Senior Thin-film Materials Engineer (hydrophobic)

Join Rivercell, an ambitious French startup, as a Senior Thin-film Materials Engineer. You will develop the hydrophobic coating for our microfluidic chip, optimizing various properties and characterizing wetting behavior. Collaborate with an interdisciplinary team and be part of an exciting biotech project.

You have a PhD in materials science, interface science, chemistry, chemical engineering, or a related field.

Surface micropatterning and nanopatterning

About Rivercell

Teflon AF, Cytop, PTFE, fluorosilanes, or related low-surface-energy materials

Responsibilities

• Develop fluoropolymer and alternative hydrophobic coating processes for the microfluidic chip, optimizing coating thickness, uniformity, roughness, surface energy, and contact angle.
• Engineer adhesion between hydrophobic coatings and underlying chip surfaces, characterizing static and dynamic wetting behavior under various conditions.
• Define surface-specific process windows, quality controls, handling procedures, and acceptance criteria, evaluating alternative surface chemistries and scalable coating methods.
• Contact-angle measurement and dynamic wetting characterization

Thin film dielectric breakdown

• Adhesion, interfacial failure, contamination control, and surface metrology
• Polymers or fluoropolymers used in microfluidic, electronic, optical, or biomedical devices
• Experimental design and quantitative interpretation of surface-performance data
• AFM, XPS, ellipsometry, profilometry, surface-energy analysis, impedance spectroscopy or adhesion testing

Requirements

• You have 4+ years of relevant experience in polymer or fluoropolymer coatings, surface functionalization, adhesion, wetting, or liquid–solid interfaces.
• You combine strong technical judgment with a willingness to work hands-on in the laboratory and solve practical problems.
• You are autonomous, committed, enthusiastic, and comfortable working with a can-do, creative, and challenging mindset.
• You are rigorous in experiment design, documentation, data interpretation, and communication of uncertainty.
• You have excellent communication skills and are fluent in English; professional proficiency in French is helpful but not required.
• You have previous experience or knowledge in one or more of the following areas:
• Surface chemistry, silanization, plasma treatment, and thin coating processes
• Please let us know in your application if you specifically have experience with one or several of the following:
• Surface micropatterning and nanopatterning

Preferred

• Electrowetting, digital microfluidics, or liquid-facing dielectric coatings
• Biological-media compatibility and fouling mitigation