Materials Scientist

Role details

About Cellsense

Cellsense transforms algae and cellulose into sustainable beads and beaded fabrics for the fashion, jewelry, and beauty industries. Cellsense’s proprietary material replaces sources of microplastics and heavy metal pollution while offering designers a wide range of brilliant colors, clarities, and properties such as fluorescence. Our innovative manufacturing system cuts lead time of customized beaded products from weeks to days by eliminating expensive tooling and tedious manual labor from conventional processes. Currently, we are focused on scaling up our process while engaging in paid pilots with industry partners.

We recently closed our pre-seed round and have received inbound interest from 55+ companies. You would be joining at a particularly exciting stage of growth.

The Role

We're looking for a Material Scientist to own formulation development at Cellsense. You'll work across our biopolymer systems to improve clarity, surface finish, durability, and processing behavior, and move formulations from the bench into repeatable production.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys hands-on work, learning across disciplines, and contributing wherever needed in a small-team environment. You'll collaborate closely with our founder, engineering team, customers, and technical advisors, and have a meaningful impact on the development and deployment of Cellsense's next-generation material and manufacturing capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Design and run experiments to refine biopolymer blends for clarity, surface finish, mechanical strength, durability, and processability
• Experiment with fillers, plasticizers, crosslinking chemistry, and processing aids to hit specific optical and mechanical targets
• Improve batch-to-batch consistency of color and optical effects
• Define drying and curing protocols and process windows to keep results repeatable
• Characterize material properties using relevant analytical methods to inform formulation decisions
• Create reproducible protocols and establish and maintain QA/QC standards across production
• Optimize formulation rheology so automated dispensing and molding run consistently
• Contribute to grant submissions and technical work for certifications when required

Desired Qualifications

• MS or PhD in materials science, polymer chemistry, chemical engineering, or a closely related field with at least 2 years of industry experience. Strong candidates with a BS and 3-5 years of relevant industry experience will also be considered.
• Hands-on experience formulating polymers, hydrogels, or composites.
• Strong understanding of biopolymers, crosslinking mechanisms, rheology, and phase behavior.
• Experience with drying or curing behavior in process-sensitive materials
• A track record of owning work end to end: you've defined the problem, designed the experiments, and delivered a result
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
• Ability to work independently and take ownership in a small team setting

Location

• This role can be based in either Brooklyn or Buffalo New York
• On-site

What We Offer

• $80k - $110k Salary + equity
• Health insurance and benefits
• Opportunity to work on meaningful environmental impact as part of a tightly knit team
• Ownership of formulation and chemistry development
• Job Type: Full-time, on-site

Application Instructions

• Apply and send your CV and a brief summary or portfolio of relevant projects to

[email protected]

with the subject line "Material Scientist."

• We are unable to provide visa sponsorship for this position.