Senior Materials Engineer (Gel)

Role Overview

In this role, you will lead the development of advanced materials and components using our proprietary gel-enabled metal manufacturing technology. Specifically, you will be responsible for the research and development of functional polymer gel systems, including property tuning and process development from early-stage R&D through scale-up.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the formulation, optimization, and updating of functional polymer gel systems for advanced manufacturing applications.
• Design and evaluate stimuli-responsive behaviors of polymer gels, and interpret these behaviors based on polymer network theories and structure-property relationships.
• Analyze and design reaction-diffusion processes within polymer gels, including mass transport and chemical reactions under confined geometries.
• Develop and optimize vat photopolymerization-based processes, with particular attention to polymerization kinetics and their impact on printed structures.
• Identify core technical challenges in scaling gel-based processes from R&D to manufacturing, and rapidly develop hypothesis-driven solutions.
• Provide clear technical feedback, documentation, and design guidelines to international R&D and manufacturing teams.
• Prepare technical reports, experimental plans, and data-driven discussions to support decision-making across projects.

Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree at minimum; Ph.D. strongly preferred in Chemistry, Materials Science, Polymer Science, Chemical Engineering, or a related field.
• Strong background in stimuli-responsive polymer gel behavior, polymer network models, and structure-property-function relationships.
• Understanding of reaction-diffusion phenomena and transport processes in polymer or soft material systems.
• Experience applying first-principles and hypothesis-driven approaches to complex, open-ended R&D problems.
• Ability to design experiments, analyze data, and communicate technical results clearly through reports and discussions.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and take technical ownership in an R&D environment with high uncertainty and ambitious timelines.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on experience with photopolymerization and photopolymerization kinetics.
• Experience with 3D printing processes, particularly gel-based or vat polymerization systems.
• Familiarity with analytical, thermal, or mechanical characterization techniques relevant to polymer gels and advanced materials manufacturing (e.g., rheology, thermal analysis, spectroscopic or microscopy methods).
• Experience or familiarity with scale-up considerations, including QC/QA aspects of material and process development.
• Interest in applications enabled by advanced materials and manufacturing technologies, and alignment with the broader company vision.

Work Schedule And Compensation

Working Hours: Standard business hours with flexibility available.
Occasional domestic and international travel
Benefits: Medical and dental insurance coverage, paid leave, maternity/paternity leave, and caregiving leave

Application Process

Interested candidates should complete the application form or send their resume or CV to: applications@3d-architech.com