We’re an AI and physical sciences company building state-of-the-art models to accelerate breakthroughs across materials, energy, and beyond. Backed by world-class investors and growing rapidly, we operate at the pace the frontier requires. Our team brings deep expertise, genuine ownership, and an insatiable drive to push the boundaries of what’s scientifically possible.
About the RoleWe’re hiring a product engineer to build the agentic software layer between our frontier models, our scientific data, our lab systems, and the scientists using them. You’ll build the environment where materials scientists work alongside AI agents to plan experiments, run analyses, coordinate workflows, and turn results into decisions. The right person for this role is excited to define what the working interface between scientists and AI should actually look like.
You’ll turn cutting-edge models into products that become part of real scientific workflows, both inside Periodic and in customer environments. That means designing interfaces, orchestrating tools and agents, integrating with lab and data systems, and building the feedback loops that improve both product behavior and model performance.
As one of our first product hires, you’ll help define product engineering at Periodic: technically deep, ambitious in scope, and tightly coupled to real scientific work.
What You’ll DoPrototype quickly and ship continuously — build high-leverage products that become part of scientists’ daily workflow, then refine them through direct feedback from the lab and from customers
Build agentic products and interfaces on top of our frontier models and scientific data, including copilots, experiment planning systems, workflow automation, operational tools, and new interaction patterns that go beyond chat
Design how scientists direct, supervise, and collaborate with AI agents across experiment planning, execution, analysis, and decision-making
Work closely with model researchers to shape product behavior, evaluation signals, telemetry, and feedback loops that improve both the product experience and the underlying models
Own the product end to end, from data model and backend systems to APIs, user experience, deployment, and observability
Spend time with scientists in the lab, understand where time and attention are being lost, and turn those bottlenecks into products before they are formally requested
Help define the product engineering culture at Periodic, including standards for speed, quality, ambition, and taste
Minimum experience: 5+ years
Minimum education: Bachelor’s degree or similar experience
Location: Menlo Park, CA
Compensation: $250,000-$350,000 base + equity
Visa sponsorship: Yes, we sponsor visas and will do everything we can to assist in this process.
Skills Required
- Experience in building products with AI and ML
- Familiarity with API design and frontend development
- Ability to collaborate with scientists and researchers
What We Do
We're building AI scientists and the autonomous laboratories for them to operate.
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