Lead R&D Engineer: Ballistic Materials & Soft Armor Hybrid

Solstice Advanced Materials; Colonial Heights (VA); Hybrid; USD 142,000 - 178,000; Full time

Job summary

Solstice Advanced Materials seeks a Lead R&D Engineer in Colonial Heights, VA to drive new ballistic material solutions and optimize processing for soft armor. You will coordinate prototype development and collaborate with military and industry partners while reporting to the General Manager on a hybrid schedule.

The role requires a strong engineering background with 10+ years in soft body armor materials, processing, and ballistic testing, plus hands-on fabrication and data-driven problem

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Polymers/Composite Materials, Materials Science or other related scientific or technical discipline
• 10+ years of experience with soft body armor materials, processing, ballistic and non-ballistic testing

Responsibilities

• Optimize composite material processing guidelines for soft armor applications
• Hands-on system design, lay-up, and equipment operation required for part fabrication
• Coordinate prototype development including sample and test matrix definition, lab scheduling, and testing communication of results
• Collaborate with armor manufacturers, military R&D organizations, and Program Offices to understand current and future body armor specifications
• Define fundamental material property linkages to end articles and establish protocols and targets for ballistic and non-ballistic requirements
• Identify emerging materials, manufacturing processes, and characterization techniques for technology roadmap considerations
• Represent Solstice Technology in customer meetings, trade shows, and conferences
• Provide technical oversight and support for customer quality resolution and new product development
• Draft publications, white papers, solicitation responses, invention disclosures, and IP materials as needed

Skills

Soft body armor materials

Ballistic testing

Composite material processing

Hands-on system design

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Engineering

Master's Degree in Engineering

Tools

MS Office Applications (Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint)

Minitab

Job description

Solstice Advanced Materials seeks a Lead R&D Engineer in Colonial Heights, VA to drive new ballistic material solutions and optimize processing for soft armor. You will coordinate prototype development and collaborate with military and industry partners while reporting to the General Manager on a hybrid schedule.

The role requires a strong engineering background with 10+ years in soft body armor materials, processing, and ballistic testing, plus hands-on fabrication and data-driven problem