Startups · AI

Forward Deployed Engineer, Physics & Simulation

Periodic Labs · Menlo Park, CA · On-site

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About Periodic Labs

From bits to atoms. Backed by Accel, Lightspeed and a16z.

About the role

We’re using AI-driven simulation to solve hard physical process optimization problems in advanced manufacturing. As a forward deployed engineer focused on physics and simulation, you will be the technical backbone of our most demanding customer engagements – spending significant time on-site, embedding directly with customer teams, and owning simulation workflows end-to-end.

What they're looking for

  • A strong foundation in numerical simulation of continuum systems – fluid dynamics, heat transfer, structural mechanics, electromagnetics, or similar – gained through graduate research, industry, or both
  • Hands-on experience solving partial differential equations numerically, including mesh generation, solver tuning, and debugging numerical instabilities
  • Solid Python skills for scripting and scientific computing (NumPy, SciPy, or similar)
  • A process engineer’s instinct: you treat simulations as tools for answering real process questions, not just jobs to run
  • Strong communication skills and genuine comfort working directly with customer engineers
  • Willingness to spend extended periods on-site in Taiwan
More about this role

We’re an AI and physical sciences company building state-of-the-art models to accelerate breakthroughs across materials, energy, and beyond. Backed by world-class investors and growing rapidly, we operate at the pace the frontier requires. Our team brings deep expertise, genuine ownership, and an insatiable drive to push the boundaries of what’s scientifically possible.

We’re using AI-driven simulation to solve hard physical process optimization problems in advanced manufacturing. As a forward deployed engineer focused on physics and simulation, you will be the technical backbone of our most demanding customer engagements – spending significant time on-site, embedding directly with customer teams, and owning simulation workflows end-to-end.

You’ll work with our modeling and ML teams to build and calibrate physics-based simulations, turn customer process knowledge into computational models, and drive recipe optimization with direct feedback loops to production. This is a hands-on, high-ownership role at the frontier of AI for physical science.

This role requires travel to and extended time on-site in Taiwan.

Own the simulation workflow end-to-end for customer engagements, from...

Read the full posting on Periodic Labs's site ↗

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