Senior Materials Engineer (Metal 3D Printing)

About this role

<h2><span style="font-size: 14pt;">SENIOR MATERIALS ENGINEER (METAL 3D PRINTING)</span></h2> <p class="x_MsoNormal"><span data-olk-copy-source="MessageBody">Freeform builds AI-native manufacturing systems that unify software, hardware, and physics to produce industrial-scale parts at the speed of human ideation. By treating manufacturing as a single integrated system, we unlock a new era of innovation where complex hardware is designed, built, and scaled without limits.</span></p> <p>As a Senior Materials Engineer at Freeform, you will have the unique opportunity to establish the company’s M&amp;P infrastructure, strategy, and best practices for our advanced metal 3D printing technology. We are looking for someone with solid fundamentals in materials engineering, an understanding of metals, and a keen interest in working on the cutting edge of additive manufacturing development. In this role, you will own materials engineering efforts from cradle to grave, including hands-on sample testing, analysis of findings, and strategic process improvements. If you want to make an impact at a rapidly growing company that’s revolutionizing metal additive manufacturing, we’d love to hear from you!</p> <p>Success here doesn't hinge on 3D printing experience. Instead, we seek intelligent, motivated, and collaborative engineers who thrive on solving challenging problems and creating groundbreaking technology!</p> <p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sXfG6ssZ190?feature=shared" width="560" height="315"></iframe></p> <p><strong>Responsibilities: </strong></p> <ul> <li>Establish Freeform’s M&amp;P best practices, and materials testing infrastructure and strategy</li> <li>Operate equipment to measure material properties such as tensile strength, surface roughness, and microstructure</li> <li>Generate and track quality metrics of printed customer parts such as dimensional accuracy, defect distribution, and surface roughness</li> <li>Organize, analyze and interpret data and present key findings</li> <li>Work with process development team to tie key materials findings into improvement of upstream printing processes, including training our advanced machine learning models</li> <li>Establish and optimize processes and procedures for measuring and quantifying material quality</li> <li>Create automation for M&amp;P procedures to take human out of the loop</li> <li>Strategize continuous improvement plans to enhance system performance, reliability, and scalability</li> </ul> <p><strong>Basic Qualifications: </strong></p> <ul> <li>Bachelor’s degree in material science, materials engineering, metallurgy, or mechanical engineering</li> <li>7+ years of professional materials engineering experience (with at least three years in metals)</li> <li>Experience developing and optimizing metallurgical sample preparation techniques such as cutting, grinding, polishing, acid etching, and optical microscopy</li> </ul> <p><strong>Nice to Have:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Master’s or PhD in in material science, materials engineering, metallurgy, or mechanical engineering highly preferred</li> <li>10+ years of materials engineering experience</li> <li>Experience with metal additive manufacturing highly preferred</li> <li>Experience with laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) processes</li> <li>Experience in process development</li> <li>Experience operating complex materials equipment</li> <li>Familiarity with processing large datasets and statistical data analysis software such as R, JMP, or Minitab</li> <li>Passion for improving the state of metal 3D printing</li> </ul> <p><strong>Location:</strong></p> <ul> <li> <p>Based in Hawthorne, our vertically integrated facility brings technology development, R&amp;D, and production together under one roof. We operate at the center of LA’s deep tech ecosystem, surrounded by some of the most ambitious hardware innovation happening anywhere in the country.</p> <span data-teams="true"><span id="message-body-1771454273221" class="fui-ChatMessage__body r7802u9 ___vfhe6q0 f10pi13n ftqa4ok f2hkw1w f8hki3x f1d2448m f1bjia2o ffh67wi f1j6vpng f1pniga2 f987i1v f1ffjurs f15bsgw9 f14e48fq f18yb2kv fd6o370 ffwy5si f3znvyf f57olzd f4stah7 f480a47 fs1por5 fk6fouc figsok6 fkhj508 f19n0e5 f9ijwd5 ffzz00n f1ozlkrg f1o0qvyv f9ggezi f1xp5gbu f150uoa4 ffyari3 f16xq7d1 fo7qwa0 fxowb0n f11ghf3q f13aoclr flypziy f10kwr27 fquw1qa fftr39l f13lathq f15hsm81 f2ss68y ffb60jq f8nuap2 f13nk4fk f7jacry fq08z5q fd9af6s fr74w9q fcl9uv6 f13sm7pj f1u6qqly f16wpxbl faim3u9 f6cs3qo fa2w2z3 fd39nx6 f10gn8j9 frcqmxy f1w9ws4k f1ddxkqj fd10euv fvuz61 f1nbc6gw"><span id="content-1771454273221" class="fui-Primitive ___11tzqds f1oy3dpc f89hs3r fqtknz5 fyvcxda"></span></span></span></li> <li> <p>Our fast-paced, cross-functional environment is built on close collaboration, and as such, this role requires full-time onsite presence (five days a week), with very limited exceptions.</p> <span data-teams="true"><span id="content-1776896507672" class="fui-Primitive ___11tzqds f1oy3dpc f89hs3r fqtknz5 fyvcxda"></span></span></li> </ul> <p><strong>What We Offer:</strong></p> <ul> <li>We have an inclusive and diverse culture that values collaboration, learning, and making deliberate data-driven decisions.</li> <li>We offer a unique opportunity to be an early and integral member of a rapidly growing company that is scaling a world-changing technology.</li> <li>Benefits <ul> <li>Significant stock option packages</li> <li>100% employer-paid Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance (premium PPO and HMO options)</li> <li>Life insurance</li> <li>Traditional and Roth 401(k)</li> <li>Relocation assistance provided&nbsp;</li> <li>Paid vacation, sick leave, and company holidays</li> <li>Generous Paid Parental Leave and extended transition back to work for the birthing parent</li> <li>Free daily catered lunch and dinner, and fully stocked kitchenette</li> <li>Casual dress, flexible work hours, and regular catered team building events</li> </ul> </li> <li>Compensatio