{"id":1263072,"url":"https://alion.io/job/periodic-labs-research-engineer-lab-automation","title":"Research Engineer, Lab Automation","company":{"id":685855,"name":"Periodic Labs","domain":"periodic.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/periodic","size_band":"201-500","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":86,"open_postings":31,"ghost_share":0.226,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":51,"computed_at":"2026-10-29T05:49:05Z"}},"role":"AI/ML","role_family":"AI/ML","seniority":null,"employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Menlo Park, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":200000,"max":250000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":250000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":true,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"LIMS","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-08-15T05:54:17Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-08-15","last_verified_at":"2026-10-29T17:24:04Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":75,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":0,"flags":["company_stale"],"days_open":74},"description":"We're an AI and physical sciences company building state-of-the-art models to accelerate breakthroughs across materials, energy, and beyond. Backed by world-class investors and growing rapidly, we operate at the pace the frontier requires. Our team brings deep expertise, genuine ownership, and an insatiable drive to push the boundaries of what's scientifically possible.\nAbout the Role\nWe're building an autonomous lab to speed up materials discovery, and we need someone who understands thin film research from the inside - someone who's deposited and characterized films, troubleshot instruments, and knows what makes an experiment reproducible.\nAs our Research Engineer, you'll work directly with scientists to understand what they're trying to learn, then translate that into the hardware setups, instrument sequences, and engineering requirements that make it possible to automate. You'll bring hands-on experimental judgment and Python skills to connect thin-film synthesis, characterization, and data collection into reliable workflows.\nWhat You'll Do\nWork closely with bench scientists to understand experimental goals and turn them into concrete hardware and workflow requirements.\n\nEvaluate, select, and configure deposition and characterization instrumentation and hardware to support thin film workflows.\n\nDesign and prototype experimental and automation workflows that connect thin film deposition, characterization, and data collection.\n\nServe as the technical bridge between scientists and the automation/software engineering team, helping define and test instrument interfaces and integration.\n\nTroubleshoot instrument and workflow issues that require materials domain knowledge to diagnose.\n\nCollaborate with AI and data scientists to capture experimental conditions and results in formats that support analysis and planning.\n\nYou Will Thrive in This Role If You Have\nPhD in Materials Science, Physics, Electrical Engineering, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent research experience).\n\nHands-on experience in a thin-film lab, including film deposition and characterization.\n\nStrong working knowledge of deposition equipment and the supporting hardware, such as vacuum systems, gas handling, temperature control, and characterization.\n\nAbility to communicate fluently with both scientists and engineers, and to translate scientific intent into clear technical requirements.\n\nComfort writing Python to interact with instruments, manipulate experimental data, and prototype automation workflows\n\nEspecially Strong Candidates May Also Have\nPrior experience working alongside automation or software engineers.\n\nExperience integrating or retrofitting instruments, controllers, or sensors for automated operation.\n\nExperience with electronic lab notebooks, LIMS, or other lab data systems.\n\nA track record of designing or adapting experimental protocols for higher-throughput or automated execution.\n\nExperience with closed-loop experimentation, using measurement results to guide subsequent experiments.\n\nMechanics\nMinimum education: PhD or equivalent combination of education and hands-on research experience\n\nLocation: Menlo Park, CA\n\nCompensation: $200,000-$250,000 + equity\n\nVisa sponsorship: Yes, we sponsor visas.","description_format":"text","description_chars":3263,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"phd","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Laboratory & Pharmaceutical Robotics","AI Research Labs","AI for 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