Platform Scientist I/II, Functional Materials Instrumentation
Lila Sciences
$108,000 - $170,000 / year
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Description
Your Impact at LILA
Lila Sciences is seeking a Platform Scientist I/II to advance functional materials innovation.
In this role, you will design and integrate custom instruments and specialized hardware, to fabricate, characterize, and test novel functional materials and devices.
This work sits at the intersection of hardware design, materials science, solid-state physics, and automated experimentation. Success means building lab capabilities that accelerate current technical programs and strengthen Lila's platform offering for future customers.
What You'll Be Building
- Establish fabrication and measurement workflows for functional materials.
- Specify, source, assemble, and validate custom synthesis and characterization systems, with an emphasis on optical characterization methods
- Lead integration of instrumentation into autonomous lab and AI-driven experimental workflows.
- Diagnose, iterate, and improve instrument designs based on experimental feedback.
- Partner with computational, synthesis, and characterization teams to define which hardware capabilities to build next.
What You'll Need to Succeed
- PhD or equivalent experience in applied physics, materials science, chemistry, or a related field.
- Scientific domain of expertise in functional materials (semiconductor, photonics, superconducting materials etc.)
- Expertise in solid state syntheses and characterization for functional materials
- Proven ability to build and integrate hardware for novel and high throughput experimentation.
- Ability to work in fast, data-driven, high-throughput R&D environments.
Bonus Points For
- Proficient in writing software for controls, data collection, and analysis.
- CAD, machining/3D printing, and rapid prototyping for custom hardware.
- Knowledge of AI/ML-driven discovery workflows or autonomous lab platforms.
- Experience with class 4 lasers
Compensation
We offer competitive base compensation with bonus potential and generous early-stage equity. Your final offer will reflect your background, expertise, and expected impact.
U.S. Benefits. Full-time U.S. employees receive a comprehensive benefits program including medical, dental, and vision coverage; employer-paid life and disability insurance; flexible time off with generous company wide holidays; paid parental leave; an educational assistance program; commuter benefits, including bike share memberships for office based employees; and a company subsidized lunch program.
International Benefits. Full-time employees outside the U.S. receive a comprehensive benefits program tailored to their region. USD salary ranges apply only to U.S.-based positions; international salaries are set to local market.
About LILA
Lila Sciences is building Scientific Superintelligence™ to solve humankind's greatest challenges. We believe science is the most inspiring frontier for AI. Rather than hard-coding expert knowledge into tools, LILA builds systems that can learn for themselves.
LILA combines advanced AI models with proprietary AI Science Factory™ instruments into an operating system for science that executes the entire scientific method autonomously, accelerating discovery at unprecedented speed, scale, and impact across medicine, materials, and energy. Learn more at www.lila.ai.
Guided by our core values of truth, trust, curiosity, grit, and velocity, we move with startup speed while tackling problems of historic importance. If this sounds like an environment you'd love to work in, even if you don't meet every qualification listed above, we encourage you to apply.
We’re All In
Lila Sciences is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.
Information you provide during your application process will be handled in accordance with our Candidate Privacy Policy.
A Note to Agencies
Lila Sciences does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to Lila Sciences or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Lila Science’s internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of Lila Sciences, and Lila Sciences will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.
Benefits
- health insurance
- vision insurance
- stock options
- parental leave
- disability insurance
About this role
Lila Sciences is building autonomous lab platforms that combine AI with custom instrumentation, and this role sits at the heart of that effort. As a Platform Scientist, you would design and integrate the hardware systems—synthesis equipment, optical characterization tools, and measurement devices—that enable their AI to run experiments at scale. You'd work across the full lifecycle: specifying instruments, assembling custom systems, validating them against real experimental data, and iterating based on what the lab learns. This is hands-on work that bridges materials science, hardware engineering, and automation.
The ideal candidate brings a PhD-level background in applied physics, materials science, or chemistry, with deep expertise in functional materials like semiconductors or photonics and proven experience building and integrating hardware for high-throughput experimentation. You'd be most effective if you're comfortable in fast-moving, data-driven environments and can partner effectively with computational and synthesis teams to prioritize what to build next. Software skills for controls and data collection, CAD and prototyping experience, or familiarity with autonomous lab platforms would strengthen your candidacy, though the core need is someone who can translate material science challenges into working instruments.
How this employer is doing
solid
- H1B: Sponsors Visas
- Recently Raised Funding
- Sponsors Visas
In the news
Lila Sciences in talks for $2B funding at $8.5B valuation - Bloomberg, Investing.com
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Pay for this role
$108,000 to $170,000 per year
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