Sr. R&D Engineer - Lubricant and Materials Development

Location: On-site at the Fremont USA Research Center; travel up to 10%.

Salary: $112,299–$160,594 annual base salary.

Company

hirify.global Technology develops and manufactures data storage products, with this role supporting research and development for perpendicular and heat-assisted magnetic recording media.

What you will do

• Design, synthesize, purify, characterize, and deliver advanced disk lubricant materials for next-generation recording media.
• Develop and optimize lubricant synthesis and purification processes for scalability, robustness, and production yield.
• Develop analytical methods and maintain laboratory capabilities through instrument troubleshooting, preventive maintenance, and test capability expansion.
• Partner with engineering, product development, laboratory, and process teams to evaluate lubricant performance, media design and process changes, and head-disk interface reliability.
• Analyze experimental results, communicate data-driven conclusions, and resolve complex technical and product issues.

Requirements

• Strong hands-on experience in molecular design, organic or oligomer synthesis, purification, and materials characterization.
• Hands-on experience with analytical instrumentation including NMR, GPC, LC-MS, ICP-MS, and GC-MS.
• Experience designing experiments, analyzing complex datasets, troubleshooting technical problems, and clearly documenting conclusions.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials, Physics, or a related engineering field plus 5+ years of experience; or a master’s degree in the same field plus 3+ years of experience; or a PhD plus 0+ years of experience; or equivalent experience and education.
• Ability to work independently, manage multiple technical priorities, and maintain safety, experimental discipline, and data integrity.
• Effective technical writing, presentation, and cross-functional communication skills.

Nice to have

• Experience with advanced surface or materials characterization techniques such as AFM, Candela, SEM/EDX, TOF-SIMS, or ESCA/XPS.
• Knowledge of thin-film media, tribology, or head-disk interface reliability.
• Experience with statistical analysis software and Python or other coding and scripting tools for data processing, visualization, modeling, laboratory automation, or AI-enabled chemistry workflows.
• Experience developing or applying AI or Agentic AI tools to chemistry research, experimental planning, data analysis, knowledge retrieval, or laboratory workflows.
• Knowledge of molecular modeling approaches, including Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations.

Culture & Benefits

• Work on a Gold LEED-certified product-design campus with clean room and laboratory facilities.
• Full-time employee benefits include medical, dental, vision, and life insurance; short- and long-term disability; 401(k); employee stock purchase plan; health savings account; dependent care and healthcare spending accounts.
• Paid time off includes 12 holidays, flexible time off, at least 48 hours of paid sick leave, and 16 weeks of paid parental leave.
• Additional campus amenities include wellness programs, gaming rooms, an on-site fitness center, and social events.
• Eligible employees may participate in a discretionary bonus program.