Research Scientist I/II, Computational Organic Electronics

Socket.dev; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 176,000 - 304,000; Full time

Job summary

LILA Sciences is seeking a PhD-level researcher to advance computational materials science for organic electronics and photovoltaics. You will connect deep domain knowledge with practical discovery workflows, collaborating with AI researchers, software engineers, and experimental teams to accelerate design and optimization.

The role emphasizes first-principles methods, large-scale simulations, and machine learning to generate actionable hypotheses and drive closed-loop discovery across devices

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent in materials science, chemistry, physics, or related field.
• Strong foundation in computational materials science and chemistry.
• Knowledge of electronic structure methods and large-scale simulations.
• Deep understanding of organic semiconductors and photovoltaics.
• Experience with first-principles and molecular simulations.
• Strong Python programming and scientific workflows.

Responsibilities

• Apply computational modeling and AI for materials discovery and design.
• Model charge transport and excited-state behavior.
• Connect simulations to experimental observations and develop workflows.
• Build predictive models to guide materials selection and optimization.
• Analyze data to generate actionable hypotheses.
• Collaborate with ML, software, and experimental teams.
• Communicate insights and limitations to collaborators.

Skills

Python

Materials science

Electronic structure

Atomistic simulations

AI/ML in materials

Education

PhD or equivalent

Job description

Your Impact at LILA

Your role will involve applying computational methods and AI to accelerate the discovery and design of organic electronics materials. You will use first-principles modeling, atomistic simulations, scientific machine learning, and agentic AI systems to investigate structure-property relationships in organic and hybrid materials relevant to photovoltaics, semiconductors, optoelectronics, or electronic devices.

You will work at the intersection of physics-based simulation, AI/ML, and autonomous scientific workflows. The focus is on using computational insight to identify promising materials, explain structure-property relationships, guide optimization, and help agents reason over simulation and experimental data in scientifically grounded ways.

This is a hands‑on research role for someone who can connect deep organic electronics and computational materials expertise with practical impact for customer‑facing scientific programs. You will collaborate with computational scientists, AI researchers, software engineers, and experimental teams to turn simulations, models, and scientific reasoning into actionable hypotheses and discovery workflows.

What You'll Be Building

• Apply computational modeling and AI for materials discovery and design of organic semiconductors, photovoltaic materials, molecular and polymeric electronic materials, and organic electronic devices.
• Model charge transport, excited‑state behavior, morphology-property relationships, and other fundamental mechanisms that influence organic electronic device performance.
• Connect simulation outputs to experimental observations and develop workflows that close the loop between computation and experiment.
• Build predictive models from computational and experimental data to guide materials selection and optimization.
• Analyze simulation and experimental data to generate actionable materials hypotheses.
• Partner with ML, software, and experimental teams on discovery workflows.
• Communicate physical insights, model limitations, and recommendations to collaborators.

What You'll Need to Succeed

• PhD or equivalent experience in Materials Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or a related field.
• Strong foundation in computational materials science and chemistry, including electronic structure methods and large-scale atomistic simulations.
• Deep understanding of organic semiconductors, organic electronics, photovoltaics, optoelectronic materials, charge transport, or related device‑relevant materials systems.
• Experience applying first‑principles, molecular simulations, or general atomistic methods to materials discovery, optimization, or understanding.
• Ability to connect molecular, morphological, and electronic structure features to device‑relevant properties.
• Strong programming skills in Python and scientific computing workflows.

Bonus Points For

• Experience studying organic photovoltaics, organic semiconductors, polymer electronics, molecular electronics, perovskite‑organic interfaces, or related materials systems.
• Experience applying AI/ML to computational materials science, molecular simulations, or other physics‑based simulations.
• Strong familiarity with agentic AI systems, autonomous scientific workflows, or simulation‑aware agents.
• Experience integrating computational predictions with experimental characterization, device measurements, or closed‑loop optimization workflows.
• Familiarity with charge transport modeling, excited‑state calculations, morphology generation, coarse‑graining, and/or multiscale and multiphysics simulations.
• Ability to communicate physical insight, uncertainty, and model limitations to cross‑functional collaborators.

Compensation

We offer competitive base compensation with bonus potential and generous early‑stage equity. Your final offer will reflect your background, expertise, and expected impact.

U.S. Benefits. Full‑time U.S. employees receive a comprehensive benefits program including medical, dental, and vision coverage; employer‑paid life and disability insurance; flexible time off with generous company wide holidays; paid parental leave; an educational assistance program; commuter benefits, including bike share memberships for office based employees; and a company subsidized lunch program.

International Benefits. Full‑time employees outside the U.S. receive a comprehensive benefits program tailored to their region. USD salary ranges apply only to U.S.-based positions; international salaries are set to local market.

Expected Base Salary Range

$176,000 - $304,000 USD

About LILA

Lila Sciences is building Scientific Superintelligence to solve humankind's greatest challenges. We believe science is the most inspiring frontier for AI. Rather than hard‑coding expert knowledge into tools, LILA builds systems that can learn for themselves.

LILA combines advanced AI models with proprietary AI Science Factory instruments into an operating system for science that executes the entire scientific method autonomously, accelerating discovery at unprecedented speed, scale, and impact across medicine, materials, and energy. Learn more at www.lila.ai.

Guided by our core values of truth, trust, curiosity, grit, and velocity, we move with startup speed while tackling problems of historic importance. If this sounds like an environment you’d love to work in, even if you don’t meet every qualification listed above, we encourage you to apply.

We’re All In

Lila Sciences is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

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