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Salary: USD 200,000 - 250,000 / annual
Periodic Labs is an AI and physical sciences company building state-of-the-art models to accelerate breakthroughs in materials, energy, and related domains. The company operates a high-throughput experimental materials science lab handling hazardous chemistries, high-pressure and high-temperature processes, air-sensitive synthesis, toxic gas exposure risks, and thin-film deposition tools including PVD and PLD. The lab increasingly runs autonomous workflows overnight, requiring integrated safety design from inception.
As Process Safety Engineer, you will lead operational safety for this complex, rapidly evolving lab environment. Your core responsibilities include:
- Lead and document HAZOPs, PHA/FMEA, and risk assessments for new processes and lab systems, including toxic and pyrophoric materials, high-pressure operations, glovebox workflows, and thin-film deposition platforms.
- Establish operational readiness and laboratory reliability systems for autonomous operations: pre-startup safety reviews (PSSR), management of change (MOC), commissioning validation, alarm rationalization, startup/shutdown procedures, and critical equipment inspection programs.
- Partner with automation and controls teams to implement machine safeguarding, fail-safes, interlocks, robotics safety controls, functional safety validation, safety PLC reviews, and automated motion hazard assessments for autonomous experimental systems.
- Develop and maintain EHS standards, specifications, procedures, and governance systems that scale across multiple facilities.
- Collaborate with ML/AI engineers to train an LLM to reason through process hazards, risk assessments, and safety constraints during experimental planning and autonomous execution—embedding EHS as a first-class input to the AI's decision-making.
- Provide technical expertise in high-throughput R&D with focus on chemical safety, specialty gas delivery, vacuum systems, and RF/high-voltage systems.
- Lead incident investigations and root cause analyses; own injury reporting and recordkeeping (Cal/OSHA 300 log, serious-injury reporting); drive corrective actions to closure.
- Assess permitting and MAQ implications of new processes and chemistries; represent process safety during fire marshal and CUPA inspections; partner on CERS and BAAQMD compliance.
- Serve as Chemical Hygiene Officer, maintaining the Chemical Hygiene Plan across labs.
This role is unique in embedding safety as a core design discipline for autonomous science, not a compliance function added afterward. You will work on-site in a fast-paced, 24/7 lab environment where the hazard profile evolves monthly.
REQUIREMENTS:
- 7–10+ years of experience in EHS, process safety, or chemical operations in labs, pilot plants, or semiconductor fabs, preferably with strong chemistry background (solid-state chemistry, materials processing, or lab automation a plus).
- Hands-on experience leading HAZOPs or FMEAs and running PSSR and MOC programs.
- Working knowledge of functional safety: interlocks, safety PLCs, and ISO 13849 / IEC 61508 concepts.
- Working knowledge of Cal/OSHA, OSHA PELs, ACGIH TLVs/BEIs, NIOSH, and ANSI standards.
- Comfort working on-site in a fast-paced, high-complexity lab environment where experiments run 24/7 and hazard profile evolves.
- Minimum education: Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
STRONG ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:
- Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Associate Safety Professional (ASP), Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), or similar credential.
- Experience with semiconductor or thin-film process safety: HF, toxic and pyrophoric gases, gas cabinets, and SEMI S2.
- Experience designing EHS systems for autonomous or semi-autonomous lab environments where processes run without continuous human supervision.
- Familiarity with AI or ML tools as applied to risk assessment, safety documentation, or experimental planning.
