Current Opportunity

Senior Scientist, Formulation Lead (Full-Time)

The role: Own the design, formulation, and characterization of VioNano's products. You will work directly on the customer projects that are defining our commercial path and pushing the limits of patterning. Own the design, formulation, and characterization of VioNano's products and work directly on the customer projects that are defining our commercial path.

Location: Cambridge, MA (The Engine, MIT.nano, and Harvard’s Center for Nanoscale Systems) 

Job Type: Full-time

The Opportunity

We're hiring our first Senior Scientist to join the product development team alongside our CTO, Phil Hustad (PhD Cornell, 24 years at Dow and 3M, 150+ patents). This is a hands-on lab role — you'll own the design, formulation, and characterization of VioNano's products and work directly on the customer projects that are defining our commercial path — with plenty of room for growth.

This is not a support role. You'll have real ownership over experimental direction, formulation decisions, and the translation of our materials from R&D into qualified products. If you want to do important work in an environment where your contributions are directly visible, this is that job.

What you’ll do

  • Design and develop precision polymeric materials, with a focus on controlled molecular weight distribution, functional group incorporation, and end-group chemistry

  • Execute synthesis of same polymeric materials either directly on in partnership with university labs and contract research organizations

  • Develop and optimize formulated products for semiconductor patterning applications — from initial concept through performance characterization

  • Run and interpret characterization experiments (GPC, NMR, AFM, contact angle, ellipsometry, and process-relevant metrics) to guide formulation decisions

  • Work directly on active customer projects — preparing samples, analyzing results, and communicating findings to both internal and external stakeholders

  • Contribute to building repeatable lab processes and documentation standards as we scale from early R&D to qualified product

  • Collaborate with the CTO on experimental roadmaps and technical strategy

What We're Looking For

Required:

  • PhD in Polymer Science, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Chemistry, or a closely related field — or equivalent demonstrated capability through industry experience (we'll consider exceptional candidates without a PhD who have a strong track record)

  • 5–10 years of hands-on industry experience in formulation, polymer synthesis, or materials development

  • Direct experience developing formulated products from polymeric materials for coatings, patterning, fabrication, or related applications — you've taken a material from bench to a form that a customer can use

  • Comfortable working at lab scale in a resource-constrained environment; you can design experiments with limited equipment and get meaningful results

  • Strong scientific communication — able to write clear experimental summaries and present results to both technical and non-technical audiences

Strongly Preferred:

  • Prior startup experience

  • Experience in semiconductor, electronic materials, or other high performance advanced materials market

  • Background at companies working at the intersection of advanced polymers and precision manufacturing — startups or established material suppliers

  • Familiarity with patterning performance metrics: surface roughness, uniformity, defect density, contact angle, and related characterization

What kind of person thrives here:

You're someone who is energized by working in a space where the answers aren't known yet. You take ownership of problems rather than waiting for direction. You're rigorous but pragmatic — you know when a perfect result is worth waiting for and when a good-enough result unblocks the next step. You want to see your work matter, and you want to work with people who are genuinely excellent.

Why Join VioNano?

  • The opportunity to be one of the first scientists at a company doing genuinely new work in semiconductor materials

  • Direct collaboration with a world-class technical co-founder

  • Access to MIT.nano facilities through the START.nano program

  • Competitive salary and meaningful early-stage equity

  • Cambridge, MA location — on-site (lab work requires physical presence)

How to apply

Send a resume and a brief note on why this role interests you to jobs@vionano.com. We're especially interested in hearing about specific formulation or synthesis projects you've led and what made them challenging.