Scientist, Oxide and Ceramic Materials

About Radical AI

Radical AI is a materials company replacing the R&D process that currently takes 10 years and $100 million to produce a single discovery. Instead of leaving world-changing industries like aerospace, automotive, energy, manufacturing, semiconductors, and space to engineer around material shortcomings, Radical invents new materials for specific performance goals in a matter of weeks. This acceleration of research is fueled by scientific agents that simulate novel compositions and then send them directly into an automated lab for physical synthesis, characterization, and validation.

About the Role

Radical is hiring a generalist materials scientist with deep experience in oxides and ceramics. This role sits across projects rather than inside a single narrow chemistry: you will define the composition space worth exploring — dopants, precursor chemistries, sintering conditions, or phase targets — and set the synthesis and characterization protocols the platform executes, on whatever oxide or ceramic system the science roadmap calls for next. Where a traditional lab tests one candidate at a time, here you queue up dozens, review the resulting structural and compositional data as it comes in, and use it to decide the next round. You bring the materials intuition that took years to build; the platform gives you the throughput to test it at a scale no bench scientist has ever had. You will not run experiments one at a time and hope — you will design the space of what to try, and watch the platform explore all of it, fast.

Responsibilities

• Design and execute synthesis routes for oxide and ceramic materials across a range of compositions and applications.
• Characterize materials using standard techniques (XRD, SEM, and related methods) and use the results to guide subsequent synthesis rounds.
• Apply generalist materials knowledge across multiple concurrent projects rather than specializing in a single system.
• Partner with Radical's automation and ML teams to translate domain expertise into the platform's experiment design.
• Contribute to the broader science roadmap as Radical's materials portfolio expands.

Requirements

• PhD in materials science, ceramics engineering, chemistry, or a related field, with research experience in oxide or ceramic materials.
• Recent graduates and early-career researchers (a few years post-PhD) are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Hands-on experience synthesizing oxide or ceramic materials and characterizing them with standard tools (XRD, electron microscopy, and related methods).
• Comfort moving across projects and material systems rather than working within one narrow chemistry.
• Comfort working in a fast-moving, iterative environment where experiment cycles happen in days, not months.
• Genuine interest in automation and AI as tools that extend, not replace, scientific judgment.
• Both academic and industry backgrounds are welcome.

Logistics

This is an in-person role based in New York City. Radical supports relocation for the right candidate.