---
title: 'Materials Scientist, Polymers at 1X'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/materials-scientist-polymers-1x-san-carlos-d05dkjjydx2p'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-08'
---

# Materials Scientist, Polymers at 1X

- **Company:** [1X](https://feeny.ai/companies/1x)
- **Location:** San Carlos, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-08-11
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-08
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/fba70e1c-0c7f-482c-97e5-1492df69ef0a

## Job description

## About 1X

1X builds humanoid robots for the home that take on chores and everyday tasks, giving people back their time. That is harder than it sounds: it means advancing robotics, AI, and manufacturing at the same time, at scale, in a machine safe enough to live with a family. We have been working on this since 2014. We believe the hardest research is behind us and the hardest execution is ahead. Our flagship product, NEO, is a home robot built to move, learn, and work alongside people, and it is shipping, not just demoing. If you want to see important work reach the public, join us as we work to safely create broad abundance.

## About the Team

The Materials Science team develops the polymers, fibers, elastomers, adhesives, coatings, and functional materials that determine how durable, efficient, safe, and manufacturable our robots are. We move quickly from the lab into robot systems and work closely with mechanical, electrical, manufacturing, and systems engineers.

## Your Charter

Lead polymer-chemistry and polymer-physics R&D on novel tendon materials, protective coatings, and load-bearing composites for humanoid robots. You will work alongside engineers to invent and evaluate new tendon approaches, develop the coatings and jackets that protect them, build and run the equipment used to make high-performance polymers and fibers, characterize what you make, and carry the best candidates into production. Focus areas include strength and stiffness, creep, flex and bend-over-sheave fatigue, adhesion, abrasion, friction, and long-term aging.

## Key Outcomes

- Develop novel tendon materials and architectures that outperform current solutions in strength, creep resistance, and fatigue life.
- Develop polymer coatings and jackets for tendons, fibers, and load-bearing composites that improve adhesion, abrasion and wear resistance, friction, and flex durability.
- Set up and operate processing equipment to make high-performance materials in-house, such as twin-screw extrusion and compounding, compression molding, coating lines, fiber spinning and drawing, and lab-scale polymerization reactors.
- Connect chemistry, processing, and polymer physics to measured tendon performance, and build structure-process-property-performance models that guide design decisions.
- Characterize materials, coatings, and tendon constructs using tensile, creep and stress-relaxation, cyclic and flex fatigue, abrasion, adhesion, DMA, DSC, TGA, FTIR, rheology, and microscopy.
- Investigate rope, coating, and composite failures, identify root causes, and implement chemistry- and physics-driven fixes.
- Establish lab procedures, test methods, and documentation that support manufacturing readiness, supplier transfer, and IP development.

## Key Competencies

- Deep grounding in polymer chemistry together with a strong command of polymer physics to understand how high-performance materials function.
- Working knowledge of coating formulation, surface preparation, and adhesion, and how they interact with the substrate underneath.
- Hands-on skill with polymer synthesis, compounding, and processing equipment, and the judgment to choose the right process for a target property.
- Creativity in proposing and testing unconventional material and structural approaches to tendons, coatings, and load-bearing parts.
- Data-driven mindset: designs rigorous experiments and uses the results to refine materials and processes.
- Collaborate well with chemists, materials scientists, and mechanical, manufacturing, and systems engineers.
- Own research from the first concept through production and thrive in a fast-paced environment.

## Minimum Requirements

- MS in chemistry, polymer science/engineering, chemical engineering, materials science, or a closely related field.
- 3+ years of hands-on R&D experience developing high-performance polymers, polymer coatings, fibers, or polymer composites.
- Strong working knowledge of polymer physics and how it governs mechanical behavior under sustained and cyclic load.
- Experience operating one or more types of polymer processing or coating equipment (e.g., extrusion, compounding, fiber spinning/drawing, coating, or molding).
- Knowledge of polymer synthesis and formulation.
- Experience with DMA, DSC, TGA, FTIR, rheology, and mechanical testing, including creep and fatigue.
- Experience with design of experiments (DOE) and statistical analysis.

## Preferred Skills

- PhD in chemistry, polymer science/engineering, chemical engineering, materials science, polymer physics, or an MS of similar background with 5+ years of relevant industry experience
- Experience with high-performance fibers and ropes for actuation or load bearing.
- Experience building or modifying lab and pilot-scale processing lines.
- Experience developing coatings, surface treatments, or sizings for fibers, ropes, or composites.
- Experience scaling materials from the lab to pilot or high-volume manufacturing.
- Experience working with suppliers and documenting inventions and patents.
- Demonstrated ability to design and deliver highly innovative solutions.

What Does a Successful 1X Team Member Look Like? Successful team members are builders who move quickly and take full ownership of their work. They treat time as irreplaceable, follow through on what they commit to, and hold themselves to high standards without being asked. They push each other to get better, honestly and respectfully. Successful materials scientists at 1X combine scientific rigor with an engineering mindset. They enjoy inventing new materials and attacking hard, cross-disciplinary problems, and they turn lab results into scalable technology that makes our robots stronger, longer-lived, and more capable. They are comfortable designing experiments, building and running equipment, analyzing complex data, troubleshooting manufacturing issues, and bringing new materials into production.

## Compensation Range

$200,000 – $248,000 annual salary, based on experience, plus equity.

