XRD Facility Manager

Periodic Labs; Menlo Park (CA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 275,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Job summary

Periodic Labs in Menlo Park, CA, seeks an experienced diffraction specialist to manage our X-ray diffraction facility across powder, thin-film, and capillary measurements. You will align and calibrate instruments, maintain standards, train users, and ensure data integrity.

Collaborating with synthesis, software, and research teams, you will help specify new instruments, write SOPs, and ensure safety and compliant operations while advancing performance of our XRD assets.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of hands‑on experience operating and maintaining X-ray diffractometers in a research or industrial setting.
• Strong XRD background across powder, thin-film, and capillary/transmission work with proficiency in phase identification and quantitative analysis.
• Experience maintaining several instruments from more than one vendor; able to troubleshoot hardware and decide on repairs.
• Meticulous documentation habits; treat metadata as part of the measurement.
• Ability to support many users in a busy lab while maintaining good practice.
• PhD in materials science, physics, chemistry, or related field, or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Instrument alignment, calibration, configuration control, and uptime across the facility.
• Establish reference standards and QC schedules for consistent results across instruments.
• Handle difficult measurements including non-routine geometries and non-ambient stages.
• Maintenance and repair: coordinating service contracts and vendor visits.
• Commissioning new instruments: site prep, acceptance testing, and comparisons against existing instruments.
• User training: certify scientists and technicians, review runs, provide support.
• Documentation: maintain SOPs, measurement recipes, and data-reduction conventions.
• Radiation safety: X-ray registrations, interlock testing, surveys, and handling of gases.

Skills

X-ray diffraction expertise

Education

PhD in materials science, physics, chemistry, or related field

Tools

Rietveld refinement

Powder, thin-film, capillary XRD

Job description

About Periodic Labs

Periodic Labs is an AI and physical sciences company in Menlo Park, CA. We run an in-house materials synthesis and characterization lab alongside our research teams.

About the role

We are looking for an experienced diffraction specialist to manage our X-ray diffraction facility, which includes multiple laboratory diffractometers used for powder, thin-film, and capillary measurements. You will be responsible for instrument alignment and calibration, preventive maintenance and repair, user training, measurement standards, radiation safety, and overall attention to the performance of the X-ray equipment.

You will also help specify and commission new instruments, write the SOPs and qualification protocols the group works from, and work with our software team so that instrument data and metadata are recorded consistently. You will work daily with scientists, technicians, and engineers across synthesis, software, and research.

Responsibilities

• Instrument alignment, calibration, configuration control, and uptime across the facility, including the criteria used to decide whether an instrument is ready for use.

• Reference standards and quality control: maintain house standards and a regular QC schedule so that the same standard gives consistent results across instruments

• Difficult measurements: non-routine geometries, weakly scattering or air-sensitive samples, thin films, and non-ambient stages, with attention to distinguishing instrument artifacts from real effects.

• Maintenance and repair: troubleshooting and preventive maintenance; coordination of service contracts and vendor visits when needed.

• Commissioning new instruments: site preparation, acceptance testing, and comparison against existing instruments.

• User training: train and certify scientists and technicians, review early runs, and provide support.

• Documentation and data: maintain SOPs, measurement recipes, and data-reduction conventions; ensure raw data, instrument state, calibration status, and sample metadata are recorded consistently and in a structured format.

• Radiation safety: X-ray equipment registration and compliance, interlock testing, surveys, along with compressed gas and cryogen handling for non-ambient stages.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of hands‑on experience operating and maintaining X-ray diffractometers in a university shared facility, national lab, analytical services lab, industrial R&D lab, or at an instrument vendor.

• Strong XRD background across powder, thin-film, and capillary/transmission work. Proficient in phase identification, Rietveld refinement, and quantitative analysis.

• Experience maintaining several instruments, ideally from more than one vendor. Comfortable troubleshooting hardware and judging when to repair versus call for service.

• Careful documentation habits; treats metadata as part of the measurement.

• Able to support many users in a busy lab while maintaining good practice.

• PhD in materials science, physics, chemistry, or a related field, or equivalent experience.

Preferred: experience managing a shared user facility or commercial XRD lab, automation, or other materials characterization techniques.

Mechanics

• Type: Full-time

• Location: On‑site in Menlo Park, CA.

• Schedule: Standard weekday schedule.

• Compensation: 200k-275k plus equity, commensurate with experience.

• Work authorization: [Must be authorized to work in the U.S. / Visa sponsorship available for exceptional candidates.]