Senior Polymer Chemist

About 1X

Since its founding in 2015, 1X has been at the forefront of developing advanced humanoid robots designed for household use. Our mission is to create an abundant supply of labor through safe, intelligent humanoids.

We strive for excellence in all we do, solving some of the hardest problems in robotics with the world’s most talented individuals. Every part of our robots is designed and produced in house, from motor coils to AI, reflecting our vertically integrated approach. At 1X, you will own real projects, be recognized for your achievements, and be rewarded based on merit.

We are seeking a Polymer Chemist with a passion for designing, formulating, and understanding soft matter systems that push the boundaries of robotic touch, durability, and safety. This role is ideal for an inventive scientist who enjoys translating chemistry into functional materials used in real world biomechanical and robotic applications.

You will help create the next generation of elastomers, gels, adhesives, coatings, and functional additives that form the sensing layers, protective skins, and compliant structures of our humanoids. You will collaborate closely with experts in materials science, physics, modeling, biomechanics, mechanical design, and manufacturing to bring breakthrough material concepts from molecular design to production ready reality.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and synthesize novel polymers tailored for sensing, compliance, impact absorption, and long term durability in robotic applications.

• Develop and optimize crosslinking strategies including Diels Alder systems, UV initiated radical reactions, thiol ene chemistry, and condensation cure mechanisms to tune mechanical and thermal behavior.

• Formulate material compositions to achieve specific properties such as softness, stretchability, toughness, resilience, adhesion, and stability.

• Establish processing methods for mixing, curing, casting, coating, laminating, and scale sensitive material handling.

• Conduct mechanical and chemical characterization including tensile testing, viscoelastic analysis, fatigue testing, rheology, thermal analysis, and adhesion testing.

• Work closely with materials scientists and modeling engineers to link molecular structure and crosslinking behavior to predictive performance models.

• Partner with mechanical and industrial design teams to integrate polymer materials into skins, covers, sensors, and compliant structural elements.

• Evaluate new monomers, oligomers, fillers, catalysts, and commercial raw materials to expand our soft matter toolkit.

• Document formulations, processes, and experimental results clearly to support repeatability and scale up.

• Stay current with polymer science, smart materials, advanced curing chemistries, and emerging research to continually enhance material performance.

Required Qualifications

• PhD Degree in chemistry, polymer science, chemical engineering, or a related field.

• 2+ years in industry or postdoc roles directly related to organic synthesis, polymerization, cross-linking, novel micro and macrostructures, functionalization and self-assembly

• Strong understanding of polymer chemistry and crosslinking reactions including thermal, photochemical, and reversible chemistries.

• Hands on experience synthesizing, mixing, curing, or processing polymer systems.

• Experience with characterization techniques such as rheology, tensile testing, DMA, DSC, TGA, or FTIR.

• Ability to translate molecular level insight into practical engineering outcomes.

• Comfort working across disciplines and iterating rapidly from concept to prototype.

• First principles thinker with strong experimental design skills and a drive to solve complex materials problems.

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills suited to a fast moving, cross functional environment.

We believe the best work is done when collaborating and therefore require in-person presence in our office locations.