Senior Materials Engineer

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Bring more to life.

Are you ready to accelerate your potential and make a real difference within life sciences, diagnostics and biotechnology?

At Cepheid, one of Danaher’s 15+ operating companies, our work saves lives—and we’re all united by a shared commitment to innovate for tangible impact. 

You’ll thrive in a culture of belonging where you and your unique viewpoint matter. And by harnessing Danaher’s system of continuous improvement, you help turn ideas into impact – innovating at the speed of life.

At Cepheid, we are passionate about improving health care through fast, accurate, molecular diagnostic systems and tests. As a member of our team, you’ll get to make an immediate, measurable impact on a global scale, within an environment that fosters career growth and development. Our mission drives us to develop groundbreaking solutions for the world’s most complex health challenges. Together, we bring MORE change to the world.

Learn about the Danaher Business System which makes everything possible.

The Senior Materials Engineer is responsible for supporting the long-term performance, reliability, and manufacturability of materials used in Cepheid’s commercially released molecular diagnostic systems and consumables. This role serves as a technical expert for material-related investigations involving polymers, elastomers, adhesives, films, molded plastic components, reagents, and chemical interfaces used in PCR-based diagnostic products.

The position applies materials science, failure analysis, manufacturing support, and structured problem-solving methods to improve Safety, Quality, Delivery, and Cost performance across mature production platforms. The Senior Materials Engineer will support material and supplier change assessments, production issue resolution, process qualifications, material specifications, and continuous improvement initiatives that improve product robustness, manufacturing flow, and supply continuity.

This position reports to the Component Engineering Manager and is part of the Reliability team located in Sunnyvale, CA, and will be an on-site role. 

In this role, you will have the opportunity to:

• Lead technical investigations, root cause analyses, and failure assessments for material-related manufacturing, supplier quality, product performance, and field reliability issues across commercial molecular diagnostic platforms.
• Evaluate, characterize, and qualify materials and components to ensure compatibility with diagnostic chemistries, long-term product performance, and manufacturing robustness.
• Assess and implement material, supplier, component, and process changes to support lifecycle management, risk mitigation, cost improvements, and supply continuity.
• Develop and maintain material specifications, test methods, qualification protocols, engineering documentation, and Quality Management System records.
• Partner cross-functionally to drive continuous improvement, resolve recurring production challenges, manage supplier and material risks, and ensure compliance with GMP, FDA, ISO, and internal quality requirements.

The essential requirements of the job include:

• Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science, Materials Engineering, Polymer Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related technical discipline
• 5 years of experience supporting materials engineering, manufacturing engineering, product sustainment, failure analysis, process improvement, or production support activities within molecular diagnostics, medical devices, biotechnology, life sciences, or another regulated manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated experience with polymers, elastomers, adhesives, films, coatings, molded plastic components, reagent-contacting materials, or other engineered materials used in commercial products.
• Experience performing material characterization, technical investigations, and root cause analysis using methods such as FTIR, DSC, TGA, SEM, EDS, microscopy, spectroscopy, mechanical testing, dimensional analysis, or equivalent analytical techniques.
• Experience supporting material, supplier, component, or process changes within a quality-managed environment, including technical documentation, qualification planning, risk assessment, and cross-functional implementation.

Cepheid, a Danaher operating company, offers a broad array of comprehensive, competitive benefit programs that add value to our lives. Whether it’s a health care program or paid time off, our programs contribute to life beyond the job. Check out our benefits at Danaher Benefits Info.

The annual salary range for this role is $120,000 - $140,000 per year. This is the range that we in good faith believe is the range of possible compensation for this role at the time of this posting. This range may be modified in the future.

This job is also eligible for bonus/incentive pay.

We offer comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off, medical/dental/vision insurance and 401(k) to eligible employees.

Note: No amount of pay is considered to be wages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, and determinable. The amount and availability of any bonus, commission, benefits, or any other form of compensation and benefits that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Company's sole discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole discretion, consistent with the law.

Join our winning team today. Together, we’ll accelerate the real-life impact of tomorrow’s science and technology. We partner with customers across the globe to help them solve their most complex challenges, architecting solutions that bring the power of science to life.

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