Sr. Scientist, Synthetic Chemistry

Valid8 Financial, Inc.; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision benefits

401(k) matching

Competitive compensation

Job summary

You will collaborate across teams to optimize processes, provide guidance on reactor operation, and contribute to safety and regulatory requirements while growing with a rapidly expanding company.

Qualifications

• Master's in Polymer Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or related field with 7+ years of relevant experience
• PhD in Polymer Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or related field with 4+ years of relevant experience
• Experience with thermoset polymer resins
• Strong desire to learn and work in hands-on engineering roles
• US citizenship required for the role

Responsibilities

• Design and synthesize compounds for high-temperature materials, composites, and optics for DoD applications
• Evaluate synthetic routes and scale up target compounds
• Conduct in-house process development to enable scale-up and transfer to CMOs
• Provide guidance for operation of larger chemical reactors
• Characterize synthetic targets and feedstock materials (HPLC, NMR, FTIR)
• Collaborate to design monomers and formulations meeting property requirements
• Support manufacturing of high-temperature aerospace components and curing/adhesion processes
• Develop processing specifications for hand layup, RTM, filament winding, and tape placement
• Provide progress reports to senior engineers and leadership
• Communicate development status and lessons learned to stakeholders
• Prioritize safety and OSHA/EPA/local requirements
• Collaborate across biomaterials, polymer physics, and aerospace teams
• Improve proprietary tools and systems with cross-functional teams
• Contribute to product demonstration and engineering initiatives

Skills

Polymer Chemistry

Organic Chemistry

Chemical Engineering

Thermoset resins

Hands-on engineering

Education

Master's in Polymer Chemistry

Master's in Organic Chemistry

PhD in Polymer Chemistry

Job description

Defense, aerospace and other high-performance applications demand new material solutionsstronger, lighter, more resilienttested and delivered faster than traditionally available. Cambium is disrupting advanced materials development, from AI-driven molecular design to agile domestic manufacturing. Whether enabling hypersonic flight or protecting critical systems,our solutions push the limits of what's possible.Cambium solves mission-critical problems in defense and industry.Our team of world-class scientists and engineers was purposely built to take on those challenges. Come join us and revolutionize advanced materials for defense, aerospace, and beyond.

Cambium is seeking a Synthetic Chemist to join our growing team in El Segundo, CA. The successful candidate will be curious with a desire to turn concepts into products, have a strong desire to help grow a company, and will help us build a work culture of open-mindedness that embraces creativity and contrarian thinking. At Cambium we're willing to do things differently.

THE ROLE

Cambium is seeking aSyntheticChemistto join our composite materials engineering team. You'll work closely withour team to synthesizenew compoundsforcompositematerials. This will be a hands-on role and you will be involved in every step of the process -working withcomputationalscientists to discoverand synthesizenew materials,providingexpert guidance for operation ofour on-site reactors, and optimizingmaterials andprocesses for manufacturability, cost, and most importantly, performance in extreme aerothermal environments.As Cambium experiences rapid growth, the responsibilities of this role are expected to evolve.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Designand synthesizecompoundsthat open new opportunities in the high-temperature materials, composites, and opticsspace, particularly for Department of Defense applications.

Work with discovery teams to evaluate synthetic routes and test alternatives that facilitate scale up of both target compounds and building blocks while providing insights for selection of development candidates

Execute in-house process development and optimization studies to facilitate scale up and transfer to CMOs

Provide guidance based on your chemistry expertise to support the operation of larger chemical reactors.

Perform characterization and quality analysis ofsynthetic targets and feedstock materials (HPLC, NMR, FTIR, IPC,etc)

Work withcolleaguesto design monomers and formulations to meet specific property requirements.Understandfeedback provided by thermal characterization (rheology, DSC, TGA, DMA)and composite fabricationand testing.

Support the manufacturing of high-temperature composite aerospace flight vehicles. Provide input on chemical processes such as curing, cleaning, and adhesive bonding to help support manufacturing.

Understand structure/process/property relationships of thermoset polymer resins.Useyour expertise and experiencetosupportthe creation ofprocessing specifications for hand layup, resin transfer molding, filament winding and automatic tape placement.

Provide regular progress reports to senior engineers and leadership.

Communicate clearly and concisely key concepts, development status, performance outcomes, and lessons learned toyour coworkers, investors, and collaborators.

Prioritize safety and OSHA, EPA, and local health and safety requirements.

Collaborate across multiple teams including world-class experts in biomaterials, polymerphysics, composites, advanced manufacturing methods, aerospace design, and defense products.

Partner with cross-functional teams to improve proprietary tools and systems.

Create and contribute to the product demonstration and engineering teams in a manner consistent with Cambium's mission and values and the growth of Cambium's business.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

Master'sinPolymer Chemistry,Organic Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or related field and a minimum of7years of relevant experience; or,

PhD inPolymer Chemistry,Organic Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or related field with4or more years of relevant experience; or,

Equivalent combination of education and experience.

Experience with and a deep understanding of thermoset polymer resins

You must have a strong desire to learn and be willing to work in a hands-on engineering role

Due to the nature of the work, you must have US citizenship

Some general experience withmanufacturingprocesses forfiber-reinforced organic polymer composites is preferred, but not required

Ability to complete tasks on time with little supervision

Strong communication and collaboration skills

BENEFITS

Cambium offers a highly competitive compensation and benefits plan. This includes excellent medical/dental/vision benefits, and a matching 401(k) plan.