Principal Engineer - Materials Discovery Research Institute

Job Description

We have an exciting opportunity for a Principal Research Engineer at UL Materials Discovery Research Institute (MDRI) based in our Skokie, Illinois, facilities.

The Principal Research Engineer partners with researchers and engineers to apply advanced scientific and engineering expertise in materials discovery and development. This role focuses on demonstrating the performance, scalability, and real‑world impact of novel materials—from laboratory concepts through prototype and demonstration scale—to advance global safety and sustainability.

At UL Research Institutes (ULRI), we expand the boundaries of safety science to create a more secure and sustainable world. For more than a century, we have studied the unintended consequences of innovation, designed solutions to mitigate risk and shared our findings with academia, scientists, manufacturers, and policymakers across industries. We identify critical safety and sustainability issues, asking the tough questions because we believe a safer world begins with knowledge.

Build a safer, more secure, and sustainable future with us. Join us and work with our Materials Discovery Research Institute team who conduct the research required to produce that knowledge and put into practice.

The Materials Discovery Research Institute (MDRI) works to develop and deploy new materials with the potential to address current global safety challenges. Pursuing materials that will help produce transformational safety breakthroughs, MDRI harnesses the power of advanced computing and high‑throughput experimental methods to create innovative materials that will produce resilience for a sustainable future and protect individual and societal health.

We focus on today's critical challenges, working to create new and better materials that will support renewable energy and environmental sustainability. Among our top priorities is research into materials capable of carbon capture and energy storage, with an eye toward reducing the adverse impacts of humanity's reliance upon fossil fuel resources and enabling a transition to renewable energy sources.

Above all, our research builds on our commitment to a safer, more sustainable future.

• Leverage deep expertise in materials development, scale‑up, and testing to plan, design, and execute engineering experiments that transition materials from lab‑scale to demonstration‑scale prototypes.
• Lead complex research initiatives through effective planning, execution, and oversight, ensuring project objectives, quality standards, timelines, and budgets are met; serve as Principal Investigator (PI) for large research programs.
• Contribute to strategic and long‑range planning by identifying emerging growth areas, evaluating technical and market opportunities, and developing techno‑economic models and assessment tools.
• Mentor, coach, and develop team members, fostering technical excellence, leadership capability, and professional growth.
• Ensure accurate and timely collection, analysis, documentation, and archiving of research data within LIMS or designated data repositories; actively support data science initiatives and cross‑functional data efforts.
• Expand the institute’s visibility and influence through national and international presentations, publications, and active leadership or participation in external professional organizations.
• Leverage strong technical judgment, scientific creativity, independent thinking, and effective collaboration across disciplines.
• Comply with the Underwriters Laboratories Code of Conduct and all laboratory safety, physical security, and digital security requirements.
• Perform additional duties as assigned.

We have pursued our mission of working for a safer, more secure, and sustainable world for nearly 130 years, embedding conscientious stewardship into everything we do.

• People:
  Our people make us special. You’ll work with a diverse team of experts respected for their independence and transparency and build a network, because our approach is collaborative. We…