Materials Engineer - Chemist

Materials Engineer
- Chemist

Torrance, California, United States

Castelion is moving incredibly fast to develop and deliver advanced defense systems at a time when execution matters more than ever. We believe focus and technical excellence are decisive advantages - and we are building a team that can deliver real capability, not just concepts.

This is a rare opportunity to join at an early stage, where your work will directly shape critical systems, influence major technical decisions, and have immediate, real-world impact.

Materials Engineer
- Chemist

Castelion is seeking a highly motivated chemist to support development and scale-up of a proprietary wet chemistry process that is central to production of next-generation aerospace materials. This role is ideal for an individual interested in reaction development, process optimization, and translating laboratory-scale chemistry into robust manufacturing processes.

The role combines hands-on laboratory chemistry with analytical process development responsibilities. The chemist will execute and optimize multi-step chemical syntheses, characterize reaction products, develop standardized operating procedures, and support the transition of the process from laboratory-scale production to increasingly larger manufacturing systems.

Responsibilities

• Execute and monitor multi-step wet chemistry synthesis processes to support development and production activities.
• Design and perform experiments to optimize reaction conditions, yields, purity, and process repeatability using structured experimental methodologies.
• Characterize reaction intermediates and final products using standard analytical laboratory techniques.
• Collect, organize, and analyze process and analytical data to support process optimization and manufacturing readiness.
• Develop and maintain process documentation, work instructions, batch records, and standardized operating procedures.
• Troubleshoot reaction, purification, and process issues in a fast-paced development environment.
• Support scale-up activities by evaluating reaction performance across increasing batch sizes and implementing process improvements to enable future production capacity.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Polymer Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, or a related field.
• 1+ years of wet chemistry synthesis experience

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience with wet chemistry processing, hazardous chemical handling, and laboratory-scale synthesis.
• Familiarity with standard analytical characterization techniques (e.g., GC, GC-MS FTIR, NMR, Chromatography, DSC, TGA, or equivalent).
• Strong experimental design, data analysis, and technical documentation skills.
• Ability to work independently in a hands-on laboratory environment.

Benefits And Perks

• Employee Equity:
  Meaningful equity for all full-time employees - share value has increased 150x in three years
• Personal Time Off:
  Four (4) weeks of paid time off to unplug, reset, and come back sharp—velocity matters, burnout doesn't
• Company Paid Holidays:
  Ten (10) company paid holidays
• Medical:
  We offer plans at 100% employee covered and 80% of dependent coverage
• Dental & Vision:
  We cover 90% employees and 80% for dependents to ensure you and your family have access to quality preventive and ongoing care
• FSA/HSA:
  To support long-term health and financial resilience, we offer FSA and HSA options that allow employees to set aside pre-tax dollars for eligible medical and dependent care expenses
• Retirement: 401k plan offered to support long term financial growth along side high-impact, high-velocity work
• Paid Parental Leave:
  We support growing families with meaningful time to bond and recover. Birthing parents are eligible for up to 10 weeks of paid leave, while non-birthing parents may take up to 4 weeks of paid leave. This time can be used for pre-natal care, pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical needs—ensuring every parent has the support they need during this important life moment.
  8-weeks of paid parental leave for all parents. Additional paid pregnancy leave for CA employees
• Meals & Catering:
  Frequently catered lunches and team meals, plus company-covered…