Polymer Chemist

Responsibilities

• Develop, formulate, and qualify polymer encapsulants, edge seals, barrier films, and adhesives for perovskite solar hardware
• Engineer moisture and oxygen barrier systems with ultra-low water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) and oxygen transmission rate (OTR)
• Develop low-temperature curing and lamination processes compatible with perovskite-cell processing constraints
• Drive root-cause investigations on bonding, outgassing, delamination, and ingress-driven degradation
• Characterize polymer materials and bonded joints using techniques such as FTIR, DSC, TGA, and lap shear/peel testing
• Evaluate polymer and encapsulation performance under space environments including vacuum outgassing, thermal cycling, UV, and radiation
• Translate bench chemistry into stable, high-yield production processes in partnership with manufacturing engineering

Requirements

• Master's or PhD in polymer chemistry, chemistry, materials science, chemical engineering, or a related discipline
• 3+ years of hands-on experience with polymer encapsulants, adhesives, or barrier films for sensitive optoelectronic or electronic devices
• Demonstrated ability to connect polymer chemistry and processing to device-level reliability outcomes

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD with a focus on encapsulation, barrier materials, or polymer chemistry for optoelectronic devices
• Direct experience with moisture- and oxygen-sensitive devices such as perovskite PV, OLED, or flexible electronics
• Hands-on experience with ultra-low WVTR/OTR barrier materials and inorganic-organic hybrid barrier stacks
• Knowledge of space-grade material requirements including ASTM E595 low outgassing and radiation tolerance
• Experience scaling polymer processes from bench to high-rate production

Benefits

• Competitive salary plus equity package
• PTO and health/dental/vision coverage included

About the Company

Starpath develops and manufactures the technologies that will enable humans to live on the Moon and Mars. We are building robotic systems that locally produce essential commodities like water, power, and oxygen to support a self-sustaining civilization in space.