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Entry Level Material Science Engineering Jobs in California

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Entry Level Material Science Engineering information

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$26

$43

How much do entry level material science engineering jobs pay per hour?

As of Jul 22, 2026, the average hourly pay for entry level material science engineering in California is $26.37, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $19.23 and $32.50 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as an Entry Level Material Science Engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as an Entry Level Material Science Engineer, you need a solid background in materials science, chemistry, or engineering, typically supported by a bachelor's degree in a related field. Familiarity with laboratory techniques, materials characterization tools (such as SEM, XRD, or spectroscopy), and CAD software is often required. Strong analytical thinking, attention to detail, and effective teamwork are essential soft skills in this field. These skills and qualifications are crucial for ensuring precise material analysis, innovative problem-solving, and successful collaboration on engineering projects.

What does an entry level material science engineer do?

An entry level material science engineer assists in the research, development, and testing of materials used to create products and structures. They typically work under the supervision of experienced engineers to analyze material properties, conduct experiments, and help improve manufacturing processes. Their responsibilities may include preparing samples, running laboratory tests, recording data, and supporting the design of new materials for specific applications such as aerospace, electronics, or energy. These engineers play a crucial role in helping organizations develop innovative and efficient materials. The position usually requires a bachelor's degree in material science, engineering, or a related field.

What is the difference between Entry Level Material Science Engineering vs Entry Level Metallurgical Engineering?

AspectEntry Level Material Science EngineeringEntry Level Metallurgical Engineering
Required CredentialsBachelor's in Materials Science, Engineering, or related fieldBachelor's in Metallurgical Engineering or Materials Science
Work EnvironmentResearch labs, manufacturing plants, R&D departmentsMining sites, metal production facilities, manufacturing plants
Industry UsageAutomotive, aerospace, electronics, consumer productsMining, metal extraction, alloy development, manufacturing

Entry Level Material Science Engineering and Entry Level Metallurgical Engineering share foundational knowledge and often overlap in industries like manufacturing and R&D. However, Material Science focuses more on the properties and applications of materials, while Metallurgical Engineering emphasizes metal extraction and processing. Both roles typically require a bachelor's degree and involve work in labs or industrial settings, but their specific industry applications differ slightly.

What types of projects and tasks can I expect to work on as an entry-level material science engineer?

As an entry-level material science engineer, you will typically assist in the development, testing, and analysis of materials such as metals, polymers, ceramics, or composites. Your daily tasks may include preparing samples, conducting laboratory experiments, collecting and analyzing data, and supporting senior engineers in research or product development projects. You’ll also collaborate closely with multidisciplinary teams, such as mechanical and chemical engineers, to solve materials-related challenges and improve product performance. This hands-on experience is invaluable and often serves as a springboard for more advanced roles in research, quality assurance, or product design.
What are popular job titles related to Entry Level Material Science Engineering jobs in California? For Entry Level Material Science Engineering jobs in California, the most frequently searched job titles are:
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What cities in California are hiring for Entry Level Material Science Engineering jobs? Cities in California with the most Entry Level Material Science Engineering job openings:
Infographic showing various Entry Level Material Science Engineering job openings in California as of July 2026, with employment types broken down into 88% Full Time, 8% Part Time, and 4% Contract. Highlights an 86% Physical, 4% Hybrid, and 10% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $54,840 per year, or $26.4 per hour.

Material Science Research Engineer, DeepMind

DeepMind

Mountain View, CA • On-site

Full-time

Posted 7 days ago


Job description

Minimum qualifications:
  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
  • 2 years of experience applying software engineering principles in a scientific research environment.
  • Experience working with linear algebra, calculus and statistics.
  • Experience performing data exploration or data analysis across datasets.
  • Experience with JAX, PyTorch, or TensorFlow.

Preferred qualifications:
  • Master's degree or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Science, Mathematics, or equivalent practical experience.
  • Specific domain expertise in areas like inorganic chemistry, solid-state physics, or materials synthesis.
  • Experience applying modern deep learning architectures (e.g., transformers, diffusion models) to chemistry or materials science issues (e.g., ML force fields).
  • Experience running large-scale scientific simulations (e.g., molecular dynamics, computational chemistry simulations, etc.) on Cloud or HPC clusters.
  • Experience developing custom LLM agents or tool-using systems.
  • Experience with concurrent and distributed software algorithms and architectures.

About the job
At Google, research-focused Software Engineers are embedded throughout the company, allowing them to setup large-scale tests and deploy promising ideas quickly and broadly. Ideas may come from internal projects as well as from collaborations with research programs at partner universities and technical institutes all over the world.
From creating experiments and prototyping implementations to designing new architectures, engineers work on real-world problems including artificial intelligence, data mining, natural language processing, hardware and software performance analysis, improving compilers for mobile platforms, as well as core search and much more. But you stay connected to your research roots as an active contributor to the wider research community by partnering with universities and publishing papers.
Artificial intelligence will be one of humanity's most transformative inventions. At Google DeepMind, we are a pioneering AI lab with exceptional interdisciplinary teams focused on advancing AI development to solve complex global challenges and accelerate high-quality product innovation for billions of users. We use our technologies for widespread public benefit and scientific discovery, ensuring safety and ethics are always our highest priority.
We are pushing the boundaries across multiple domains. Our global teams offer diverse learning opportunities and varied career pathways for those driven to achieve exceptional results through collective effort.
Individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.
US: $147000 - $211000 (USD) 15% bonus target equity benefits
Learn more about benefits at Google .
Responsibilities
  • Plan and perform rapid prototyping of machine learning techniques applied to problems in science.
  • Undertake exploratory analysis to inform experimentation and research directions.
  • Make improvements to model architectures and training procedures of machine learning models.
  • Implement tools, libraries, and frameworks to speed up and enable new research.
  • Report and present software developments, experimental results, and data analysis clearly and efficiently.

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