Materials engineer Jobs in USA

Position Summary:

Are you interested in working for UDRI, a national leader in scientific and engineering research, serving government, industry and nonprofit customers? UDRI contributes to the fulfillment of the University’s commitments to education, research and public service through the involvement of students, faculty, Staff, and external partners. Established as the research arm of the University of Dayton in 1956, UDRI achieved over $250M in sponsored research in fiscal year 2025. We invite qualified candidates to apply for our Materials Engineer opening! This full time and benefit eligible position offers health, dental and vision insurance, retirement, disability, tuition assistance for you and your dependents, vacation, sick, and holiday pay. Apply today!

This position will focus on understanding the material science issues of advanced manufacturing including additive manufacturing and repair technologies, and connecting material properties to part end-use needs. This will include test plan development and execution, test data interpretation, material/process risk assessments and selection, troubleshooting, ideation for process improvements and/or material replacement, understanding structure-property and process-property relationships, validation of part performance vs. end-use requirements, and evaluation of new and emerging technologies. The position will be initially focused on metal powder bed fusion additive manufacturing, cold spray repair, and directed energy deposition technologies.

Minimum Qualifications:

R2 Materials Engineer Qualifications:
1. BS degree or higher in relevant engineering field (such as materials, chemical, metallurgical, or aerospace)
2. 3 years of directly related experience with material characterization, property development, or product development including method selection or development, data collection, and analysis
3. 1 year of directly related experience with metals-based additive manufacturing (laser-powder bed fusion, direct energy deposition, or a related technology)
4. 1 year of experience in material characterization including mechanical testing (tensile, fatigue, etc.) or metallographic evaluation (grain size, phase fraction, porosity, etc.)
5. Experience with Design of Experiments (DoE) and statistical analysis including analysis of variance (ANOVA)
6. Experience working in a manufacturing setting
7. Experience with creating or maintaining operational documents or quality system documents
8. Experience with process optimization or continuous improvement
9. Strong technical writing and verbal communication skills
10. Attention to detail and organizational skills
11. Self-motivation with ability to work with minimal supervision
12. Due to requirements of our research contracts with the U.S. federal government, candidates for this position must be a U.S. Citizen

An R3 Senior Materials Engineer must meet all R2 minimum qualifications in addition to the qualifications listed below:
1. 8 years of directly related experience with material characterization and property development including method selection or development, data collection, and analysis
2. 3 years of directly related experience with metals-based additive manufacturing (laser-powder bed fusion, direct energy deposition, or a related technology)
3. 3 years of experience in mechanical testing (tensile, fatigue, etc.) or metallographic evaluation (grain size, phase fraction, porosity, etc.)
4. 3 years of experience with DoE and statistical analysis including ANOVA

Preferred Qualifications:

While not everyone may possess all of the preferred qualifications, the ideal candidate will bring many of the following:

R2 Materials Engineer Preferred Qualifications:
1. Master’s degree or Doctoral degree in relevant engineering field (such as chemical, materials, metallurgy, aerospace)
2. 3 years of experience with metals-based additive manufacturing or advanced manufacturing including development of parameter sets, implementing process improvements, and applying knowledge of structure-property and process-property relationships to advanced manufacturing projects
3. Experience with heat treatment or other post-processing processes
4. Experience with SolidWorks or another CAD software package
5. Experience with finite element analysis and modeling
6. Demonstrated success with Six Sigma and/or other process improvement methods in a manufacturing environment
7. Experience working under a certified quality system such as ISO 9001 or AS9100
8. Experience qualifying aerospace products and processes; working knowledge of US Air Force policies and procedures

R3 Senior Materials Engineer Preferred Qualifications include those listed for R2 as well as:
1. 5 years of experience with metals-based additive manufacturing or advanced manufacturing including development of parameter sets, implementing process improvements, and applying knowledge of structure-property and process-property relationships to advanced manufacturing projects
2. Experience with multiple advanced manufacturing platforms and technologies