Lead Scientist

Roadrunner Studios; Albuquerque (NM); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health care stipend

Equity in a fast-growing startup

Flexible work environment

Job summary

Roadrunner Studios, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is looking for a Lead Scientist to advance their graphite technology. The ideal candidate will have a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering or Materials Engineering and over 8 years of R&D experience. Major responsibilities include leading experimental plans and optimizing processes.

This role offers technical ownership in a startup environment that values rapid execution accompanied by robust science.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in rigorous research and development environments.
• Proven ability to lead complex, multi-stakeholder projects.
• Strong organizational and analytical skills required.

Responsibilities

• Lead installation and troubleshooting of lab equipment.
• Design and execute design-of-experiments programs.
• Develop SOPs for lab operations.

Skills

Research and development

Project leadership

Analytical skills

Strategic planning

Education

Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering or Materials Engineering

Job description

About Halo Materials

Halo Materials is a venture-backed advanced materials company pioneering novel technologies to produce domestic, cost-competitive graphite for advanced energy and manufacturing supply chains. Headquartered in New Mexico, we are building a scalable, lower-emissions process to produce high-performance graphite critical to batteries, energy systems, and manufacturing resilience.

Halo Materials is seeking a Lead Scientist to work closely with the CTO to advance our technical priorities. This high-impact role is ideal for someone who enjoys defining and executing a research plan, moves fluidly between modeling what should be tested and hands‑on laboratory work, and relishes building an R&D-heavy company from the ground up.

You’ll own the experimental roadmap as we progress from lab‑scale testing to commercial‑scale reactor design and systems integration. This includes planning and leading experiments, setting up and troubleshooting equipment, managing lab technicians, and analyzing data to inform future work.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead installation, calibration, commissioning, and troubleshooting of core lab equipment to rapidly expand experimental capacity.
• Design and execute rigorous design‑of‑experiments (DOE) programs to optimize graphite growth parameters such as temperature, feedstock composition, residence time, and process conditions.
• Identify performance drivers, bottlenecks, and failure modes to continuously improve yield, purity, energy efficiency, and scalability.
• Build scalable systems for experimental data collection, storage, and analysis to ensure high‑quality, decision‑ready insights.
• Translate lab results into techno‑economic inputs (e.g. cost per kg, energy intensity, throughput) to inform commercialization strategy.
• Develop and document SOPs for safe, repeatable, and scalable lab operations.
• Co‑manage and mentor lab technicians to expand experimental capacity and execution speed.
• Train and develop junior technical hires, building a culture of rigor, ownership, and continuous improvement.
• Collaborate with external research partners to investigate underlying graphite growth mechanisms and unlock performance improvements.
• Work closely with peer R&D scientists and executive leadership to align technical milestones with company strategy and commercial objectives.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, Materials Engineering, or a closely related field.
• 8+ years of experience in rigorous research and development environments such as university labs, deep‑tech startups, or corporate research teams.
• Proven ability to lead complex, multi‑stakeholder projects—ideally involving lab environments, infrastructure, tech transfer, or industrial process scale‑up.
• Strong organizational, strategic, and analytical skills; comfortable toggling between tactical execution and high‑level planning.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills across technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Demonstrated success working closely with C‑level leaders and managing competing priorities.
• Technical literacy in engineering, materials science, or chemical processes.

Nice to Have

• Experience in adjacent industries where similar high‑temperature, catalytic, carbon, or materials growth processes are used—such as petrochemicals, advanced ceramics, specialty chemicals, battery materials, semiconductors, metallurgy, or industrial gas processing.
• Experience with government grants, compliance reporting, or lab build‑outs.

What We Look For (Beyond the Resume)

• A track record of execution—how you design experiments, make decisions with imperfect data, and drive results matters as much as where you’ve worked.
• Comfort operating in both research and production environments; experience in one or both is valuable, but your ability to move science toward application is what counts.
• Ownership mentality with high accountability and curiosity.
• Entrepreneurial speed balanced with technical discipline.
• Grit, resilience, and an ability to turn ambiguity into actionable next steps.

Why Join Halo Materials?

• Strengthen Energy & Supply Chains – Work on advanced materials that directly impact batteries, energy systems, and U.S. manufacturing resilience.
• Scale Breakthrough Graphite Technology – Help scale a breakthrough graphite technology from lab experimentation to real commercial production.
• Rigorous Science, Startup Velocity – Join a mission‑driven team that values rigorous science, fast execution, and taking care of its people.
• Technical Ownership & Autonomy – Take meaningful ownership in a technically ambitious environment where your contributions shape the direction of the company.
• Competitive pay, full benefits, and equity – Competitive compensation, strong benefits, and the opportunity to grow quickly inside a serious deep‑tech venture backed by experienced builders.
• Some of our Benefits:
  • An independent role with a supportive and flexible work environment
  • Time for self‑development, research, training, conferences, or certification schemes
  • Full range of competitive benefits including a health care stipend and equity in a fast‑growing startup