Principal Investigator / Senior Scientist

About the role

Hummingbird Scientific is seeking a Principal Investigator / Senior Scientist to join our team and lead grant-funded research, manage multidisciplinary R&D projects, and develop and validate new scientific instrumentation. This role focuses on building our research program by identifying relevant funding opportunities, writing competitive grant proposals, and translating promising scientific ideas into practical capabilities and new products. The position combines scientific research and hands-on technical problem-solving with responsibility for leading complex projects from proposal development through execution and reporting. Working closely with engineers and other technical contributors, the successful candidate will translate research objectives into working hardware, conduct experiments, troubleshoot technical challenges, and validate new systems. The role also involves providing technical direction to multidisciplinary project teams by assigning responsibilities, establishing priorities, tracking progress, and coordinating resources across functional groups—even when team members report to other managers. Success in this role requires an independent, proactive, and organized individual who takes ownership of overall project outcomes, including delegated work, and balances technical excellence with timely delivery. The ability to communicate effectively across disciplines is essential, as is the skill to convey research findings through technical reports, publications, and presentations. At Hummingbird Scientific, scientific leadership means more than developing research ideas or directing experiments: it means bringing people together to solve difficult technical problems and turn challenging concepts into functioning instruments used by scientists around the world.

Requirements

• Demonstrated ability to lead complex R&D projects from initial concept through technical planning, execution, and delivery.
• Demonstrated success in developing and submitting competitive grant proposals and securing grant funding.
• Demonstrated experience developing, troubleshooting, and validating scientific instrumentation or experimental setups.
• Strong ability to communicate complex technical ideas clearly, connecting detailed science with broader impact.
• Expert-level, hands-on experience in TEM, SEM, and/or X-ray synchrotron–based experiments.

Qualifications

• PhD in materials science, physics, chemistry, biology, or a closely related discipline.
• Demonstrated experience supervising and directing technical personnel within multidisciplinary R&D or engineering projects.

Optional Qualifications

• Experience with in-situ or operando microscopy.
• Experience in a small business, startup, or applied R&D environment.