Senior Process Engineer (Advanced R&D)

About this role

<h2><span style="font-size: 14pt;">SENIOR PROCESS ENGINEER (ADVANCED R&D)</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 Process Engineer at Freeform, you will have the unique opportunity to invent novel processes for the world’s most advanced metal 3D printing systems. You will deep dive into complex, multi-physics phenomena to gain a fundamental understanding of the system and use those learnings to create a new state-of-the-art process. You will work alongside an interdisciplinary team of mechanical, software, and simulations engineers to analyze massive in-situ data sets as well as post-print material characteristics and rapidly iterate on improving the printing technology with machine learning. The ideal candidate will be comfortable working in a fast-paced R&D environment, solving very audacious problems from scratch.</p> <p>3D printing experience is not required to be successful here - rather we look for smart, motivated, collaborative engineers who love solving hard problems and creating amazing technology! </p> <p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sXfG6ssZ190?feature=shared" width="560" height="314"></iframe></p> <p><strong>Responsibilities: </strong></p> <ul> <li>Develop a deep understanding of the metal additive process and hardware operation by analyzing massive in-situ data sets to gain insight into physical mechanisms of the printing process</li> <li>Work independently to design and execute experiments, analyze data, and develop and optimize processes on a metal additive system</li> <li>Perform post-build metrology measurements and analysis of material properties such as tensile strength, surface roughness, and alloy microstructure</li> <li>Generate and track quality metrics of printed customer parts such as dimensional accuracy, defect distribution, and surface roughness</li> <li>Develop and implement tool qualification procedures</li> <li>Collaborate with mechanical, software, and simulations engineers to analyze data and rapidly improve printing processes</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, physics, mechanical engineering, or similar engineering discipline</li> <li>5+ years of process development experience in complex physics-based applications such as semiconductor, solar, or additive manufacturing</li> <li>Experience developing Design of Experiments (DOE), statistical data analysis, and process optimization</li> <li>Experience gathering and processing large data sets</li> </ul> <p><strong>Nice to Have:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Master’s or PhD in material science, physics, mechanical engineering</li> <li>Process development experience from cutting edge industries such as semiconductor, solar, or displays</li> <li>Experience with machine learning or data science</li> <li>Experience with statistical data analysis software such as R, JMP, Python, or Minitab</li> <li>Experience with statistical process control and tool health monitoring</li> <li>Experience operating complex equipment</li> <li>Familiarity with metallurgical sample preparation such as cutting, grinding, polishing, acid etching, and optical microscopy</li> <li>Familiarity with programming languages such as MATLAB or Python</li> <li>Passion for developing new processes from scratch</li> <li>Excellent verbal and written communication skills</li> </ul> <p><strong>Location:</strong></p> <ul> <li> <p>Based in Hawthorne, our vertically integrated facility brings technology development, R&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…