Senior Scientist, Materials Data & Algorithms

VoltForce; San Leandro (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

VoltForce is seeking a Senior Scientist, Algorithms & Data Products to join our R&D team in the San Francisco Bay Area. You will design and implement advanced data models from multi‑modal sensor signals and own end‑to‑end modeling pipelines that translate raw data into trusted customer metrics.

The ideal candidate holds an advanced degree in a quantitative field and has 6+ years building models for real‑world sensor or process data, with strong Python and ML tooling.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree (PhD or MS with substantial experience) in a quantitative field such as physics, applied mathematics, statistics, electrical engineering, computer science, or similar, with a strong focus on data analysis and modeling.
• 6+ years of hands on experience (industry or postdoc) building models for real world sensor or process data, not just web/NLP/recommender systems.
• A track record of catching problems in data that others missed – artifacts, drift, miscalibration, or a pipeline quietly producing plausible nonsense.
• Strong Python skills and experience with scientific computing/ML tooling (NumPy, SciPy, pandas, scikit learn; familiarity with PyTorch or similar is a plus).
• Demonstrated ability to design and execute end to end analysis workflows: data ingestion and cleaning, feature engineering, model training, validation, and reporting.
• Experience with at least one of: spectroscopy, imaging, time series/multivariate process data, or other high dimensional measurement modalities.
• Solid grounding in statistics (hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, experimental design, control charts, etc.) and comfort reasoning about uncertainty and robustness.
• Experience designing or implementing automated experimental workflows or test rigs that integrate hardware and software (e.g., lab automation, instrument control, hardware in the loop setups).
• Proven ability to communicate technical results clearly, in writing and in person, to both technical and non technical stakeholders.
• Comfortable working in lab and/or industrial environments: dealing with noisy data, incomplete logging, and partially instrumented systems.

Responsibilities

• Own end to end modeling pipelines from raw sensor data to customer facing metrics and alerts.
• Develop multi modal representations of plasma‑material interactions that generalize across different materials, geometries, and processes.
• Design and implement automated experimental protocols (parameter sweeps, DOE campaigns, calibration routines) that coordinate plasma hardware, motion/robotics, sensing, and data capture.
• Work with embedded, controls, and software engineers to design deployment architectures across edge devices, host controllers, and cloud systems.
• Define performance metrics, validation strategies, and monitoring for models running in benchtop products and pilot manufacturing lines.
• Own the trustworthiness of our data – interrogate raw and derived data for instrument artifacts, drift and silent pipeline failures, and build the checks that catch a bad result before it reaches a model, a customer metric, a disclosure, or a paper.

Skills

Python programming

Data analysis

Machine learning

Statistical analysis

Modeling

End-to-end workflows

Education

PhD or MS in physics / applied mathematics / statistics / electrical engineering / CS

Tools

NumPy

SciPy

Pandas

scikit-learn

PyTorch

Job description

VoltForce is seeking a Senior Scientist, Algorithms & Data Products to join our R&D team in the San Francisco Bay Area. You will design and implement advanced data models from multi‑modal sensor signals and own end‑to‑end modeling pipelines that translate raw data into trusted customer metrics.

The ideal candidate holds an advanced degree in a quantitative field and has 6+ years building models for real‑world sensor or process data, with strong Python and ML tooling.