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Materials Scientist Jobs in Reston, VA (NOW HIRING)

Delphinus Engineering

Materials Engineer

Bethesda, MD · Hybrid

$85K/yr

Bachelor's degree in Materials Science, Metallurgy, Mechanical Engineering, Welding Engineering, or a closely related discipline. REQUIREMENTS: * 2-5+ years of relevant engineering experience in ...

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Materials Scientist information

See Reston, VA salary details

$55.1K

$129K

$180K

How much do materials scientist jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 15, 2026, the average yearly pay for materials scientist in Reston, VA is $128,976.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $97,300.00 and $173,700.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a materials scientist, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Materials Scientist, you need a strong background in chemistry, physics, and engineering, typically supported by a degree in materials science or a related field. Familiarity with laboratory techniques, analytical instruments (like SEM, XRD), and modeling software such as MATLAB or COMSOL is often required. Critical thinking, problem-solving, and effective communication are essential soft skills for collaborating with teams and presenting research findings. These skills ensure accurate analysis, innovation, and successful development of new materials for various applications.

What does a materials scientist do?

A Materials Scientist studies and analyzes the properties, structures, and performance of different materials, such as metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites. They work to develop new materials or improve existing ones for a wide range of applications, from electronics to aerospace and healthcare. Their work often involves researching how materials interact with various environments and developing processes to manufacture materials with desired characteristics.

What is the difference between Materials Scientist vs Chemist?

AspectMaterials ScientistChemist
Required CredentialsBachelor's or Master's in Materials Science, Chemistry, or related fieldBachelor's or Master's in Chemistry or related field
Work EnvironmentResearch labs, manufacturing facilities, R&D departmentsLaboratories, research institutions, industrial settings
Industry UsageMaterials development, product testing, quality controlChemical analysis, formulation, process development

Materials Scientists and Chemists often share educational backgrounds and work in laboratory settings. However, Materials Scientists focus on developing and testing materials like metals, polymers, and ceramics, while Chemists primarily analyze chemical substances and reactions. Both roles are vital in research and manufacturing industries, but their specific focus areas differ, influencing their daily tasks and career paths.

What are some common challenges materials scientists face when working on new product development projects?

Materials Scientists often encounter challenges such as balancing innovative material properties with cost-effectiveness, scalability, and manufacturability. Collaborating with cross-functional teams—including engineers, designers, and production staff—can add complexity, as each group may have different priorities and technical requirements. Additionally, staying updated on the latest scientific advancements and regulatory standards is essential for ensuring that newly developed materials are both cutting-edge and compliant. Effective communication and adaptability are key to overcoming these challenges and driving successful product development.
More about Materials Scientist jobs

What are the most commonly searched types of Materials Scientist jobs in Reston, VA?

The most popular types of Materials Scientist jobs in Reston, VA are:

What cities near Reston, VA are hiring for Materials Scientist jobs?

Cities near Reston, VA with the most Materials Scientist job openings:

Materials Scientist jobs near you
Infographic showing various Materials Scientist job openings in Reston, VA as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 80% Full Time, 15% Part Time, 1% Temporary, 2% Contract, and 1% Nights. Highlights an 92% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 5% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $128,976 per year, or $62 per hour.

Materials and Chemistry AI Scientist

The MITRE Corporation

Mclean, VA • On-site

Other

This job post has expired 1 day ago. Applications are no longer accepted.

MITRE Corporation rating

8.2

Company rating: 8.2 out of 10

Based on 8 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

158th of 449 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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