Scientist I/II, Characterization and Composition Analysis

Your Impact at LILA

Lila Sciences is seeking a Scientist I/II, Characterization and Composition Analysis to join the Materials Science team within the Autonomous Science Platform. The Autonomous Science Platform combines experimental science, automation, AI, and software to accelerate materials discovery. This role turns elemental measurements into trusted, machine-readable composition data that supports scientific decisions, automated workflows, and model development.

This is a hybrid experimental and software-facing role, centered on hands-on characterization with substantial analyzer development. You will work with X-ray fluorescence (XRF), SEM-based energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), wavelength-dispersive spectroscopy (WDS), and related analytical instruments. You will develop and validate methods, prepare standards and calibrations, execute measurements, interpret spectra, and troubleshoot issues from instrument, sample-preparation, and data-quality.

You will also design, write, and maintain the analyzer software behind these workflows. Partnering with AI, software, and automation teams, you will build spectral processing, quantification, automated data ingestion, metadata, provenance, and quality-control systems that make characterization outputs reliable, traceable, and useful at scale.

The ideal candidate is credible at