Material Scientist

Job description

Material Scientist – pure silicon anode Do you want to contribute to a more sustainable world? Are you excited to help shape the future of battery technology and consequently the future of consumer electronics and mobility? Can you not wait to dive into a VC-backed deep tech scale-up with the ambition to change the world? We are currently looking for an energetic Material Scientist – pure silicon anode to join our innovative and ambitious organization. About LeydenJar At LeydenJar Technologies , we’re on a mission to redefine the future of energy storage. Our goal is to become the world’s innovation leader in advanced battery anodes, empowering the next generation of batteries that drive progress. Why does this matter? Because the world needs higher energy density batteries not just for better consumer electronics, but for electric vehicles, e-flight, and beyond. While the battery industry typically advances by only 3% per year, our breakthrough pure silicon anode technology delivers an improvement of up to 70%, a true game changer. Often called the “holy grail” of the battery industry, our technology unlocks new possibilities for electrification, sustainability, and resilience in global supply chains. What we do: · We produce pure silicon anode rolls that fit seamlessly into existing battery cell manufacturing lines, enabling customers to make a quantum leap in performance or create entirely new product categories. · Our initial focus is on consumer electronics, with automotive applications already in development. · By leveraging semiconductor thin-film technology (plasma deposition) and scaling it to battery anodes, we’ve overcome the long-standing challenges of silicon in batteries, delivering durability and efficiency at scale. To meet global demand, we’re scaling up: · PlantOne in Eindhoven opened in 2026 and is now ramping up to produce anode rolls and validate our roll-to-roll production tools. · PlantTwo , our large-scale production facility, will follow, establishing LeydenJar as a key player in the global battery market. This is an enormous opportunity and an ambitious journey. It requires bold, creative, and diverse minds who share our passion for innovation and sustainability. At LeydenJar, we value different perspectives, inclusive collaboration, and gender equality because we know that diversity fuels breakthrough ideas. Your mission As a Material Scientist in Product Development Department, you play a key role in designing, synthesizing, characterizing and optimizing pure silicon anodes, and you take end-to-end ownership of the development topics that turn our technology into products. You own your topics from hypothesis to validated result: you design and run the experimental work, characterize the material, conduct the in-depth analysis, and drive the technical decision that follows. You work with a high degree of autonomy: you are trusted to run complex development topics independently and to set their technical direction, in close coordination with the Product Technical Lead. Your work sits at the heart of our technology: learning and establishing the relationship between PECVD process conditions, material properties and battery performance, planning and executing experiments to improve anode performance, and building the characterization methods that define the Si anode product. You do this in close coordination with the battery, process, equipment engineering and production teams, and with external partners, research institutes and universities. You will be working on: · Owning development topics end to end — from problem definition and experimental design through execution, in-depth analysis, and a documented technical conclusion. · Establishing characterization methods and selecting the most appropriate instrumental analysis for the question at hand, using in-house and external facilities. · Characterizing the morphologies to define the Si anode product, and correlating thin-film properties to electrochemical cell performance. · Developing product and process characterization methods that transfer into QC/QA, including the critical-to-quality parameters that follow from them. · Exploring new materials — and modifications to existing ones — to achieve targeted performance characteristics, including post-deposition processes and treatments. · Deepening our fundamental understanding of the physics and chemistry that drive the performance of LeydenJar’s silicon anodes. · Coordinating across departments: the battery, process, equipment engineering and production teams — translating your findings into requirements others can act on, and their needs into your development plan. · Building a cooperative global network between 3rd parties and LeydenJar: defining and following up work packages with partners and suppliers, including the supervision of student and PhD projects. · Ensuring good documentation of experiments and results, and contributing to IP creation for newly developed products. · Communicating your findings effectively to internal teams, management and external audiences, in written reports and oral presentations. · Working in line with safety regulations and quality standards, and keeping accurate records of experiments and findings for regulatory compliance. · Staying up to date with advances in materials science, and taking part in professional development opportunities and conferences. What do we expect from you? · PhD in Material Science, Chemical Engineering or a closely related field, specializing in nano-structured materials synthesis or characterization — or an MSc with equivalent hands-on experience. · Medior level: 1–3+ years of recent experience in material characterization, in a research, thin-film, semiconductor or battery environment. · You thoroughly understand the various types of instrumental analysis and have hands-on experience with them. · Deep knowledge of thin films, material characterization techniques, and thin-film mechanics. · A demonstrated track record of owning development topics independently — you have taken a technical question from idea to conclusion yourself, not only contributed to someone else’s plan. · Highly analytical, with a knack for data analysis and hypothesis making, and strong critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. · Hands-on attitude, with a strong affinity for experimental design, documentation, and presentation. · You are an excellent team player and enjoy working in a multi-disciplinary, international team. · Fluent in English (spoken and written). · Strong initiative and drive, comfortable making technical decisions with incomplete data in a fast-paced scale-up environment. Preferably: · Thin film metrology development experience. · In-depth knowledge of PECVD processing or lithium-ion battery technology. · Experience in anode manufacturing or roll-to-roll production. · Experience with process modelling, simulation, or statistical design of experiments. · A record of patents or peer-reviewed publications. · Experience with external collaborations and the supervision of students or junior colleagues. You will report to the VP Product Development and your skills will complement a dynamic team of Material & Data Scientists and Engineers. This is an individual-contributor role without direct reports. You will be working in a dynamic scale-up environment as part of an international, ambitious and diverse team that is determined to make a better world with cleaner energy. Your primary location will be Eindhoven, with occasional travel to our Leiden site and to partners. Why LeydenJar? Our culture empowers our mission at the tech frontier, bonding more energy to bring you to new places. · Grow & own – you take ownership of your work and develop your career in a supportive environment. · Great benefits – pension plan, 25 vacation days, and travel reimbursement (€0.25/km or NS Business Card). · Continuous learning – access to an online learning platform and opportunities for professional growth. · Diverse & inclusive – join an international team where every voice matters. · Strong community – enjoy team events, lunches, and celebrations that bring us together. Do you want to take on the challenge as Materials Scientist? We are looking forward to your application! We aim to make our recruitment process as transparent and enjoyable as possible. Depending on the role, the process may include interviews, assessments, reference checks, and pre-employment screening. At LeydenJar we value diversity, and we provide equal opportunities to all applicants without regard to race, color, ethnicity, religion, gender, pregnancy/childbirth, age, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, etc. If there are two or more applicants of equal suitability for a certain position, LeydenJar can under circumstances decide to select applicants based on positive discrimination in full compliance with all relevant and applicable law.