chemistry, not a medicinal chemist whose pull‑through is therapeutic small molecules.

What You’ll Be Building

• Set the long‑term product vision, roadmap, and portfolio priorities for Lila’s materials‑chemistry portfolio, spanning organic and soft‑materials programs: homogeneous catalysis and ligands, surfactants and formulations, organic semiconductors, monomer and polymer design, membranes, and coatings.
• Translate frontier organic and polymer chemistry capability into commercial materials programs, defining target product profiles (TPPs) across synthesis, formulation, characterization, and scale‑up for partners in CPG, specialty chemicals, electronics, textiles, and industrial coatings.
• Drive product execution from concept to launch across chemistry, simulation, automation, data engineering, and ML.
• Represent product to executives, scientific leaders, partners, and customers as the senior external voice for the domain.
• Own commercial outcomes end‑to‑end: opportunity shaping, proposal development, deal closure, and revenue for the domain.
• Define success metrics and milestones (technical, product, commercial) and report progress clearly to leadership.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• MS, PhD, or equivalent experience in synthetic organic or polymer chemistry, with genuine bench fluency in retrosynthesis, mechanisms, named transformations and reactions (e.g., Suzuki and Buchwald‑Hartwig couplings, RAFT, ATRP, etc.), and characterization (NMR, LC‑MS, HPLC, GPC, DSC, rheology).
• Track record of translating organic/polymer chemistry from molecules to commercialized materials products.
• 7+ years of product leadership (PM, Group PM, Product Lead) building and launching complex technical products: materials systems, scientific software or hardware, simulation platforms, data products, or ML‑enabled systems.
• Deep understanding of chemistry and materials R&D workflows: experimental iteration, instrumentation, data quality, and scale‑up constraints.
• Strong executive communication: clear storytelling and decisions legible to technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Highly collaborative leadership style, with the ability to influence across research, engineering, operations, and commercial teams.
• Output‑ and impact‑focused, driven by delivered results against mission and program goals.

Bonus Points For

• A track record defining and executing TPPs and product strategies for scientific platforms (software, hardware, and workflows), not just standalone applications.
• Experience building products at the intersection of LLMs / agentic systems and chemistry or materials R&D workflows, with a point of view on where these tools actually change throughput and decision quality in the lab (retrosynthesis, molecular design, formulation optimization).
• Direct experience with external partners or customers in materials‑intensive sectors (CPG and specialty chemicals, electronics and displays, coatings, textiles, plastics, energy).
• Deep domain knowledge in one or more of: homogeneous catalysis and ligand design, organic electronic materials, surfactant and formulation science, non‑PFAS coatings, or membranes.

Compensation

We offer competitive base compensation with bonus potential and generous early‑stage equity. Your final offer will reflect your background, expertise, and expected impact.

U.S. Benefits.

Full‑time U.S. employees receive a comprehensive benefits program including medical, dental, and vision coverage; employer‑paid life and disability insurance; flexible time off with generous company‑wide holidays; paid parental leave; an educational assistance program; commuter benefits, including bike share memberships for office‑based employees; and a company‑subsidized lunch program.

International Benefits.

Full‑time employees outside the U.S. receive a comprehensive benefits program tailored to their region. USD salary ranges apply only to U.S.-based positions; international salaries are set to local market.

Expected Base Salary Range

$168,000 - $272,000 USD

About LILA

Lila Sciences is building Scientific Superintelligence™ to solve humankind’s greatest challenges. We believe science is the most inspiring frontier for AI. Rather than hard‑coding expert knowledge into tools, LILA builds systems that can learn for themselves.

LILA combines advanced AI models with proprietary AI Science Factory™ instruments into an operating system for science that executes the entire scientific method autonomously, accelerating discovery at unprecedented speed, scale, and impact across medicine, materials, and energy. Learn more at www.lila.ai.

Guided by our core values of truth, trust, curiosity, grit, and velocity, we move with startup speed while tackling problems of historic importance. If this sounds like an environment you’d love to work in, even if you don’t meet every qualification listed above, we encourage you to apply.

Lila Sciences is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

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