Materials Engineer (Lab & Test)

Socket.dev; Centennial (CO); On-site; USD 107,000 - 168,000; Full time

Job summary

Boom is building a state-of-the-art materials lab to enable a supersonic jet engine program. You’ll design and stand up testing capabilities, specify equipment, hire lab techs, and define procedures linking testing to design data.

You’ll work with world-class scientists to run campaigns, generate traceable data, and ensure rigorous documentation. This startup‑like environment emphasizes hands‑on testing, metallography, SEM, and data automation.

Qualifications

• A degree in Materials Science, Metallurgy, Mechanical Engineering, or related with hands‑on real world experience and/or lab-focused research.
• Genuine hands‑on testing experience - you have personally gripped specimens, aligned load trains, mounted extensometers, and broken things on purpose
• Working knowledge of mechanical testing fundamentals and the ASTM standards that govern them (or the ability to ramp on them fast)
• Data skills beyond plotting: software automation and scripting for repeatable analysis, and an instinct for traceability
• Enough metallurgy to connect microstructure to properties - and curiosity to go deeper on superalloys
• Documentation habits that would survive an audit

Responsibilities

• Plan and execute mechanical test campaigns on aerospace alloys: tensile (room and elevated temperature), LCF/HCF fatigue, and creep/stress rupture
• Work shoulder-to-shoulder with lab technicians and senior M&P engineers - everyone preps, everyone tests, everyone documents
• Write and validate the lab's test procedures against ASTM standards - then improve them
• Build the data backbone: specimen tracking, test logs, raw data pipelines, and reduction scripts that turn test output into design-usable material data
• Support metallographic evaluation and SEM inspection - microstructure verification, fractography, and failure analysis on engine hardware
• Support allowables-style test programs: test matrices, traceability, and statistical treatment of material data
• Help commission new lab equipment and stand up new test capabilities from scratch
• Support NCR and root cause investigations with disciplined, documented methodology

Skills

Materials testing

Mechanical testing

Data scripting

Documentation

Traceability

Education

Bachelor's in Materials Science or Metallurgy or Mechanical Engineering

Tools

Test frames

Extensometers

SEM

Job description

Boom is building jet engines out of high-temperature superalloys, and every material decision we make - alloy selection, heat treat verification, allowables, failure analysis on parts pulled from our own test cell - depends on data generated in a materials lab. We're standing that lab up right now: mechanical testing (tensile, LCF, HCF, creep, high-temperature), metallography, and SEM. This is your chance to be the first dedicated lab and test engineer in a brand new lab and work with world-class material scientists and engineers to create the supersonic jet engine that enables a supersonic passenger renaissance.

Create a new, state-of-the-art materials lab - this is the role you’ve been looking for.

At most places, you’ll inherit a lab with equipment other people picked and processes others defined. This is your chance to create a new lab from scratch, the way you’ve always wanted to see it done. Help spec equipment, hire lab techs, and define the way lab work gets done. You’ll select and commission the test frames, write the initial procedures, run the campaigns, reduce the data, and work directly with the design engineers to create the supersonic engine that will be part of aviation history. Come get hands on real parts from test articles that we’re running down the road, and that come back to your bench with a story to tell.

What you’ll do

• Plan and execute mechanical test campaigns on aerospace alloys: tensile (room and elevated temperature), LCF/HCF fatigue, and creep/stress rupture
• Work shoulder-to-shoulder with lab technicians and senior M&P engineers - everyone preps, everyone tests, everyone documents
• Write and validate the lab's test procedures against ASTM standards - then improve them
• Build the data backbone: specimen tracking, test logs, raw data pipelines, and reduction scripts that turn test output into design-usable material data
• Support metallographic evaluation and SEM inspection - microstructure verification, fractography, and failure analysis on engine hardware
• Support allowables-style test programs: test matrices, traceability, and statistical treatment of material property data
• Help commission new lab equipment and stand up new test capabilities from scratch
• Support NCR and root cause investigations with disciplined, documented methodology

This job is demanding

The procedure you need won't exist yet - you'll write it. The test you're asked to run may be one the company has never performed - you'll figure out how to do it validly, prove it, and document it. The data you produce will drive decisions on engine hardware, which means your traceability and intellectual honesty have to be absolute. If a result is uncertain, we need to know that more than we need it to look good.

You probably have

• A degree in Materials Science, Metallurgy, Mechanical Engineering, or related with hands‑on real world experience and/or lab-focused research
• Genuine hands‑on testing experience - you have personally gripped specimens, aligned load trains, mounted extensometers, and broken things on purpose
• Working knowledge of mechanical testing fundamentals and the ASTM standards that govern them (or the ability to ramp on them fast)
• Data skills beyond plotting: software automation and scripting for repeatable analysis, and an instinct for traceability
• Enough metallurgy to connect microstructure to properties - and curiosity to go deeper on superalloys
• Documentation habits that would survive an audit

It would be great if you have

• Fatigue (LCF/HCF) or creep testing experience, especially at elevated temperature
• Experience with nickel superalloys, titanium, or other aerospace alloys
• Metallography and SEM/fractography experience
• Exposure to allowables programs, MMPDS/CMH-17 concepts, or statistical treatment of material data
• Experience commissioning lab equipment or standing up a new test capability
• Experience in an R&D, test lab, or startup‑pace environment

Why Boom

You will be the first dedicated engineer in a materials lab that a jet engine program depends on - with scope, ownership, and mentorship from senior M&P engineers who've done this at the highest level. The lab you help build, the procedures you write, and the database you start will outlast this job posting by decades. The materials work directly and immediately contribute to American energy production and the return of supersonic passenger flight. There is no equivalent seat at an established OEM.

Compensation

P2 Level - Typically 0 - 4 years of experience - Base salary range: $107,000 - $144,000

P3 Level - Typically 5 - 10 years of experience - Base salary range: $125,000 - $168,000

Actual salaries will vary based on factors including but not limited to location, experience, and performance. The range listed is just one component of Boom’s total rewards package for employees. Other rewards may include long-term incentives/equity, a flexible PTO policy, and many other progressive benefits.

There is no set deadline to apply for this job opportunity. Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the search is no longer active.

Actual salaries will vary based on factors including but not limited to location, experience, and performance. The range listed is just one component of Boom’s total rewards package for employees. Other rewards may include long term incentives/equity, a flexible PTO policy, and many other progressive benefits.

There is no set deadline to apply for this job opportunity. Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the search is no longer active.

ITAR Requirement

To conform to U.S. Government aerospace technology export regulations (ITAR and EAR), applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Boom is an equal opportunity employer, including for individuals with disabilities and protected veterans. We are building a culture of merit and excellence.