Principal Chemist

Beehive Industries is dedicated to Powering American Defense by revolutionizing the design, development, and delivery of jet propulsion systems to support the warfighter. Through the integration of additive manufacturing, the company aims to meet the growing and urgent needs for unmanned aerial defense by dramatically improving a jet engine’s speed to market, fuel efficiency, and cost.

Founded in 2020, the company is headquartered in Centennial, Colorado, with additional facilities in Knoxville, Tennessee, Loveland Ohio, and Mount Vernon, Ohio. Beehive is committed to grow and advance the defense industrial base while manufacturing exclusively in the USA. This role will be located at our Cincinnati, Ohio facility.

Role Overview

The Principal Chemist leads the technical strategy for developing high-solids, UV-curable ceramic suspensions. This senior leader bridges the gap between polymer science and ceramic powder processing. They will engineer stable colloidal dispersions, optimize photopolymerization kinetics in highly scattering ceramic media, and oversee the successful thermal processing (debinding and sintering) of cured components.

Key Responsibilities

• Slurry Formulation Design: Develop novel, highly filled UV-curable formulations by integrating ceramic powders into monomer, oligomer, and photoinitiator matrices.
• Colloidal Dispersion Control: Optimize particle-matrix interactions using advanced dispersants, surfactants, and coupling agents to maximize solid loading while maintaining low viscosity.
• Rheological Optimization: Engineer precise fluid dynamics (shear-thinning behavior, yield stress) tailored for advanced manufacturing methods like additive manufacturing or tape casting.
• Curing & Scattering Management: Adjust photoinitiator packages and resin refractive indices to overcome light scattering caused by high-refractive-index ceramic particles (e.g., Alumina, Zirconia).
• Thermal Process Integration: Collaborate with process engineers to align chemical formulations with post-processing requirements, ensuring clean green-body debinding and defect-free sintering.
• Technical Mentorship: Drive the intellectual property portfolio, mentor junior formulation chemists, and serve as the subject matter expert for cross-functional teams.

Required Qualifications

• Education: Ph.D. or Master's degree in Polymer Chemistry, Ceramic Engineering, Materials Science, or Colloid Science.
• Experience: Binder, Resin, UV photopolymer, long and short chain polymer expertise, mfg. methods associated with resin development and scale up. Desired qualifications being: experience with Investment casting chemistry developments across resin based shell systems, wax formulations, High loaded Ceramic resin for silica and alumina. Experience with low and high density methods and post processing, face coatings and post process coatings
• Ceramics Expertise: Deep knowledge of ceramic powder surface chemistry, particle size distribution optimization, and colloidal stability theories (DLVO, steric stabilization).
• Analytical Toolset: Proficiency in advanced characterization techniques, including rheometry, particle size analysis (DLS), zeta potential, TGA/DSC, FTIR, and optical microscopy
• The ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government issued security clearance is required. U.S. citizenship is required, as only U.S. citizens are eligible for a security clearance

Beehive Industries offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes group Medical, Dental, Life, and Short and Long-Term disability coverage from day one. We also offer a generous 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan with a Company match. Every role at Beehive Industries is bonus eligible and will also receive equity in the company.

Beehive Industries is committed to full compliance with applicable anti-discrimination laws. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We strive to create an inclusive work environment and will not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.