Field Service Engineer

Field Service Engineer – Electron Microscopy – Washington DC MetroLocation: Washington DC Metro area — office-based between trips; territory covers the eastern US with occasional broader US/Canada travel; ~50% travel including occasional weekend travelCompensation: $90–110k base salary, commensurate with experienceBenefits: Health, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, Long Term Disability, 401KIris Scientific is a specialty recruitment agency laser focused on the North American Scientific Instrumentation Industry.We're partnering with an established U.S. provider of electron microscopy, surface science, and nanotechnology instrumentation to hire two Field Service Engineers in the Washington DC metro area. You'll support a growing installed base of benchtop Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) systems across the eastern US - and this is just the starting point. Additional product lines will be added to your portfolio quickly, spanning technologies across physics, electronics, and mechanical systems.This is a genuine development role inside a full-service instrumentation company. Unlike remote field positions, you'll work from an established office alongside a lead engineer, with structured factory training and a depot repair operation on site. Training includes an intensive program at the company's US headquarters, ongoing mentorship from senior engineers, and technical training trips to international vendor locations in Europe (Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, and others).The day-to-day centers on preventive maintenance and on-site support: electron source replacements, pump rebuilds and maintenance, mechanical alignments, detector and software upgrades, and system troubleshooting - plus depot repair work between travel weeks. Customers include universities, government labs, technology startups, and multinational corporations doing some of the most interesting research in the country.We're hiring two profiles, so this role fits a range of backgrounds:An experienced FSE: you have a few years of field service under your belt on complex scientific, analytical, or high-tech instrumentation, and you know the rhythm of the job - scheduling, customer communication, service reports, working independently on the road.A hands-on builder earlier in their path: perhaps you're coming out of a lab, core facility, or technical role where you built, maintained, repaired, and modified advanced instrumentation - the person who did the teardowns, coordinated with vendor service engineers, and kept the equipment running. We'll train the field service side.In both cases, what matters most is demonstrable mechanical aptitude and a genuine troubleshooting mind. This company doesn't hand you a step-by-step manual for every fault - you'll follow structured procedures where they exist and reason from first principles where they don't.You'll thrive here if you enjoy:Taking complex systems apart, diagnosing mechanical or electrical issues, and putting them back together correctlyTroubleshooting independently when documentation is incompleteDirect interaction with scientists and engineers at customer sites - this is a customer-facing, relationship-building roleBuilding deep technical expertise across multiple instrument platforms, not just one product lineBeing part of a small, capable service team where your contribution is visibleWhat you bring:1–5 years of field service experience with scientific, analytical, or high-tech instrumentation; ORA high-end instrumentation background from a research setting - system building, repair, and troubleshooting, typically from a graduate school laboratory or core facility environmentDemonstrated hands-on troubleshooting and repair of electromechanical systems: mechanical assemblies, motors, motion components, sensors, basic electronicsExposure to board-level electronics work (PCB replacement, fault isolation) is a plus; high voltage and vacuum experience is a bonus, not a requirementProven ability to diagnose root cause and determine next steps without scripted proceduresStrong communication skills and a professional presence with customersBachelor's degree in engineering or a science discipline preferred; equivalent hands-on experience with electronic/mechanical systems consideredWillingness and ability to travel ~50% across the eastern US, with occasional weekend travel and periodic international training tripsAbility to safely lift up to 50 lbs and work at customer sitesUS citizenship, with no current or future need for visa sponsorship (required for government laboratory site access)SEM experience is a plus, not a requirement - full training is providedIf this sounds like you, let's talk.