Materials Science Expert

Confidential; United States; A distancia; USD 110.000 - 255.000; Jornada completa

Descripción de la vacante

Zekai is seeking a Materials Science Expert for a fully remote contractor role. You will tackle problems where textbook answers fail, crafting robust analyses and defining what makes an answer correct.

You will design challenging problems, provide solutions with reasoning, set objective criteria, and review others' work. Requires advanced degrees and principal-level research or academic leadership.

Formación

• Advanced degree required (Master's or PhD) in materials science or closely related field.
• Principal, staff, fellow-level industrial, national lab, or faculty leadership experience.
• Deep technical depth in at least one materials subdomain and hands-on ownership of work.

Responsabilidades

• Design difficult technical problems in materials science with realistic constraints and supporting data.
• Provide correct solutions with thorough reasoning and justification.
• Define objective criteria for correctness so other experts reach the same verdict.
• Review problems created by others for technical accuracy and soundness of method.
• Flag problems that are ambiguous or ungradable rather than submitting them.

Conocimientos

Technical depth in materials science

Analytical problem design

Clear scientific reasoning

Problem review & quality control

Educación

Master’s or PhD in materials science

Descripción del empleo

Role Title: Materials Science Expert

Role Type: Contractor

Location: Remote

Opportunity Snapshot

Pay: $80- $185/hour

Commitment: Flexible — fits alongside your current role

Location: Fully remote

You’ll need: Master’s or PhD in materials science or a closely related field, plus principal‑level industry experience or a faculty appointment

Your tasks:

You'll be working on

The problems where the textbook answer isn’t enough, where the right approach depends on reading the constraints correctly, where a plausible-looking solution is quietly wrong. You’ll build those problems, provide the correct analysis, and define what separates a right answer from one that only looks right.

What you’ll do

• Design difficult technical problems from your own area — structure-property relationships, processing, characterization, failure analysis, computational materials — with realistic constraints and supporting data.
• Provide the correct solution and walk through the reasoning that gets there.
• Define objective criteria for correctness, so another expert reviewing the work would reach the same verdict.
• Review problems built by other contributors for technical accuracy and soundness of method.
• Flag problems that turn out to be ambiguous or ungradable rather than submitting them.

What we’re looking for

• Master’s or PhD in materials science, metallurgy, ceramics, polymer science, condensed matter physics, or a closely related field.
• Principal, staff, or fellow-level experience in industrial or national lab research, or a faculty appointment at a leading university.
• Deep technical depth in at least one materials subdomain, with hands‑on ownership of the work.
• Able to explain why an answer is correct clearly enough that another scientist could verify it.
• Publications, patents, or a record of technical leadership is a strong plus.
• AI or LLM evaluation experience is a plus, but not required.

This is a 100% remote contract role, open to applicants worldwide in the countries the employer accepts.