Chemical Engineer

About Blue Ocean Materials
Blue Ocean is building rebuilding the supply chain for polymers and composites. Incumbents operate like it's the 90s, and lead times for these materials run from a few days to 8 weeks today, so we're rebuilding distribution facilities to automate cutting and fulfillment of material so stock ships in hours, and not days, similar to Nox for metal or SendCutSend for laser cutting. We're serving customers in aerospace, medical, semiconductor and space hardware.

We're a Discipulus Ventures company based out of the El Segundo area. Our two co-founders have built a manufacturing company before and are building the plastics supplier they wished they had.

The Role
You'll set up and lead our quality and reliability testing lab for polymer materials, inside our new 10,000 sq ft LA facility. Customers in critical industries rely on every lot we ship. You'll also be part of the founding team and work well beyond the lab.

What You'll Do

• Build the lab from scratch, including choosing what equipment to buy
• Develop test methods for the mechanical and chemical properties we require from suppliers
• Test incoming lots, for example for load and elongation, and approve them for release to customers
• Help define material quality standards for aerospace, medical and semiconductor customers
• Build and record data sheets on material lots that we receive
• Contribute across the business as one of a 3–4 person founding team

What We're Looking For

• A degree in chemical engineering
• Hands-on experience setting up a lab or testing materials, from a reliability engineering role, research or strong projects
• Strong analytical judgment and an ownership mindset
• Comfort with the pace and lack of structure at an early-stage company
• Anywhere from new grad (with strong projects or internships) to about 5 years of experience

Nice to Have

• Experience with organic chemistry or polymers
• A background in reliability engineering
• Real interest in plastics and advanced materials