Research Associate (Materials)

C5R; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive equity package

Job summary

C5R is building a research facility in San Francisco to connect frontier AI with the physical world. We are seeking a materials scientist to design, run, and scale up material experiments while growing our in-house lab from the ground up.

You will synthesize and characterize ceramics, alloys, and batteries; set up instruments like XRD, SEM, and sputtering; draft protocols and work with AI collaborators to advance autonomous experimentation.

Qualifications

• Hands-on synthesis and characterization of materials in multiple areas.
• 2+ years of experience in materials R&D labs.
• BS in materials science/engineering or equivalent.
• Ability to draft reliable experimental protocols from scratch.

Responsibilities

• Synthesize and characterize ceramics, alloys, and batteries.
• Set up and integrate instrument stack (furnaces, sputtering, XRD, SEM) for manual and autonomous operation.
• Design experiments, troubleshoot, and iterate with AI to refine plans.
• Source equipment, install new instruments, and improve facility infrastructure and workflows.
• Collaborate with engineering and users to improve facility systems and robotic workflows.
• Take on evolving responsibilities as the facility scales.

Skills

Lab experience

Materials R&D

Experiment protocols

Attention to detail

AI collaboration

Onsite SF

Education

BS in materials science or engineering

Tools

XRD

SEM

Sputtering systems

Furnaces

Job description

C5R is building facilities that connect frontier AI to the physical world. We see this connection as a force for good in expanding humanity’s tech tree.

We are hiring a materials scientist to design, run, and scale up materialsexperiments while helping build our in-house research facility in SanFrancisco from the ground up.

This is not a role focused on one narrow scientific question. It is abouttwo things at once: helping AI — from LLMs to domain-specific sciencemodels — get better at doing materials science, and building afacility that stands up new protocols and experiments faster and moreautonomously over time.

What You Will Do

• Synthesize and characterize an increasingly wide range of materials, including ceramics, alloys, and batteries.
• Set up and integrate an ever-growing instrument stack — furnaces, sputtering systems, XRDs, and SEMs — so each can be run both by hand and autonomously, as we build toward a facility that runs more and more of materials science on its own.
• Design experiment protocols, troubleshoot, and iterate alongside AI as the scientist in the loop refining the AI’s plans.
• Source and buy equipment and reagents, set up new instruments, and improve facility infrastructure and best practices as we scale.
• Communicate and consult with the engineering team and users about ways to improve facility systems and robotic workflows.
• Take on a wide range of evolving responsibilities, staying flexible and willing to jump in wherever needed as we build the facility while operating it.

What We Are Looking For

• Hands-on lab experience synthesizing and characterizing materials in at least two different areas.
• At least two years of experience working in materials R&D labs.
• At least a BS in materials science, materials engineering, or similar.
• Comfortable drafting experimental protocols from scratch and iterating on them until they’re highly reliable.
• Strong attention to detail, diligence, and pride in running experiments carefully.
• Enthusiasm for doing science in a new way, and for working alongside AI systems as collaborators rather than just tools.
• Ability to work onsite in San Francisco.

Nice To Have

• Experience with lab automation, high-throughput experimentation, or robotic materials workflows.
• Experience in a startup, early lab, core facility, shared lab, or environment where you had to build processes from scratch.
• Interest in AI for science, self-driving labs, robotics, scientific infrastructure, or automated experimentation.
• Evidence that you can communicate clearly with engineers, scientists, and operators.

Compensation And Terms

• $70,000-$100,000 annualized for full-time.
• Competitive equity package.
• Temporary stints of at least 3 months may be possible.
• This role is onsite in San Francisco only.

To apply, email [e-mail] with a shortnote about the most interesting experiment you’ve run and why.