Lead Scientist

Role details

Organizational Relationships and Culture

This position reports to the CTO and works day-to-day with the R&D team, with scientific and technical guidance from the VP of Materials Engineering and the Chief Science Officer. A Lead Scientist directs the technical work of the scientists in their mission area. The role partners closely with Production on trials, RCA, and process optimization, and interacts with vendors, external test labs, and certification bodies as needed.

You will uphold and promote company core values and culture, and take on special projects as directed by your manager. You communicate clearly in writing and in person with the credibility to represent the company externally, and the humility to lead through technical standing rather than title. You have a builder’s mindset: comfortable with ambiguity, energized by establishing methods where none exist yet, and willing to do the unglamorous work that makes data trustworthy.

General Summary / Position Purpose

The Lead Scientist owns the materials science and chemistry behind SUPERWOOD — a molecularly densified wood material — from the bench to the production line. It’s a hands-on research leadership role at a DOE-backed climate-materials company: you’ll help set the technical approach for how we establish and improve material properties, and turn experimental evidence into decisions the company can defend to certification bodies, partners, and customers.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

• Owns the program area — translates R&D priorities from the CTO office and leadership into a sequenced experimental plan. Directs the day-to-day technical work of the scientists executing it, and participates.
• Owns materials characterization — designs, runs, and supervises the experiments that establish how SUPERWOOD performs: mechanical testing, dimensional stability, moisture behavior, density, and fire performance — and relates each to composition, cell-wall chemistry, and microstructure.
• Develops the methods and protocolsthat make repeatable experiments.
• Designs studies that hold up — brings statistical rigor to experiments. Defines what a verified result looks like before data moves downstream, and pairs results with the underlying chemistry or mechanism that explains them.
• Leads root-cause analysis and process optimization — serves as a lead technical contributor to optimization on the commercial production line: early trials of new recipes and treatment chemistries, performance data feedback, and lab-to-pilot scale-up.
• Exercises release judgment — responsible for final sign-off of reports on R&D experiments and projects.
• Owns certification and external testing on the program — directing test plans and data packages for third-party and standards testing (e.g., ASTM, E84, ICC-ES), and manages the technical relationship with external test labs and certification bodies.
• Turns data into decisions — keeps the materials property database current, delivers clear reports on program status, and supports grant reporting and IP protection with defensible evidence.
• Mentors scientists and technicians on study design, methods, and record-keeping, and reviews protocols and reports before they leave the team.
• Follows all safety policies, standards, and regulations.

Minimum Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Required

• Education and experience — a PhD in chemistry, materials science and engineering, or chemical engineering — or in wood science, polymer science, or a related field with a strong chemistry foundation — or an MS in the same fields with equivalent research depth. PhD + 6 years or MS + 9 years, including a record of owning a technical area and directing other scientists. Equivalent scope considered.
• Demonstrated ownership of experimental characterization: compositional and structural methods (spectroscopy, thermal analysis, microscopy) alongside mechanical and/or thermal testing, instrumentation and data acquisition, and test standards. Building test setups from scratch.
• Working knowledge of lignocellulosic or polymer chemistry.
• A solid grounding in applied statistics and design of experiments — with the analysis skills to back it (Python, MATLAB, or similar) and the discipline to document assumptions so results are reproducible.
• Fluent in English; able to work onsite 5 days a week in Frederick, MD, including evenings and weekends as deadlines require.

Physical Demands

• Must be able to remain in a stationary position 50–75% of the time, with prolonged periods standing at a lab table or operating equipment, and to navigate the organization’s physical premises.
• Must be able to lift up to 40 pounds, and to be fitted for and wear appropriate PPE in lab and production areas.