Lead Scientist – Materials Science

Overview

An early-career Research Scientist role in materials science, focused on the discovery, development and deployment of advanced metallic materials, including high-performance structural alloys for aircraft engines and their derivatives, produced by conventional and additive manufacturing routes.

What you'll do

• Design and conduct experiments, including alloy and process design, heat treatment, microstructural characterization, and mechanical testing; analyze and interpret results with scientific rigor.
• Establish quantitative, actionable chemistry–processing–structure–property relationships using experiments, physics-based modeling (e.g., CALPHAD, kinetics, microstructure modeling), and data-driven approaches.
• Collaborate with engineering, manufacturing, and business teams to understand critical materials and processing challenges, and translate them into well-defined research plans.
• Stay current with scientific literature and global technology trends in materials and manufacturing, and bring new ideas and approaches to the team.
• Communicate findings clearly through technical reports, presentations, peer-reviewed publications, and invention disclosures/patents.
• Follow laboratory safety, quality, and intellectual property practices.

What you'll need

• PhD in Metallurgy, Materials Science and Engineering, Physics, or a closely related field (completed, or thesis submitted, by the joining date).
• Doctoral and/or postdoctoral research focused on structure–property relationships in metallic materials.
• Strong fundamentals in thermodynamics, physical metallurgy, phase transformations, mechanical behavior, and materials processing.
• Hands-on experience with advanced characterization techniques such as SEM, EBSD, TEM, and/or XRD.
• Experience with thermodynamic or kinetic modeling (e.g., Thermo-Calc, DICTRA, PANDAT, or similar).
• Record of peer-reviewed publications and/or patents appropriate to career stage.
• Demonstrated innovative thinking, rigorous research methodology, and a willingness to challenge established assumptions and push the boundaries of understanding.
• Ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams and across multiple projects.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.

Nice to have

• Research experience with nickel-, titanium-, aluminum-based alloys, particularly for high-temperature or structural applications.
• Exposure to manufacturing practices such as casting, forging, thermomechanical processing, or heat treatment.
• Experience with mechanical testing (e.g., tensile, creep, fatigue, fracture) and failure analysis.
• Familiarity with computational and data-driven methods, such as Python or MATLAB, and machine learning techniques.
• Postdoctoral, industrial, or industry-sponsored research experience.

Details

• Location: Bengaluru (John F. Welch Technology Center).
• Relocation assistance provided.