Senior Materials Engineer - Gel-Enabled Manufacturing

3D Architech; Somerville (MA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical and dental insurance coverage

Paid leave, maternity/paternity leave,

caregiving leave

Job summary

3D Architech in Somerville, MA is seeking a senior materials R&D engineer to lead development of gel-enabled polymer systems for advanced manufacturing. You will drive scale-up from lab to manufacturing, tackle open-ended challenges, and collaborate across international teams to deliver functional gel platforms.

The role emphasizes hypothesis-driven research, design of experiments, and data-driven decision making in a fast-growing startup environment with travel flexibility.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree at minimum; Ph.D. strongly preferred in Chemistry, Materials Science, Polymer Science, Chemical Engineering, or a related field.
• Strong background in stimuli-responsive polymer gel behavior, polymer network models, and structure-property-function relationships.
• Understanding of reaction-diffusion phenomena and transport processes in polymer or soft material systems.
• Experience applying first-principles and hypothesis-driven approaches to complex, open-ended R&D problems.
• Ability to design experiments, analyze data, and communicate technical results clearly through reports and discussions.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and take technical ownership in an R&D environment with high uncertainty and ambitious timelines.

Responsibilities

• Lead the formulation, optimization, and updating of functional polymer gel systems for advanced manufacturing applications.
• Design and evaluate stimuli-responsive behaviors of polymer gels, and interpret these behaviors based on polymer network theories and structure-property relationships.
• Analyze and design reaction-diffusion processes within polymer gels, including mass transport and chemical reactions under confined geometries.
• Develop and optimize vat photopolymerization-based processes, with particular attention to polymerization kinetics and their impact on printed structures.
• Identify core technical challenges in scaling gel-based processes from R&D to manufacturing, and rapidly develop hypothesis-driven solutions.
• Provide clear technical feedback, documentation, and design guidelines to international R&D and manufacturing teams.
• Prepare technical reports, experimental plans, and data-driven discussions to support decision-making across projects.

Skills

Polymer gels

R&D problem solving

Experiment design

Data interpretation

Technical communication

Education

Master's degree

Ph.D. preferred

Tools

Photopolymerization

Vat polymerization

Rheology

Thermal analysis

Spectroscopy

Job description

3D Architech in Somerville, MA is seeking a senior materials R&D engineer to lead development of gel-enabled polymer systems for advanced manufacturing. You will drive scale-up from lab to manufacturing, tackle open-ended challenges, and collaborate across international teams to deliver functional gel platforms.

The role emphasizes hypothesis-driven research, design of experiments, and data-driven decision making in a fast-growing startup environment with travel flexibility.