Materials Technical Program Manager

lilasciences

Cambridge, MA USA · Cambridge

Posted Apr 24, 2026

Full-time
Autonomous Science Platform

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Job description

Your Impact at LILA

Lila Sciences is applying its autonomous science platform to some of the hardest materials discovery problems in the world — from next-generation structural materials and extreme-environment coatings to clean energy catalysts and carbon capture. The Materials Science experiment team is running programs where the pace of autonomous experimentation demands real operational rigor, and we're looking for a Technical Program Manager to provide it. You'll work closely with the Materials Science domain leads who set scientific strategy and direction, while you own the execution layer: the project plans, the cross-functional dependencies, and the blockers that need to be surfaced and resolved before they become problems. You won't be directing scientific work — you'll be creating the conditions for it to happen at speed and at scale. This is a role for someone who genuinely loves the craft of program management in complex, technical environments.

What You'll Be Building

Own day-to-day program execution within the Materials Science experiment team — maintaining project plans, tracking milestones, and ensuring agentic science programs are delivered on time and with rigor
Serve as the primary operational interface between the Materials Science team and platform partners (Automation, ML, Engineering) — communicating needs, aligning on priorities, and keeping dependencies visible and resolved
Translate scientific program goals into structured workstreams that enable autonomous experimentation to run efficiently and at scale
Run program rituals including sprint planning, stand-ups, and retrospectives with a bias toward purposeful meetings, documentation, and follow-through
Partner with the Materials Science domain leads to surface blockers, risks, and interdependencies early and drive them to resolution
Support the delivery of commercial contracts by working with the Product & Revenue team to ensure program commitments are well-scoped, tracked, and clearly communicated to all stakeholders
Contribute to capacity planning and resource coordination in partnership with scientific leadership

What You’ll Need to Succeed

10+ years of program or project management experience in a materials science, advanced manufacturing, or deep tech environment
A Bachelor's degree in Materials Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a related field
A track record of managing multiple concurrent programs in fast-paced, ambiguous environments and energized by building programs from the ground up; early-stage start-up experience is a strong plus
Demonstrated ability to coordinate across scientific and operational stakeholders and manage complex cross-functional dependencies
Sufficient scientific fluency to understand Materials Science program goals and communicate them clearly to partner teams
Experience supporting commercial program delivery and working with external partners or customers
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills — able to break complex goals into clear, achievable units of work and keep stakeholders consistently well-informed

Bonus Points For

Familiarity with project management tools such as Smartsheet, Asana, Jira, or similar
PMP, PgMP, or agile certification (e.g., CSM, SAFe) is a plus

Compensation

We offer competitive base compensation with bonus potential and generous early-stage equity. Your final offer will reflect your background, expertise, and expected impact.

U.S. Benefits. Full-time U.S. employees receive a comprehensive benefits program including medical, dental, and vision coverage; employer-paid life and disability insurance; flexible time off with generous company wide holidays; paid parental leave; an educational assistance program; commuter benefits, including bike share memberships for office based employees; and a company subsidized lunch program.

International Benefits. Full-time employees outside the U.S. receive a comprehensive benefits program tailored to their region. USD salary ranges apply only to U.S.-based positions; international salaries are set to local market.

Expected Base Salary Range

$156,000—$208,000 USD

About LILA

Lila Sciences is building Scientific Superintelligence™ to solve humankind's greatest challenges. We believe science is the most inspiring frontier for AI. Rather than hard-coding expert knowledge into tools, LILA builds systems that can learn for themselves.

LILA combines advanced AI models with proprietary AI Science Factory™ instruments into an operating system for science that executes the entire scientific method autonomously, accelerating discovery at unprecedented speed, scale, and impact across medicine, materials, and energy. Learn more at www.lila.ai.

Guided by our core values of truth, trust, curiosity, grit, and velocity, we move with startup speed while tackling problems of historic importance. If this sounds like an environment you'd love to work in, even if you don't meet every qualification listed above, we encourage you to apply.

We’re All In

Lila Sciences is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

Information you provide during your application process will be handled in accordance with our Candidate Privacy Policy.

A Note to Agencies

Lila Sciences does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to Lila Sciences or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Lila Science’s internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of Lila Sciences, and Lila Sciences will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.