LILA has created the world's first Operating System for Science powered by Scientific Superintelligence™. Backed by General Catalyst.
About the role
Lila is hiring a Scientific Leader to build and run our experimental soft materials team, covering formulations, polymers, colloids, gels, emulsions, inks, adhesives, and coatings. You will take on a group of four scientists and grow it as the portfolio expands across formulation, rheological and scattering characterization, and polymer processing.
What they're looking for
- PhD in Materials Science, Polymer Science, Chemical Engineering, or Chemistry with 8+ years of post-degree R&D experience, or equivalent depth built through industrial practice
- Experience leading scientific teams, whether as a formal manager or as a technical lead with direct responsibility for others' work
- Deep soft-matter fundamentals: phase behavior, self-assembly, rheology, interfacial phenomena, colloid and dispersion stability, transport, cure and crosslinking
- Hands-on record formulating and characterizing multicomponent systems and translating structure–property relationships into performance
- Demonstrated delivery against external milestones with industrial partners or sponsored programs
- Data-centric experimental practice: DoE, high-throughput methods, structured capture, and working with ML colleagues as a peer rather than a customer
More about this role
Lila is hiring a Scientific Leader to build and run our experimental soft materials team, covering formulations, polymers, colloids, gels, emulsions, inks, adhesives, and coatings. You will take on a group of four scientists and grow it as the portfolio expands across formulation, rheological and scattering characterization, and polymer processing. The team turns soft-matter problems into closed-loop autonomous workflows: defining what gets measured, how it gets measured at throughput, and how the resulting data supports active learning and inverse design. The work asks you to stay close to the bench while mentoring a growing team and setting its direction over a multi-year growth horizon.
- Lead and grow a group of scientists spanning formulation, polymer processing, and physical characterization; set scientific direction, develop the team, and hire against an expanding portfolio
- Own the experimental strategy for soft materials — the measurement stack, the campaign designs, and the scientific validity of what the group publishes internally and to partners
- Hold your team's delivery on partner-funded programs alongside the technical program managers who own the programs...
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