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Material Scientist Jobs in Virginia (NOW HIRING)

Luna Labs USA

Principal Materials Scientist

Blacksburg, VA · On-site

$85K - $100K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Retirement

Principal Materials Scientist About Luna Labs Luna Labs is a product development company working ... Demonstrated track record of taking lab-scale formulation/material concepts to pilot scale ...

ATCC

Senior Scientist

Manassas, VA · On-site

$120K - $140K/yr

  • Medical

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

ATCC, a global nonprofit that provides trusted biological materials for science and health, is seeking a Senior Scientist, Bacteriology to provide scientific leadership for applied bacteriology ...

ATCC

Senior Scientist

Manassas, VA · On-site

$120K - $140K/yr

  • Medical

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

A global nonprofit that provides trusted biological materials for science and health, ATCC is hiring a Senior Scientist supporting federal programs. This is an onsite role in Manassas, VA. The Senior ...

advansix

R&D Engineer / Scientist

Chester, VA · On-site

Nylon Lead R&D Scientist (Polymer Chemistry & Process Technology Focus) Position Summary The Nylon ... Apply advanced analytical techniques (e.g., rheology, DSC, GPC, IR, NMR) to characterize materials ...

advansix

R&D Engineer / Scientist

Chester, VA

Nylon Lead R&D Scientist (Polymer Chemistry & Process Technology Focus) Position Summary The Nylon ... Apply advanced analytical techniques (e.g., rheology, DSC, GPC, IR, NMR) to characterize materials ...

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Material Scientist information

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$52.5K

$122.9K

$171.5K

How much do material scientist jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 14, 2026, the average yearly pay for material scientist in Virginia is $122,910.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $92,700.00 and $165,600.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What opportunities for career advancement are available to material scientists?

Material Scientists often have diverse pathways for career growth, including progressing into senior research roles, project management, or specialized technical leadership positions. With experience and advanced education, some professionals move into roles that focus on product development, quality assurance, or even executive leadership in research and development. Many organizations also support continued training and professional development, allowing Material Scientists to expand their expertise and take on more complex projects. Advancement can come from both demonstrated technical excellence and the ability to coordinate and lead cross-functional teams.

What skills and qualifications are needed to be a material scientist?

To thrive as a Material Scientist, you need a strong background in materials engineering or chemistry, supported by at least a bachelor's degree in a related field (often a master's or Ph.D. is preferred). Familiarity with analytical tools such as SEM, XRD, and laboratory management systems, as well as relevant certifications or training in material characterization techniques, is highly valued. Critical thinking, attention to detail, and effective communication skills set standout professionals apart. These abilities are essential for conducting high-quality research, collaborating with interdisciplinary teams, and driving innovation in material development.

What does a material scientist do?

A Material Scientist researches, develops, and analyzes materials to improve existing products or create new ones. They study the properties and structures of metals, ceramics, polymers, composites, and other substances to enhance performance, durability, and sustainability. Material Scientists work in various industries, including aerospace, healthcare, electronics, and manufacturing, ensuring materials meet specific technical and safety standards.

What are the most commonly searched types of Material Scientist jobs in Virginia?

The most popular types of Material Scientist jobs in Virginia are:

What are popular job titles related to Material Scientist jobs in Virginia?

For Material Scientist jobs in Virginia, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What job categories do people searching Material Scientist jobs in Virginia look for?

The top searched job categories for Material Scientist jobs in Virginia are:

What cities in Virginia are hiring for Material Scientist jobs?

Cities in Virginia with the most Material Scientist job openings:

Material Scientist jobs near you
Infographic showing various Material Scientist job openings in Virginia as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 77% Full Time, 20% Part Time, 2% Contract, and 1% Nights. Highlights an 81% Physical, 1% Hybrid, and 18% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $122,910 per year, or $59.1 per hour.

Materials and Chemistry AI Scientist

The MITRE Corporation

Mclean, VA • On-site

Other

Posted yesterday

New

MITRE Corporation rating

8.2

Company rating: 8.2 out of 10

Based on 8 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

157th of 447 rated engineering

Job description

Why choose between doing meaningful work and having a fulfilling life? At MITRE, you can have both. That's because MITRE people are committed to tackling our nation's toughest challenges-and we're committed to the long-term well-being of our employees. MITRE is different from most technology companies. We are a not-for-profit corporation chartered to work for the public interest, with no commercial conflicts to influence what we do. The R&D centers we operate for the government create lasting impact in fields as diverse as cybersecurity, healthcare, aviation, defense, and enterprise transformation. We're making a difference every day-working for a safer, healthier, and more secure nation and world. Our workplace reflects our values. We offer competitive benefits, exceptional professional development opportunities for career growth, and a culture of innovation that embraces adaptability, collaboration, technical excellence, and people in partnership. If this sounds like the choice you want to make, then choose MITRE - and make a difference with us.
Department Summary:
MITRE Technology and Engineering (MTE)'s Chemical and Optical Sciences Department serves as a vanguard for MITRE to meet the future needs of our customers, requiring technical excellence while encouraging creativity and fostering interests in current and emerging technologies across its diverse employees. Your future colleagues are a collegial team from diverse technical backgrounds who work across MITRE's sponsors and partners focused on the public good.
Roles & Responsibilities:
  • Develop deep learning and classical machine learning (ML) models for applications in chemistry and material science
  • Building ML pipelines and statistical analysis
  • Partner with experimentalists to design and develop new ML algorithms
  • Work in the public interest to provide novel materials solutions to our sponsors' most critical problems
  • Be an independent contributor in laboratory experimentation efforts related to new materials fabrication, characterization, and analysis
  • Be familiar with emerging materials concepts and be able to formulate experiments focused on validating the applicability of said concepts to a variety of different application/mission spaces
  • Interface with sponsors to discuss their most critical technical problems
  • Be able to propose novel materials-based ideas within MITRE's internal research and development program.
  • As needed and desired, contribute to other technical tasks requiring physical science and engineering expertise, including, but not limited to, next-generation materials for microelectronics.
  • Some domestic travel will be necessary.

