R&D Scientist: Next-Gen Dielectric Materials for HPC

Avient Corporation; Avon Lake (OH); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Avient Corporation is seeking an accomplished R&D Scientist to lead innovation in next-generation thermoplastic materials for HPC, AI infrastructure, and hyperscale data centers. You will drive dielectric performance and signal integrity, develop material platforms, and expand the IP portfolio.

The role emphasizes cross-functional collaboration, advanced characterization, and translating trends into new technologies that accelerate commercialization of cutting-edge materials for high-speed

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in a relevant materials or engineering field.
• Minimum 5 years industrial or advanced research experience in electronics, semiconductors, communications, or HPC.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of next-generation thermoplastic materials for high-speed connector and interconnect applications in AI, cloud computing, networking, and hyperscale data centers.
• Serve as the company's technical subject matter expert in dielectric materials, signal integrity, and material solutions for high-frequency electronics.
• Develop material platforms with industry-leading dielectric constant (Dk), dissipation factor (Df), dimensional stability, thermal performance, processability, and reliability.
• Identify emerging technology trends and establish roadmaps for 224G, 448G, and next-generation data transmission architectures.
• Expand Avient's intellectual property portfolio through invention disclosures, patents, and new technology platforms.
• Design and optimize thermoplastic formulations based on structure-property-performance relationships.
• Evaluate high-performance polymers and advanced dielectric materials (LCP, PPE, PPS, PEEK, fluoropolymers, polyimides).
• Investigate novel fillers, reinforcements, additives, and processing methods to achieve ultra-low dielectric loss.
• Establish material selection criteria and specifications meeting customer requirements for signal integrity and reliability.
• Use DOE and data analytics to accelerate formulation optimization.
• Develop and execute advanced methods to characterize electrical, thermal, mechanical, and morphological properties.
• Correlate molecular structure with high-frequency dielectric performance; lead testing using VNA, DSC, TGA, DMA, and other techniques.
• Interpret data to guide formulation and design decisions.
• Partner with marketing and commercial teams to capture customer voice and translate trends into material innovations.
• Present technical findings to customers, industry bodies, and leadership.
• Collaborate with manufacturing, engineering, quality, procurement, and commercial teams to scale technologies through commercialization.
• Lead multidisciplinary project teams and external research collaborations.

Skills

Materials science expertise

R&D leadership

Signal integrity knowledge

High-speed electronics

Education

Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering, Polymer Science, Physics, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or closely related field

Tools

Vector Network Analysis (VNA)

Dielectric spectroscopy

Time-domain reflectometry (TDR)

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)

Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA)

Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)

Microscopy

Job description

Avient Corporation is seeking an accomplished R&D Scientist to lead innovation in next-generation thermoplastic materials for HPC, AI infrastructure, and hyperscale data centers. You will drive dielectric performance and signal integrity, develop material platforms, and expand the IP portfolio.

The role emphasizes cross-functional collaboration, advanced characterization, and translating trends into new technologies that accelerate commercialization of cutting-edge materials for high-speed