## Benefits

- Medical, dental, and vision coverage
- PTO, holidays, and parental leave
- 401(k) with company match
- FSA/HSA
- Commuter benefits
- Disability and life insurance
- Employee Assistance Program
- Onsite snacks and catered lunches

## Equal Opportunity Employer

1X is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

## About 1X

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: 1X develops general-purpose humanoid robots for home and industrial environments, combining AI and hardware to automate everyday tasks.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series B funding stage)
- **Headquarters**: Palo Alto, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2015
- **Founders**: Bernt Øyvind Børnich

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Robotics Engineering / Artificial Intelligence
- **Target customers**: B2C (home consumers via NEO) and B2B/Enterprise (industrial tasks via EVE)
- **Mission**: Build a truly abundant society through general-purpose robots capable of performing any kind of work autonomously, allowing humans to focus on what they love.

## Products & Services
- **NEO**: A friendly home humanoid robot designed to integrate seamlessly into daily life and handle chores. Currently in early access after the NEO Beta (2024) and NEO Gamma (2025) iterations. [1x.tech](https://www.1x.tech/about)
- **EVE**: A wheeled industrial humanoid deployed in factories worldwide for autonomous industrial tasks. [1x.tech](https://www.1x.tech/about)
- **Revo1**: A high-torque-to-weight drive servo motor inspired by human tendon actuation, used in 1X robots. [1x.tech](https://www.1x.tech/about)
- **1X World Model**: A physics-grounded video model that enables NEO to learn autonomously from text or voice commands. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/1x-technologies)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of $169M as of mid-2026, with a $100M Series B led by EQT Ventures in January 2024. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/1x-technologies)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: EQT Ventures (lead), plus other investors in secondary rounds. Acquired Kind Humanoid in January 2025. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/1x-technologies)
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - Headcount grew 121.2% YoY to 394 employees. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/1x-technologies)
  - Full-scale production of NEO began in Hayward, CA, with capacity to build 10,000 units per year. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/1x-technologies)
  - New Palo Alto HQ consolidated teams from Sunnyvale and Moss, Norway. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/1x-technologies)
  - Appointed Mohi Khansari as Head of Robot Learning (January 2026) and Vikram Kothari as VP of Operations (August 2025). [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/1x-technologies)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Vertical integration**: Owns manufacturing in Hayward (U.S.) and Moss (Norway), controlling the full production stack.
- **Proprietary hardware**: Revo1 servo motor offers world-leading torque-to-weight ratio, enabling flexible, low-gear-ratio robotics.
- **AI-first approach**: The 1X World Model allows robots to learn physical tasks via simulation and self-supervised video prediction, reducing need for manual programming.
- **Early home deployment**: NEO is one of the first humanoid robots entering private homes, giving 1X real-world data and feedback loops.

## Strategic Focus
- Scaling NEO production and expanding early access to more households across the U.S.
- Enhancing AI capabilities through the World Model and reinforcement learning (e.g., Redwood mobility controller).
- Building a robust supply chain and service network for home robots.
- Continuing enterprise deployments of EVE while shifting emphasis to the consumer market.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Fast-paced, mission-driven environment focused on building humanoid robots that coexist with humans. Strong emphasis on AI, hardware, and real-world impact.
- **Work model**: Likely on-site for hardware and AI roles (multiple offices in Palo Alto, San Carlos, Sunnyvale, Hayward, and Moss). Some software roles may offer flexibility.
- **Notable perks**: Opportunity to work on cutting-edge robotics and AI, contribute to a product (NEO) that is already entering homes, and be part of a rapidly scaling company with strong funding.
- **Engineering culture**: High concentration of talent from Tesla, Apple, Google, and SpaceX. Active research in biomechanics, reinforcement learning, and simulation. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/1x-technologies)
- **Open roles**: 65+ positions listed on the careers page across AI, hardware, software, operations, and manufacturing. [1x.tech](https://www.1x.tech/careers)

## Sources
1. [1x.tech](https://www.1x.tech/about)
2. [1x.tech](https://www.1x.tech/careers)
3. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/1x-technologies)

## Other roles at 1X

- [Staff Technical Program Manager, Platform](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-technical-program-manager-platform-1x-san-carlos-f348r8pczcyz) — San Carlos, CA
- [Staff Model Maker, Machining](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-model-maker-machining-1x-san-carlos-18w61cvy78sx) — San Carlos, CA
- [Senior Manufacturing Engineer - Actuators](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-manufacturing-engineer-actuators-1x-san-carlos-kwfvzvmaqny2) — San Carlos, CA
- [Assembly Technician - Robot Hands](https://feeny.ai/job/assembly-technician-robot-hands-1x-san-carlos-cjner5cbwtk6) — San Carlos, CA
- [Firmware Engineer - Testing](https://feeny.ai/job/firmware-engineer-testing-1x-san-carlos-xr69c1z1y5pv) — San Carlos, CA
- [Vice President Finance - Corporate Controller](https://feeny.ai/job/vice-president-finance-corporate-controller-1x-san-carlos-setxjzk3dtx5) — San Carlos, CA
- [CAD Sculptor](https://feeny.ai/job/cad-sculptor-1x-san-carlos-hwxaw6xckapg) — San Carlos, CA
- [Softgoods Product Design Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/softgoods-product-design-engineer-1x-san-carlos-q1y7vkjwyd4e) — San Carlos, CA
- [Softgoods Development Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/softgoods-development-engineer-1x-san-carlos-zt1meyamfq5g) — San Carlos, CA
- [Recruiter - Skilled Trades](https://feeny.ai/job/recruiter-skilled-trades-1x-san-carlos-4t08qxx11efx) — San Carlos, CA