Director, AI Enabled Discovery and Digital R&D

Work Your Magic with us! Start your next chapter and join EMD Electronics.

Ready to explore, break barriers, and discover more? We know you've got big plans - so do we! Our colleagues across the globe love innovating with science and technology to enrich people's lives with our solutions in Healthcare, Life Science, and Electronics. Together, we dream big and are passionate about caring for our rich mix of people, customers, patients, and planet. That's why we are always looking for curious minds that see themselves imagining the unimaginable with us.

Everything we do in EMD Electronics is to help us deliver on our purpose of being the company behind the companies, advancing digital living. We are dedicated to being the trusted supplier of high-tech materials, services and specialty chemicals for the electronics, automotive and cosmetics industries. We foster a global collaborative organization made up of individuals who have the passion to win, obsess about the customer, are relentlessly curious and act with urgency. Together, we push the boundaries of science to make more possible for our customers.

Your Role:

The materials discovery cycle is being fundamentally reshaped by AI from how experiments are designed and hypotheses generated, to how results are analyzed and learning is accumulated across thousands of runs. This role owns the AI and discovery half of that transformation at EMD Electronics, leading the programs that put intelligent systems directly in the hands of R&D scientists.

As part of the wider Materials AI portfolio and team, you will inherit live programs with real users and scientists already in motion, and a portfolio that has already demonstrated measurable scientific impact. The mandate is to deepen that impact, extend the AI stack to new material systems and domains, and shape what AI-enabled discovery looks like at EMD Electronics.
Strategic Scope & Impact

• Portfolio of AI-enabled discovery programs spanning co-scientist agents, Bayesian optimization, and sequential learning - deployed across global R&D and expanding to new material systems
• Leadership across programs in Germany and the US, embedded within the broader Materials AI organization
• External partnership agenda: Identifying, evaluating, and structuring collaborations with AI startups, technology providers, and academic groups to bring frontier capabilities into EMD R&D ecosystem
• Long-term AI-for-science vision: generative models and autonomous experimentation connecting EMD Electronics' capabilities to the businesses of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany (MilliporeSigma and EMD Serono).

Key Responsibilities
Strategy & Portfolio

• Define and evolve the AI-enabled discovery roadmap, aligned to the Connected Amplified R&D phases
• Own and prioritize the AI discovery program portfolio; manage budget, delivery milestones, and TLB reporting
• Translate technology advances in AI and scientific ML into a sequenced, fundable program agenda

Leadership

• Foster tight collaboration with the computational modelling and lab digitization sub-teams within Materials AI
• Develop program leads toward greater ownership and scientific ambition

Technical & Scientific Delivery

• Scale a deployed multi-agent AI co-scientist from internal platform toward the primary R&D workflow tool for experiment design, documentation, and analysis
• Extend Bayesian optimization capabilities to new material systems and R&D domains; deepen sequential learning workflows and instrument data integration
• Identify and pilot emerging AI approaches, e.g., generative models, autonomous experimentation, where they create genuine scientific leverage

Partnerships & External Engagement

• Build and manage collaborations with AI startups, academic groups, and technology providers; structure engagements that bring frontier capabilities in-house
• Represent EMD Electronics' AI-for-science work externally at conferences and in strategic partnerships
• Connect relevant initiatives across Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

Who You Are

Minimum Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in computer science, data science, chemistry, materials science, or a related field
• 5+ years in technical leadership or program management in an AI/ML context within chemical R&D
• Hands-on experience with AI/ML i.e. LLMs, Bayesian optimization, or scientific ML in a real deployment context
• Demonstrated track record of building and managing collaborations with external partners, including startups, academic groups, or technology providers.

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD in relevant scientific or technical discipline.
• Proficiency in agentic AI architectures, LLM-based systems, and modern machine learning frameworks.
• Familiarity with Bayesian optimization, sequential learning, or computational materials science.
• Background in semiconductor or specialty chemicals R&D; understanding of R&D workflows and scientific data acquired through hands-on laboratory experience.

Location: San Jose California, United States

Base Pay Range for this position - $200,200-$300,400

The offer range represents the anticipated low and high end of the base pay compensation for this position. The actual compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, level of experience, education, skills, and other job-related factors. Position may be eligible for sales or performance-based bonuses. Benefits offered by the Company include health insurance, paid time off (PTO), retirement contributions, and other perquisites. For more information click here:

What we offer: We are curious minds that come from a broad range of backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences. We believe that this variety drives excellence and innovation, strengthening our ability to lead in science and technology. We are committed to creating access and opportunities for all to develop and grow at your own pace. Join us in building a culture of inclusion and belonging that impacts millions and empowers everyone to work their magic and champion human progress!

Apply now and become a part of a team that is dedicated to Sparking Discovery and Elevating Humanity!