Materials Scientist Surface Chemistry & Adhesion

RxSight® is an ophthalmic medical technology corporation headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California that has commercialized the world’s first and only adjustable intraocular lens (IOL) that is customized after cataract surgery. The company’s mission is to revolutionize the premium cataract surgery experience by allowing surgeons to partner with their patients to achieve optimized results for every unique eye.

OVERVIEW:

The Materials Scientist – Surface Chemistry and Adhesion leads the development of surface and interfacial technologies that enable durable adhesion between dissimilar crosslinked soft-material substrates, including acrylic and silicone systems. The scientist will develop a mechanistic understanding of each interface, propose and screen multiple technical solutions, and translate promising concepts into robust, testable, and manufacturable processes.

This hands-on role spans the full development cycle: defining requirements and failure modes; designing and executing experiments; characterizing treated surfaces and bonded interfaces; verifying performance under relevant environmental, aging, and use conditions; supporting design verification and process validation; and demonstrating scalability and transfer readiness. 

The scientist may also develop functional coatings on low-surface-energy polymers such as polypropylene, including durable coatings intended to improve lubricity and reduce friction.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead surface-chemistry and adhesion development for dissimilar crosslinked soft-material interfaces, including acrylic-to-silicone systems, from problem definition and concept generation through implementation.
• Define interface requirements, critical material attributes, performance targets, test methods, acceptance criteria, and likely failure modes in collaboration with product, engineering, quality, and manufacturing partners.
• Generate and evaluate solution pathways such as plasma, corona or chemical activation; primers and coupling agents; grafted or deposited interlayers; adhesive chemistries; network-compatible functional groups; controlled surface topography; and process-sequence or cure modifications.
• Design and execute statistically sound screening studies and design-of-experiments to identify critical factors, process windows, interactions, and robust operating conditions.
• Characterize surface chemistry, energy, wettability, topography, morphology, coating thickness, and interfacial structure using appropriate methods such as contact-angle analysis, spectroscopy, microscopy, profilometry, ellipsometry, AFM, and SEM/EDS.
• Develop and qualify mechanical and functional test methods for bonded interfaces, including peel, tensile, lap-shear, fracture, fatigue, and environmentally conditioned testing, with clear differentiation of adhesive and cohesive failure modes.
• Verify bond performance, durability, and stability under representative manufacturing, sterilization, hydration, temperature, humidity, chemical exposure, aging, and use conditions; investigate failures and establish root cause.
• Translate successful concepts into controlled processes by defining material specifications, equipment requirements, process parameters, in-process controls, inspection methods, and risk controls; support design verification, process characterization, validation, and technical documentation.
• Demonstrate scalability through pilot builds, repeatability and reproducibility studies, capability assessments, supplier or equipment evaluations, technology transfer, and manufacturing implementation support.
• Develop functional coatings on low-surface-energy substrates such as polypropylene, including lubricious or friction-reducing coatings; optimize coating adhesion, uniformity, durability, particulate resistance, and performance over the intended product lifecycle, and communicate clear technical recommendations to stakeholders.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Strong foundation in surface chemistry, polymer science, materials science, chemical engineering, or a related field, with emphasis on soft materials and interfaces.
• Deep understanding of adhesion mechanisms, interfacial thermodynamics, surface energy, wettability, diffusion and network constraints, coupling chemistry, coating adhesion, and failure modes in crosslinked polymer systems.
• Hands-on experience selecting and applying surface characterization techniques and correlating surface properties with mechanical and device-level performance.
• Experience developing surface treatments, primers, interlayers, adhesives, or coatings for low-surface-energy and chemically dissimilar polymers; direct experience with acrylic, silicone, or polypropylene is strongly preferred.
• Experience developing and interpreting adhesion, peel, tensile, shear, fracture, fatigue, friction, wear, and coating-durability tests, including conditioned and accelerated-aging studies.
• Demonstrated ability to independently transform ideas into competing hypotheses, executable experimental plans, quantitative decisions, and documented technical recommendations.
• Working knowledge of design of experiments, measurement-system analysis, statistical data interpretation, process characterization, risk management, verification and validation, and scale-up of special processes.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to collaborate across R&D, engineering, quality, regulatory, manufacturing, suppliers, and external technical partners.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• None

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, and TRAINING:

• Ph.D. in Materials Science, Surface Science, Polymer Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a related field.
• Demonstrated technical depth in polymer interfaces, adhesion, surface modification, or functional coatings; candidates may be considered at multiple levels based on experience.
• Experience advancing a material or coating technology from laboratory feasibility through verification, validation, scale-up, and manufacturing transfer is strongly preferred.
• Experience in medical devices or another regulated industry, including design controls, risk management, and special-process validation, is preferred.

COMPUTER SKILLS:

• MS Office
• Spreadsheet Software

Notice to Staffing Agencies and Search Firms:

RxSight does not accept unsolicited resumes or candidate submissions from staffing agencies or search firms for any employment opportunities. All agency engagements must be authorized in writing for a specific position by RxSight’s Talent Acquisition department. Any resumes or candidate information submitted without such specific engagement will be considered unsolicited and the property of RxSight. No fees will be paid in the event a candidate is hired under these circumstances.