{"id":498772,"url":"https://alion.io/job/sri-international-materials-research-scientistengineer","title":"Materials Research Scientist/Engineer","company":{"id":58826,"name":"SRI International","domain":"sri.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/sri-international","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"iCIMS","truth_index":null},"role":"Data Science","role_family":"Data Science","seniority":"junior","employment_type":null,"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":115710,"max":172115,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":172115},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Ansys HFSS","optional":false},{"name":"Machine Learning","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-07T08:48:36Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-19","last_verified_at":"2026-10-30T19:25:16Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":53,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":53},"description":"Overview\nThe Optical Materials group is seeking an enthusiastic Materials Research Scientist/Engineer to join our team at SRI International’s Menlo Park, California headquarters. You will have the opportunity to make important contributions to on-going and future R&D programs in nanophotonic inverse design, metasurfaces, quantum optics, and more.\nSRI International is an independent nonprofit research organization with a mission to create world-changing solutions that make people safer, healthier, and more productive. From the computer mouse to robotic surgery, cancer treatments, and more, SRI’s 75 years of innovation have created new industries, billions of dollars in market value, and lasting benefits to society. SRI was instrumental in the creation of the internet, high-definition television, and the U.S Postal Service’s automated letter sorting system. Some of its many successful spinout companies include E-Trade, Siri, Symantec, Intuitive Surgical, and Nuance. CHECK OUT OUR HISTORY!\nThe Optical Materials group is part of the Space & Survivability Lab within the Advanced Technology and Systems Division at SRI. The lab is home to several collaborative groups that perform research and development in a variety of areas, including optical materials, advanced sensing systems, nanofabrication, energetic materials, radar systems, and atmospheric science. By and large, our lab is focused on applying academic research to address DoD applications. CHECK OUT OUR LAB!\nResponsibilities\nPerform numerical simulations to analyze and optimize nanophotonic devices\nApply your scientific creativity to develop new concepts and research areas\nConduct business development and contribute to white papers and proposals\nProvide technical briefings and reports and support client engagement\nCollaborate with multi-disciplinary staff\nThis is a junior PI-track (principal investigator) opportunity to be mentored to become a PI for new research thrusts; based on your own ideas and direct interactions with customers, both in and outside your area of academic expertise.\nQualifications\nPhD in Physics, Optics, Electrical Engineering, or related discipline with 0-2 years of relevant experience required.Higher levels of relevant experience with demonstrated independent work or task leadership skills will also be considered.\n\nExperience with commercial full-wave electromagnetic modeling software, such as Ansys HFSS or COMSOL Multiphysics.\nFamiliarity with inverse design and/or machine learning is a plus.\nU.S. Citizenship with the ability to obtain/maintain DoD security clearance required. Current clearance is a plus.\nLimited travel required.\nThe salary range is: $115,710-$172,115. Salary ranges will vary and are based on several factors, including geographic location, market competitiveness and equity amongst internal employees in similar roles. Positions may also qualify for SRI's Pay for Outstanding Performance program or the annual Performance Based Compensation program. SRI also has a competitive benefits package, to view details please go to https://www.sri.com/resources/benefits/. SRI will accept applications until the position is filled.\nSRI is an independent nonprofit research institute headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif., with a rich history of supporting government and industry. We create and deliver world-changing solutions for a safer, healthier, and more sustainable future. For more than 75 years, we have collaborated across technical and scientific disciplines to discover and develop groundbreaking products and technologies and bring innovations and ideas to the marketplace.","description_format":"text","description_chars":3617,"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":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["AI Research Labs","Nonprofits & Foundations","Research Institutes"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-07T08:48:36Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 18","filings_12m":18,"filings_prev_12m":18,"green_card_filings_12m":0,"median_offered_wage_usd":140000,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-29T16:27:21+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":7,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.252,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":52,"expected_fill_days":12,"reasons":["conf:3","win:tail","crowd:junior"],"computed_at":"2026-10-30T05:48:23Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":172115,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/sri-international-materials-research-scientistengineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/sri-international-materials-research-scientistengineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-30T22:57:32Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":13997,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-31T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":58826},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=58826"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fsri-international-materials-research-scientistengineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fsri-international-materials-research-scientistengineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fsri-international-materials-research-scientistengineer"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/sri-international-materials-research-scientistengineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fsri-international-materials-research-scientistengineer"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":498772}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"sri.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":498772},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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