Materials & Process Engineer New Los Angeles, CA

General Matter, Inc.; Los Angeles, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

General Matter is seeking a Materials & Process Engineer to own material selection, characterization, and qualification across hardware. You will bridge chemistry, materials science, and hardware engineering, ensuring data-driven decisions from development to production.

The role blends metallurgy with mechanical design, forming, heat treatment, and failure analysis in a fast-paced, Skunkworks-style environment. Security clearance may be required in the future.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in materials/metallurgical/mechanical engineering.
• 5+ years of professional materials and/or process engineering experience.
• Hands-on experience taking materials and processes from selection through characterization, qualification, and into production.

Responsibilities

• Own the selection, characterization, and qualification of metallic materials across General Matter's hardware.
• Develop physical, mechanical, and thermal property data and design allowables to support hardware design decisions.
• Define and improve manufacturing and special processes for metals (e.g., heat treatment, welding).
• Drive material and process choices that increase reliability and reduce cost as we move from development into production.

Skills

Materials

Metallurgy

Mechanical engineering

Root-cause investigations

Education

Bachelors in materials/metallurgical/mechanical engineering

Tools

Fractography

Metallography

SEM

FTIR

Non-destructive testing

Job description

General Matter is enriching uranium in America.

Our goal is to design, build, and operate the world’s lowest-cost enrichment services in the United States.

Our mission is to restore America’s ability to produce nuclear fuel, fuel that will power AI, advanced manufacturing, critical industries, and the next generation of nuclear reactors.

Ultimately, our work will help power national ambitions and enable a high-energy society.

We were incubated by Founders Fund, like Anduril and Palantir before us, and are backed by top-tier investors. Our lean, world-class team of engineers and operators is applying a first-principles approach to solving the problem of nuclear fuel production.

We are a mission-driven company with a culture of urgency, accountability, and transparency.

Help us build a high-energy society by making the cleanest, safest form of baseload energy the most affordable.

About This Role

As our Materials & Process Engineer, you'll be the materials generalist those teams rely on: the person who owns how metals are selected, characterized, and qualified across our hardware, and who bridges our chemistry and materials-science work with the engineers designing, building, and testing real components.

This is an engineering role. You care about how a material behaves in service, under load, temperature, and demanding environments, and how to get it reliably into production, not about formulation for its own sake. You'll sit squarely at the interface of chemistry and hardware development, working shoulder-to-shoulder with design, manufacturing, and test engineering every day.

If you seek high impact and are excited by fast-paced, intense, Skunkworks-style projects, we encourage you to apply to join our team.

Responsibilities

Materials & Process Development

• Own the selection, characterization, and qualification of metallic materials across General Matter's hardware
• Develop physical, mechanical, and thermal property data and design allowables to support hardware design decisions
• Define and improve manufacturing and special processes for metals (e.g., heat treatment, welding).
• Drive material and process choices that increase reliability and reduce cost as we move from development into production

Cross-Functional Interface

• Serve as the connective tissue between chemistry / materials-science and hardware development, translating materials constraints into engineering decisions and back again
• Partner daily with design, manufacturing, and test engineering to solve complex materials and process challenges on current and next-generation hardware
• Provide technical review of drawings, specifications, and material requirements

Characterization & Failure Analysis

• Lead root-cause investigations using fractography, metallography, and mechanical testing
• Establish characterization and inspection methods, including non-destructive evaluation, to control quality across metals
• Build the data, documentation, and standards that let materials decisions scale with the company

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in materials engineering, metallurgical engineering, mechanical engineering, or a related engineering discipline
• Evidence of exceptional ability (prior projects, portfolio of work, completed products, etc.)
• 5+ years of professional materials and/or process engineering experience
• Hands-on experience taking materials and processes from selection through characterization, qualification, and into production
• Working breadth across metallic material
• Ability to obtain and maintain any required security clearance and access authorization

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Master's degree or Ph.D. in materials engineering or a related field
• Genuine generalist depth across metals (heat treatment, welding, forming, casting/forging, coatings).
• Experience with failure analysis and characterization techniques, including fractography, metallography, SEM, FTIR, and mechanical testing
• Experience serving as the interface between a chemistry or materials-science function and mechanical / hardware design and manufacturing teams
• Familiarity with material qualification, design allowables, and relevant industry specifications (ASTM, ASME, AWS, NACE, etc.)
• Experience in a fast-paced, resource-constrained startup or Skunkworks-style environment

Equal Opportunity Employer

General Matter is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with General Matter is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

Compensation and Benefits

The base salary range for this role is$140,000-$190,000 annually.

Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. Please note that the stated salary range is an estimate and may be adjusted based on market conditions, business needs, or other factors. In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options, and access to medical, vision & dental coverage as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.

This role is based out of our headquarters in the south bay area of Los Angeles.