Staff Application Development Engineer

About Us

We are Sila, a next-generation battery materials company. Our mission is to power the world’s transition to clean energy. To create this future, our team is building a better lithium-ion battery from the inside out today. We engineer and manufacture ground-breaking battery materials that significantly increase the energy density of batteries, while reducing their size and weight. The result? Smaller more powerful batteries that can unlock innovation in consumer devices and accelerate the mass adoption of electric cars to eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels. We're tackling one of the biggest challenges of our time every day, and together we're redefining what's possible. Are you ready to be a part of a team committed to changing the world?

WHO YOU ARE

You are creative, proactive, meticulous, and hands-on. You understand the potential of new materials and combine creativity and technical excellence to bring to life new applications and products. You can quickly survey and define key product requirements for new applications, develop novel fabrication methods to create new product prototypes, and rigorously develop and implement new test methodologies to establish data-driven customer value propositions. You combine exceptional technical leadership with people management to inspire, facilitate, and enable a top-notch team of early-career engineering professionals. You possess a diverse skill set and are equally effective working with material development partners, and customers, proactively capturing IP opportunities, and rigorously developing structure/process/property relationships to support new product development. You will leverage your previous experience with Engineering teams, suppliers, and contract manufacturing partners to help drive the development of robust manufacturing processes.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES

• Develop characterization, new test methods, and quality systems to address issues by conducting root cause analysis for both scientific understanding and benchmarking of commercial products
• Develop novel fabrication methods to efficiently prototype new materials-based products 
• Lead a team to plan and execute designed experiments (DOEs) both internally and with external development partners to elucidate structure/process/property/function relationships in novel, advanced materials
• Communicate with customers to identify product strength and weakness, and to improve product performance
• Document and communicate findings for a broad set of partners
• Project management including articulation of technical milestones, resource planning, and management of key suppliers/partners

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL REQUIREMENTS

• PhD degree in engineering or physical sciences and 10+ years of industry experience (or equivalent)
• 10+ years of hands-on coating process development experience including a demonstrated track record of successful product introduction to volume production
• Successful track record of being able to establish and achieve performance goals and objectives for safety, quality, cost, manufacturing efficiency, and process development
• A strategic and analytical thinker – ability to identify and think through critical technical and operational issues and provide creative, data-driven, practical solutions
• Demonstrated strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build relationships with partners, suppliers, customers, and co-workers throughout the organization
• High level of computer skills including Microsoft Office/G Suite, statistical analysis software (JMP), and cloud-based project management and product lifecycle management tools
• Strong oral and written English communication skills with the ability to deliver complex findings in a structured and clear manner to both technical and non-technical audience of varying levels
• Six Sigma experience with either Green Belt or Black Belt certification is a plus

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORKING CONDITIONS

• Pass a respirator fit test and be able to wear respiratory protection on a periodic basis
• Wear personal protective equipment including, but not limited to, a lab coat, gloves, safety glasses, and steel toe safety shoes
• Use a glove box to prepare samples
• Operate analytical equipment at a bench
• Move items up to 25 lbs with the assistance of lift equipment and carts
• Move long distances (such as from building to building) and be stationary for extended periods of time
• Operate a computer and other office equipment, such as a laptop, copier/printer, etc in a fixed location

The starting base pay for this role is between $172,000 and $218,000 at the time of posting. The actual base pay depends on many factors, such as educat