About the role
About Periodic Labs
Periodic Labs is an AI and physical sciences company in Menlo Park, CA. We run an in-house materials synthesis and characterization lab alongside our research teams.
About the role
We are looking for an experienced diffraction specialist to manage our X-ray diffraction facility, which includes multiple laboratory diffractometers used for powder, thin-film, and capillary measurements. You will be responsible for instrument alignment and calibration, preventive maintenance and repair, user training, measurement standards, radiation safety, and overall attention to the performance of the X-ray equipment.
You will also help specify and commission new instruments, write the SOPs and qualification protocols the group works from, and work with our software team so that instrument data and metadata are recorded consistently. You will work daily with scientists, technicians, and engineers across synthesis, software, and research.
Responsibilities
- Instrument alignment, calibration, configuration control, and uptime across the facility, including the criteria used to decide whether an instrument is ready for use.
- Reference standards and quality control: maintain house standards and a regular QC schedule so that the same standard gives consistent results across instruments
- Difficult measurements: non-routine geometries, weakly scattering or air-sensitive samples, thin films, and non-ambient stages, with attention to distinguishing instrument artifacts from real effects.
- Maintenance and repair: troubleshooting and preventive maintenance; coordination of service contracts and vendor visits when needed.
- Commissioning new instruments: site preparation, acceptance testing, and comparison against existing instruments.
- User training: train and certify scientists and technicians, review early runs, and provide support.
- Documentation and data: maintain SOPs, measurement recipes, and data-reduction conventions; ensure raw data, instrument state, calibration status, and sample metadata are recorded consistently and in a structured format.
- Radiation safety: X-ray equipment registration and compliance, interlock testing, surveys, along with compressed gas and cryogen handling for non-ambient stages.
Qualifications
- 5+ years of hands-on experience operating and maintaining X-ray diffractometers in a university shared facility, national lab, analytical services lab, industrial R&D lab, or at an instrument vendor.
- Strong XRD background across powder, thin-film, and capillary/transmission work. Proficient in phase identification, Rietveld refinement, and quantitative analysis.
- Experience maintaining several instruments, ideally from more than one vendor. Comfortable troubleshooting hardware and judging when to repair versus call for service.
- Careful documentation habits; treats metadata as part of the measurement.
- Able to support many users in a busy lab while maintaining good practice.
- PhD in materials science, physics, chemistry, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Preferred: experience managing a shared user facility or commercial XRD lab, automation, or other materials characterization techniques.
Mechanics
- Type: Full-time
- Location: On-site in Menlo Park, CA.
- Schedule: Standard weekday schedule.
- Compensation: 200k-275k plus equity, commensurate with experience.
- Work authorization: [Must be authorized to work in the U.S. / Visa sponsorship available for exceptional candidates.]