Scientist I/II, Characterization and Composition Analysis (AI)

Location: Cambridge, MA, USA; hybrid role

Salary: $108,000–$170,000 USD base salary annually, with bonus potential and early-stage equity

Company

hirify.global develops an autonomous science platform combining experimental science, automation, AI, software, and proprietary instruments to accelerate materials discovery.

What you will do

• Own data quality and integrity for elemental and materials characterization workflows.
• Develop XRF, SEM-EDS, and WDS methods, calibrations, standards, and QC procedures.
• Prepare standards, run samples, interpret spectra, and troubleshoot instrument, sample-preparation, and measurement issues.
• Investigate anomalous or out-of-specification data and determine data validity.
• Design and maintain analyzer software for spectral processing and quantification using shared, tested code.
• Build automated data ingestion, metadata, provenance, and quality-control workflows in collaboration with AI, software, automation, and hardware teams.

Requirements

• PhD in Materials Science, Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, or a related field, or an M.S. with equivalent hands-on characterization experience.
• Hands-on experience with XRF, SEM-EDS, and WDS for elemental analysis.
• Strong knowledge of signal generation, matrix effects, calibration, quantification, spectral interpretation, and common analytical errors.
• Experience preparing standards, validating methods, maintaining QC, and troubleshooting measurement issues.
• Experience writing analysis notebooks and maintaining shared, tested code in a version-controlled codebase.
• Proficiency with Python or an equivalent coding environment and the ability to create reliable, structured, machine-readable data.

Nice to have

• Experience with EPMA, electron microscopy, optical microscopy, XRD, XPS, ICP-OES, ICP-MS, SIMS, or related methods.
• Familiarity with fundamental parameter models, PyMCA, DTSA-II, Probe Software, BadgerFilm, or similar tools.
• Experience developing calibration workflows, reference standards, SOPs, QC systems, training datasets, or automated instrument-data pipelines.

Culture & Benefits

• Startup-speed environment focused on AI-driven scientific discovery.
• Full-time U.S. employees receive medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Benefits include employer-paid life and disability insurance, flexible time off, company-wide holidays, and paid parental leave.
• Educational assistance, commuter benefits, bike-share memberships for office-based employees, and a subsidized lunch program are available.
• Full-time employees outside the U.S. receive benefits tailored to their region.