Scientist II / Senior Scientist, Solid-State Materials Synthesis, Lila Sciences (Cambridge, MA)
Job Description
Lila Sciences is hiring a Scientist II or Senior Scientist in solid-state materials for its Vacuum Synthesis team in Cambridge, Massachusetts. You will make new inorganic materials inside an AI-guided, automated lab. The base salary range is $126,000 to $198,000 a year.
At a glance
- Position: Scientist II / Senior Scientist, Solid-State Materials
- Team: Vacuum Synthesis
- Where: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- Pay: $126,000 to $198,000 a year base, plus bonus potential and equity
- Posted: 28 September 2026
- Apply: open until filled (re-checked 2 November 2026)
What the solid-state materials scientist at Lila will do
- Plan and run synthesis campaigns across many chemical systems: melt, flux, vapour transport, soft-chemical, topochemical, single-crystal growth and high-pressure routes
- Turn phase-diagram and crystal-chemistry reasoning into ranked synthesis plans for new inorganic compounds
- Reach metastable phases through low-temperature and soft-chemical routes
- Build powder XRD, phase ID and refinement workflows with the characterisation team
- Screen magnetic, transport and optical properties, and feed results into closed-loop, AI-guided experiments
Why this role matters
Finding a new functional material can take years of trial and error. Lila pairs chemists with AI models and automated instruments to shorten that loop. This role brings the synthesis judgement the machines need.
What Lila Sciences is looking for
- A PhD in solid-state chemistry, inorganic chemistry, materials science or a related field, with 1 to 5 years of postdoc or industry experience
- A record of new inorganic compounds across several chemical systems
- Hands-on skill in several synthesis methods, and campaigns driven by property targets such as magnetism or transport
- Strong command of multicomponent phase diagrams, and deep skill in XRD and Rietveld refinement
- Work across diffraction, magnetometry, transport, spectroscopy and microscopy, and good teamwork
Nice to have
- Single-crystal growth, especially metallic flux; also vapour transport, Bridgman or floating zone
- Sintering, hot pressing, spark plasma sintering or arc melting
- Neutron scattering or pair distribution function (PDF) analysis
- Glovebox or Schlenk work, high-pressure synthesis, thin-film deposition, Python, and automated labs
Pay and location
The posting gives an expected base salary range of $126,000 to $198,000 USD a year, plus bonus potential and early-stage equity. The role is in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The ad does not mention visa sponsorship.
How to apply
Apply through the official Lila Sciences job posting. Lila Sciences’s posting does not give a closing date, so the role is open until filled; ResearchJobs.in will re-check this listing on 2 November 2026. Check the posting for location and work-authorisation details before you apply.
See all our industry R&D jobs, or browse more research jobs on ResearchJobs.in.
Hiring institution: Lila Sciences
Official advertisement: job-boards.greenhouse.io
How to prepare for this application
- Show a portfolio of compounds. List new phases you made, the routes you used and what you measured.
- Explain one hard synthesis. Pick a metastable or air-sensitive target and walk through your choices.
- Know your Rietveld. Expect detailed questions on refinement and quantitative phase analysis.
- Think about automation. Say which of your steps a robot could run and which need human judgement.
- Ask about visas early. The ad is silent on sponsorship.
About Lila Sciences
Lila Sciences is a company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It builds AI systems and automated lab instruments that run experiments in medicine, materials and energy.