Basic Qualifications:
  • PhD with relevant experience who can immediately contribute at this job level
  • Ph.D. in Chemistry, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, Computational Chemistry, Materials Informatics, Physics, Computer Science or a closely related STEM discipline (or MS with additional experience).
  • Proficiency in Python and data science core libraries NumPy, PyTorch, JAX, pandas scikit-learn
  • Familiarity with software engineering best practices (version control, documentation) and open-source contributions
  • Firm grasp of materials science and engineering, with an emphasis on polymer/elastomer composites.
  • Demonstrated ability to communicate complex technical concepts to multidisciplinary teams and government sponsors.
  • Experience leading independent research efforts and transitioning innovative concepts into operationally relevant capabilities.
  • Strong systems thinking and ability to connect fundamental science with mission outcomes.
  • The ability to obtain a Department of War SECRET clearance
  • This position requires a minimum of 4 days a week on-site

Preferred Qualifications:
  • Experience applying AI to laboratory automation, including autonomous experimentation, inverse design, or closed-loop optimization.
  • Peer-reviewed publications applying AI/ML to chemistry and/or materials science
  • Experience developing and applying deep learning methods for scientific discovery, including graph neural networks (GNNs), transformer architectures, diffusion models, flow matching models, and representation learning for molecular and materials systems.
  • Understanding of symmetry-aware ML concepts relevant to materials science, including equivariant neural networks, geometric deep learning, and physics-informed or symmetry-preserving model architectures.
  • Experience with computational chemistry and materials science python libraries, including one or more of:
    • pymatgen
    • Atomic Simulation Environment (ASE)
    • RDKit
    • matminer
    • FireWorks
    • scikit-learn
    • PyTorch
  • Familiarity with atomistic simulation methods, molecular modeling, density functional theory (DFT), molecular dynamics (MD), or high-throughput computational screening workflows.
  • Experience with foundation models, large language models, scientific ML, AI agents, or autonomous research systems for scientific reasoning and discovery.
  • Record of open-source software contributions, or successful transition of research into operational capabilities.
  • Demonstrated success leading multidisciplinary teams spanning AI, chemistry, materials science, software engineering, robotics, and systems engineering.
  • Experience identifying emerging technologies and shaping research strategies aligned with national security priorities.
  • Passion for advancing trustworthy and responsible AI for scientific applications.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills with technical and executive stakeholders
  • Active or current DoD security clearance (Secret or higher).

This requisition requires the candidate to have a minimum of the following clearance(s):
None
This requisition requires the hired candidate to have or obtain, within one year from the date of hire, the following clearance(s):
Secret
Salary compensation range and midpoint:
$143,600 - $179,500 - $215,400 Annual
Work Location Type:
Onsite
Commitment to Non-Discrimination
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, local or international law.
MITRE intends to maintain a website that is fully accessible to all individuals. If you are unable to search or apply for jobs and would like to request a reasonable accommodation for any part of MITRE's employment process, please email for general support and for intern positions. This service is for individuals requiring reasonable accommodation requests. Please note that vendor solicitations will not receive a reply.
Benefits information may be found here.
Copyright 1997-2026, The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved. MITRE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation. Material on this site may be copied and distributed with permission only.

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About MITRE

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Why choose between doing meaningful work and having a fulfilling life? At MITRE, you can have both. That's because MITRE people are committed to tackling our nation's toughest challenges-and we're committed to the long-term well-being of our employees. MITRE is different from most technology companies. We are a not-for-profit corporation chartered to work for the public interest, with no commercial conflicts to influence what we do. The R&D centers we operate for the government create lasting impact in fields as diverse as cybersecurity, healthcare, aviation, defense, and enterprise transformation. We're making a difference every day-working for a safer, healthier, and more secure nation and world. Our workplace reflects our values. We offer competitive benefits, exceptional professional development opportunities, and a culture of innovation that embraces diversity, inclusion, flexibility, collaboration, and career growth. If this sounds like the choice you want to make, then choose MITRE-and make a difference with us. MITRE is a trusted operator of federally funded research and development centers and we're on a mission to make the world a safer place-for all of humanity, today and in the future. To deliver on our mission, we need the world's best talent and leaders-groundbreakers and partnership-builders on a global scale in areas like healthcare, artificial intelligence, critical infrastructure resiliency, pandemic management, and cybersecurity. In return, we have the privilege of backing you with thousands of technical experts in diverse fields, a culture of innovation and knowledge sharing, access to data and resources uniquely available to MITRE through our wide-ranging partnerships across government, industry and academia.

Industry

It services

Company size

5,001 - 10,000 Employees

Headquarters location

McLean, VA, US

Year founded

1958

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