Computational Materials Scientist

About Commonwealth Fusion Systems:

Commonwealth Fusion Systems is on a mission to deliver the urgent transition to fusion energy.

Combining decades of research, top talent, and new technologies, we’re designing and building commercially viable fusion power plants. And working with policymakers and suppliers to build the energy industry of the future.

We’re in the best position to make it happen. Since 2018, we’ve raised nearly $3 billion in capital, making us the largest and leading private fusion company in the world.

Now we’re looking for more thinkers, doers, builders, and makers to join us. People who’ll bring new perspectives, solve tough problems, and thrive as part of a team.

If that’s you and this role fits, we want to hear from you.

Join the power movement as a Computational Materials Scientist

The Materials and Processing (M&P) Department at CFS supports design engineers, supply chain, and manufacturing by selecting materials, unambiguously defining materials and processing routes, validating and measuring those materials and their properties, and conducting R&D to develop new materials and processes to enable fusion power deployment. M&P at CFS is organized around three primary thrusts: engineering, test and characterization, and development programs. The work is undertaken in support of delivering SPARC, the net energy tokamak under construction in Devens, MA, and ultimately in designing the ARC fusion power plant. These devices pose unique materials challenges including neutron fluxes produced by deuterium-tritium fusion, high heat loads, molten salt coolant systems, complex component topologies, high magnetic fields, and high mechanical loading in cryogenic conditions.

To support this mission, the CFS Materials Department is seeking a Computational Materials Engineer with expertise in process-structure-properties relationships, physics informed modeling, and materials in extreme environments. The ideal candidate would have a background in both computational materials simulation methods, and materials science and/or physical chemistry. The responsibilities will include physics-based modeling, synthetic data generation, and first-principles modeling and simulation to support development of CFS materials. They will collaborate with other engineers and subject matter experts to identify highest sensitivity parameters and prioritize experimental work for greatest impact to decreasing uncertainty.

What you'll do:

- Use and build computational toolsets to generate predicted material properties in extreme environments including temperature, radiation, and magnetic field with uncertainty bounds informed by physical mechanisms

- In collaboration with design and analysis engineers, develop material design curves methodology capable of determining statistically significant minimum properties for tokamak applications such as low and high cycle fatigue, dielectric breakdown, radiation effects.

- Identify gaps in knowledge and experimental capability which can be filled via simulation or model building

- Assist in benchmarking and creating metrics for material property variability and sources of variability in manufacturing processes

- Collaborate with other M&P Engineers to create workflows to enable the appropriate capture, storage, data visualization and analysis of data generated within the materials domain

- Support writing materials standard specifications

- Stay current with the evolving technology and modeling techniques

What we’re looking for:

- MS in Materials Science Engineering, Applied Physics, Physical Chemistry, or related field

- Minimum of 3+ years’ experience in experimental or computational materials science

- Implementation and/or authorship of codes for calculation and analyses of material properties

- Building predictive models for material properties in extreme environments

- Validation of models with experimental data or physical mechanism bounds

- Process failure modes or physical mechanism driven hypothesis formulation and design of experiments

- Understanding process-structure-properties-performance principles and fundamental mechanisms responsible for property changes in extreme environments

- Understanding of the underlying models that enable materials simulation methods across length scales including; Atomistic, molecular dynamics, density functional theory, Monte Carlo, phase field, crystal plasticity, dislocation dynamics, and computational thermodynamics

- Understanding of the sensitivity to uncertainty in the inputs and outputs of those models

- Demonstrated ability to work effectively cross-functionally

- Excellent organizational skills including prioritization of multiple concurrent projects

- Ability to break down complex problems into smaller deliverables that add value

Bonus points for:

- Experience using computational materials science tools and integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) tools to answer specific scientific questions, ideally across length scales

- Experience displaying complex quantitative data in a simple, intuitive format and presenting findings clearly and concisely

- Experience making and justifying decisions in fast paced engineering settings

- Written and verbal communication with technical teams

- Taking under-defined problems and driving them to a state of completion

- Operating in a flexible, service-oriented engineering domain team

Must-have Requirements:

- Perform activities such as typing or sitting for extended periods of time

- Work in a facility that contains industrial hazards including heat, cold, noise, fumes, strong magnets, lead (Pb), high voltage, high current, pressure systems, and cryogenics

- Willingness to travel or work required nights/weekends/on-call occasionally

$90,000 - $145,000 a year

Salary range for this full-time position + equity + benefits .

The actual salary will depend on level, location, qualifications, and experience. The range displayed on each job posting reflects new hire salaries for the position across all US locations.

Benefits include:

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Competitive compensation with equity

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12.5 Company-wide Holidays

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Flexible vacation days

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10 sick days

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Generous parental leave policy

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Health, dental, and vision insurance

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401(k) with employer matching

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Professional growth opportunities

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Team-building activities

At CFS, we excel in fast-paced environments, driven by our values of integrity, execution, impact, and self-critique. As we grow, we’re eager to bring on mission-driven folks who offer diverse perspectives and fresh ways to tackle challenges.

We value diversity deeply and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer by choice. We consider all qualified applicants equally, regardless of race, color, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, protected veteran status, religion, physical or mental disability, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, or any other basis protected by law.

This role requires compliance with U.S. laws concerning the export of controlled or protected technologies or information (collectively, “Export Control Laws"). Any offer of employment will be contingent on the need for compliance with such Export Control Laws.