Diffraction Specialist

Location: On-site in Menlo Park, California, United States

Salary: $200,000–$275,000 annually plus equity

Company

Periodic Labs is an AI and physical sciences company operating an in-house materials synthesis and characterization laboratory alongside research teams.

What you will do

• Manage laboratory X-ray diffractometers for powder, thin-film, and capillary measurements, including alignment, calibration, configuration control, and uptime.
• Maintain reference standards and quality-control schedules to ensure consistent results across instruments.
• Perform difficult measurements involving non-routine geometries, weakly scattering or air-sensitive samples, thin films, and non-ambient stages.
• Troubleshoot and maintain equipment, coordinate service contracts and vendor visits, and commission new instruments through site preparation and acceptance testing.
• Train and certify scientists and technicians, review early measurements, and provide user support.
• Maintain SOPs, measurement recipes, qualification protocols, data-reduction conventions, and structured instrument and sample metadata records.

Requirements

• At least 5 years of hands-on experience operating and maintaining X-ray diffractometers in a shared facility, national laboratory, analytical services laboratory, industrial R&D laboratory, or instrument vendor environment.
• Strong experience with powder, thin-film, and capillary or transmission XRD, including phase identification, Rietveld refinement, and quantitative analysis.
• Experience maintaining multiple instruments, preferably from more than one vendor, with the ability to troubleshoot hardware and determine when service is required.
• Careful documentation practices and the ability to support many users in a busy laboratory.
• PhD in materials science, physics, chemistry, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Must be authorized to work in the United States; visa sponsorship is available for exceptional candidates.

Nice to have

• Experience managing a shared user facility or commercial XRD laboratory.
• Experience with automation or other materials characterization techniques.

Culture & Benefits

• Full-time role with a standard weekday schedule.
• Daily collaboration with scientists, technicians, and engineers across synthesis, software, and research.
• Opportunity to work with an in-house materials synthesis and characterization laboratory.
• Compensation includes equity and is commensurate with experience.