Principal Scientist / Associate Director, Agentic AI Research for Materials Science
$288k - $420k • Cambridge, MA USA; San Francisco, CA USA • Full-time
Posted 3mo ago
This job has been open for more than 60 days. It may no longer be actively hiring, so check with the company before putting a lot into an application.
About the job
Lila Sciences is building Scientific Superintelligence™ to accelerate discovery across medicine, materials, and energy. We are seeking a Principal Scientist / Associate Director to own the technical direction for agentic AI systems applied to materials science. This player-coach role involves leading a small team, setting the roadmap for autonomous agents that plan, run, and interpret materials experiments, and shifting materials research from human-paced to machine-paced iteration. The work spans foundational research and applied delivery, with opportunities to publish and ship systems that materials teams depend on, shaping how Lila scales agentic capabilities.
Responsibilities
- Define and execute the agentic AI roadmap for materials science, including agentic frameworks and retrieval-augmented generation.
- Lead the design of agentic frameworks grounded in scientific understanding and deliver end-to-end systems.
- Hire, mentor, and grow a cross-functional team of scientists and engineers, setting standards for rigor and quality.
- Partner with diverse teams to integrate agentic systems with experimental infrastructure and land them on real programs.
- Track state-of-the-art in agentic AI and related fields, translating external advances into internal direction and publishing research.
Requirements
- PhD in a relevant scientific or ML field with 5+ years of post-PhD research and applied ML experience.
- Track record of building and shipping agentic systems, ML pipelines, or autonomous research workflows with measurable impact.
- Deep expertise in modern ML, NLP, and reasoning, including LLMs, agentic frameworks, tool use, planning, and data extraction.
- Working knowledge of materials science, computational chemistry, or physics to ground agent behavior.
- Proficiency in Python and the ML software stack with strong engineering habits.
- Experience leading scientists and engineers, including setting technical direction, hiring, and mentoring.
Benefits
- Competitive base compensation with bonus potential
- Generous early-stage equity
- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
- Employer-paid life and disability insurance
- Flexible time off with generous company-wide holidays
- Paid parental leave
- Educational assistance program
- Commuter benefits (including bike share for office-based employees)
- Company-subsidized lunch program