Tribology Application Scientist

Tribonet; San Jose (CA); Hybrid; USD 97,000 - 143,000; Full time

Job summary

Bruker Nano Surfaces in San Jose, CA seeks a Tribology Application Scientist to lead sales applications for tribology products in North America. You will demo instruments, analyze samples, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to expand market share.

The role combines deep tribology knowledge with customer-facing demonstrations, data reporting, and travel to client sites and events. Join a leading analytical instrumentation company focused on safety, quality of life, and innovation.

Qualifications

• PhD in Engineering, Materials Science, Physics or related fields and relevant industry experience.
• Familiarity with tribology instrumentation and tests (friction, wear, lubrication).
• Willingness to travel up to 40% of time, mostly within NA.

Responsibilities

• Conduct instrument demonstrations in our San Jose lab and at customer sites to help close sales.
• Measure customer samples and produce reports to advance sales opportunities.
• Assist Product Line Manager in identifying new markets via VOC and literature search.
• Attend tradeshows and conferences to promote Bruker products and generate leads.
• Travel with sales to answer questions and present Bruker solutions.
• Maintain tribology demonstration laboratory and write Application Notes.
• Collaborate with service, product management, and marcom to meet goals.
• Provide cross-training on other Bruker Nano instrumentation.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

Team player

Problem solving

Time management

Organized

Fluent English

Office software

Education

PhD in Engineering or related

Tools

Bruker tribology instruments

Competitive instrumentation experience

Job description

An educational platform on tribology — the science of friction, wear and lubrication

Who is it for

Engineers, researchers, students and industry professionals

As one of the world’s leading analytical instrumentation companies, Bruker covers a broad spectrum of advanced solutions in all fields of research and development. All our systems and instruments are designed to improve safety of products, accelerate time-to-market and support industries in successfully enhancing quality of life. We’ve been driving innovation in analytical instrumentation for 50 years now. Today, worldwide more than 7,500 employees are working on this permanent challenge, at over 70 locations on all continents.

Bruker Nano Surfaces has an opening for a Tribology Application Scientist based in our San Jose office in California.

As part of the North America sales applications team, you will primarily lead sales applications activities in North America on tribology products, reporting directly to the sales application manager. The position is jointly responsible for enabling business growth through market expansion and gaining share by superior sample measurement, product demonstration and out strategizing the competition.

Responsibilities

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

• Conduct instrument demonstrations in our San Jose demolab and at customer sites to help close sales cases.
• Measure customer samples and produce quality reports to advance sales opportunities.
• Assist Product Line Manager into search for new vertical market through Voice Of Customer and literature search.
• Attend tradeshows, exhibitions, conferences and workshops to promote Bruker products and generate new leads.
• Help qualify opportunities with sales team by understanding customer applications and requirements and conveying best Bruker solution or product configuration.
• Travel with sales colleagues to customer sites to answer questions and give high level technical presentations on Bruker’s products and solutions.
• Jointly manage and maintain our tribology demonstration instrumentation laboratory
• Write Application Notes on use cases of our Tribology Instrumentation
• Maintain excellent customer relationships post purchase order and communicate effectively with Bruker’s service and support groups to ensure customers are well taken care of to ensure repeat business.
• Cross train on other Bruker Nano instrumentation, Optical Profilers and Stylus to become multifunctional and provide cover for other team members.
• Establish and manage relationships with cross functional departments within Bruker-Nano such as service, product management, applications development, and marcom to enable the sales applications team, the sales organization, and Bruker as a whole to meet its high-level goals and objectives.
• Collaborate with both academic and industrial thought leaders by conducting joint work that will lead to advances in the science of tribology.
• Participate in professional and standards organizations such as STLE and ASTM
• Present both Bruker materials and collaborative works at technical conferences

Qualifications

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

To perform the above job functions successfully an individual must have demonstrable character traits, knowledge, and skills such as:

• Very strong interpersonal skills and ability to interface with a wide range of customer types from academic students to company CEOs.
• Strong communication skills both written and verbal.
• A positive team player, self-motivated, and able to act autonomously with strong analytical skills and problem-solving mentality.
• Highly organized with solid time management & strong multitasking skills. Able to decide priorities in rapidly changing commercial environment.
• Able to work under pressure to meet business goals. Passionate and dynamic, highly committed to deliverables.
• Energetic self-starter with a strong work ethic.
• Fluent in English, additional languages especially Spanish beneficial but not required.
• Adept with office software such as Excel, Word, Outlook.
• Knowledge and experience of the markets served by Bruker-Nano.
• Current valid driver license and passport.

Educational/Experience Requirements

The successful candidate will have extensive interest, knowledge, and background in tribology. They should have excellent theoretical grasp of fundamentals and be able to explain these clearly and concisely to non-experts in the field. They should be intimately familiar with all common friction, wear, load, hardness, lubrication etc…tests and characterizations and relevant instrumentation. Practical knowledge and modelling of data gathered from tests and instrumentation must also be demonstrable through previous academic or industrial experience.

• PhD in Engineering, Material Science, Physics or related disciplines and industrial relevant work experience.
• Prior long-term usage of Bruker’s tribology instruments is a significant benefit.
• Prior usage of competitive instrumentation also very beneficial.
• Typical office environment.
• Travel requirements up to 40% of the work time (typically ~25% travel time and mostly within NA, incidentally to other regions).
• Must be able to push cart up to 50 lbs. occasionally to move instrumentation.
• Must be able to lift up to 50 lbs occasionally to pack/ unpack instrumentation.
• Able to work in Government sites, cleanroom, production floor & laboratory environments.

At Bruker, base salary is part of our total compensation. The estimated base salary range for this full-time position is between $96,746 and $143,000 and provides an opportunity to progress as you grow and develop within a role. The base salary for the role will depend on a several job-related factors, including, but not limited to education, training, experience, the geographic location of the successful candidate, skills, competencies, job-related knowledge and travel requirements for this position. Full-time employees may also be eligible for a performance-related incentive in addition to a full range of benefits including 401(k) with company match, an employee stock purchase plan, medical and dental plans, life insurance, short-term and long-term disability insurance, employee assistance program and paid time off including vacation, sick time and holidays, and more.

Bruker is a federal contractor and subject to Executive Order 14042. Under Executive Order 14042, all employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (with limited exceptions for those employees who are unable to be vaccinated due to a medical condition or a sincerely held religions belief). You will need to provide proof of vaccination by submitting a copy of your CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card to Bruker, or obtain a religious or medical exemption, as a condition of employment.

Bruker is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other protected characteristics.

Certain positions at Bruker require compliance with export control laws and as a result, all interviewed candidates for all positions will be screened pre-interview to determine their eligibility in light of export control restrictions.