Principal Materials Scientist - Wilmington, MA, United States

Originally posted 26 August 2026 by the employer — open 21 days.

About the role

As a Principal Materials Scientist, you will provide technical leadership in materials research, characterization, process development, and failure analysis.

What you'll do

• Lead research, evaluation, and development of advanced materials, coatings, ceramics, and metals.
• Provide technical leadership for material selection, qualification, reliability improvement, and root cause investigations.
• Design and execute material characterization, testing, and failure analysis activities utilizing advanced analytical techniques.
• Support customer engagements by addressing complex technical challenges and translating customer requirements into material solutions.
• Mentor engineers and scientists while influencing technical decisions across multiple projects and business functions.

What you'll need

• Masters in Materials Science, Materials Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, or a closely related technical discipline.
• 12+ years of industry experience in materials research, product development, or advanced technology environments.
• Deep expertise in materials characterization techniques, including microscopy, spectroscopy, surface analysis, and thermal/mechanical testing.
• Demonstrated experience developing and qualifying materials for demanding industrial, semiconductor, electronics, vacuum, plasma, or related applications.
• Strong understanding of materials reliability, degradation mechanisms, and failure analysis methodologies.
• Experience with Design of Experiments (DOE), statistical analysis, and modeling tools.

Nice to have

• Ph.D. in Materials Science, Materials Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, or a closely related technical discipline.
• Experience supporting semiconductor capital equipment, advanced packaging, vacuum systems, plasma applications, or advanced manufacturing technologies.
• Expertise in thin films, coatings, surface engineering, ceramics, specialty metals, or advanced composites.
• Knowledge of manufacturing scale-up and materials commercialization processes.
• Experience leading external collaborations with universities, national laboratories, research institutes, or strategic suppliers.
• Demonstrated success developing intellectual property and technology roadmaps.

Skills: materials characterization, microscopy, spectroscopy, surface analysis, materials reliability