Staff Forward Deployed Engineer, Physical Sciences (Level Flexible)

Lila Sciences; Cambridge (MA); Hybrid; USD 192,000 - 256,000; Full time

Job summary

A pioneering scientific technology company in Cambridge is seeking a Staff Forward Deployed Engineer for innovative engineering solutions in chemistry and materials science. Candidates should possess exceptional communication skills and strong full-stack development abilities to embed with internal teams and customers. This role offers a competitive salary ranging from $192,000 to $256,000 annually, along with bonuses and early equity opportunities. Join us to drive impactful solutions in scientific research.

Qualifications

• Experience in industrial manufacturing or similar settings.
• Experience working with complex/messy datasets.
• Comfort with ambiguous requirements.

Responsibilities

• Develop domain-specific tools for data analysis.
• Deploy scientific workflows that integrate with instruments.
• Create intuitive interfaces for AI/ML capabilities.
• Architect solutions for enterprise-wide deployment.

Skills

Domain expertise in chemistry

Outstanding communication skills

Data engineering experience

Full-stack development skills

Exceptional problem-solving abilities

Knack for product discovery

Willingness to travel

Tools

Scientific computing libraries (NumPy, Pandas, SciPy, RDKit)

Modern web technologies (TypeScript, React)

Job description

Staff Forward Deployed Engineer, Physical Sciences (Level Flexible)

Cambridge, MA USA

We're seeking extraordinarily talented Forward Deployed Engineers across Engineer, Senior Engineer, and Lead Engineer levels to join our growing team. Our FDEs are high-performing generalists with a broad set of skills, in addition to depth in one or more focus areas. This FDE, Physical Sciences role requires experience in chemistry and materials science in an industrial manufacturing setting.

As an FDE, you'll embed directly with our internal biotech and materials science teams as well as external customers, living their problems and rapidly building solutions that transform their research capabilities. You'll leverage our AI and software platform tools while developing bespoke features that address each customer's unique challenges. This isn't traditional software development—it's high-velocity, AI-fueled, high-impact engineering where you'll ship production code in days, not months.

What You'll Be Building

• Developing, wrapping, and adapting domain-specific tools for data analysis, process optimization, molecular modeling, and more
• Deploying custom, agentic scientific workflows that integrate with industrial instruments (PLCs, control software) and data systems (ERP, MES, SCADA)
• Building real-time data pipelines that transform messy scientific data into actionable insights
• Creating intuitive interfaces that make complex AI/ML capabilities accessible to scientists
• Architecting solutions that scale from proof-of-concept to enterprise-wide deployment

What You'll Need to Succeed

• Domain expertise in chemistry, materials science, or related field
• Outstanding communication skills—you'll interface directly with both executives and the manufacturing line
• Experience with data engineering, ETL pipelines, and working with complex/messy datasets
• Strong full-stack development skills with the ability to work across backend, frontend, and data layers
• Exceptional problem-solving abilities and comfort with ambiguous requirements
• Knack for product discovery and ability to pass requirements back to the platform
• Willingness to travel to customer sites for frequent and extended deployments

Bonus Points For

• Previous customer-facing or consulting experience
• Depth in controls engineering and machine learning
• Experience with scientific computing libraries (NumPy, Pandas, SciPy, RDKit)
• Familiarity with ML/AI implementation and deployment
• Familiarity with modern web technologies (TypeScript, React)

What Makes a Great FDE

• Customer Obsessed: You're energized by understanding customer problems deeply and seeing your solutions drive real impact
• Fast Learner: You quickly grasp new scientific domains and translate complex requirements into elegant solutions
• Autonomous: You thrive with minimal supervision and take extreme ownership of customer success
• Collaborative: You work seamlessly with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Technically Versatile: You're comfortable jumping between technologies and picking up new tools as needed

Ready to Transform Scientific Discovery?

If you're excited about embedding with world-class scientists, shipping impactful solutions at startup speed, and building the future of scientific software, we want to hear from you. Join us in our mission to accelerate breakthrough discoveries that will define the next century of human progress.

About Lila

Lila Sciences is the world’s first scientific superintelligence platform and autonomous lab for life, chemistry, and materials science. We are pioneering a new age of boundless discovery by building the capabilities to apply AI to every aspect of the scientific method. We are introducingscientific superintelligence to solve humankind's greatestchallenges, enabling scientists to bring forth solutions in human health, climate, and sustainability at a pace and scale never experienced before. Learn more about this mission at www.lila.ai

If this sounds like an environment you’d love to work in, even if you only have some of the experience listed below, we encourage you to apply.

Compensation

We expect the base salary for this role to fall between$192,000–$256,000 USD per year, along with bonus potential and generous early equity. The final offer will reflect your unique background, expertise, and impact.

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.

Information you provide during your application process will be handled in accordance with our Candidate Privacy Policy.

A Note to Agencies: Lila Sciences does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to Lila Sciences or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Lila Science’s internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of Lila Sciences, and Lila Sciences will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.