FRP Materials and Process Engineer
Remote
Portfolio Company /
Full-Time /
Hybrid
Roadrunner Venture Studios is partnering with a cutting-edge startup working to build bigger, simpler. Directly fabricating large components on-site minimizes transport and assembly labor, forever simplifying construction and supply chains. But realizing that future requires new materials that are strong, low-cost, and can be manufactured with unprecedented speed and reliability.
Fiber-reinforced polymer composites (FRPs) have untapped potential for building big because unlike metals, their properties and processing are independent of each other. FRP processing can be hacked by innovations in resin chemistry.
Our partner, established in 2022, is a start-up out of Stanford University that uses proprietary resin chemistry for on-site manufacturing of oversize high-performance FRPs for buildings, bridges, wind turbines, and other applications in infrastructure and energy. They work closely with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and have support from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and ARPA-e.
Mission: In this pivotal role, you will own the performance and reliability of the company's proprietary manufacturing process and the quality of produced FRP components. You’ll collaborate closely with mechanical and mechatronics engineers to design and build key unit operations, owning critical design decisions that affect the future trajectory of our organization.
Responsibilities:
- Determine critical KPIs and optimize our proprietary manufacturing processes
- Develop models, digital twins, and/or other software tools for faster process optimization
- Design and testing of produced FRP parts
- Sizing and design of off-the-shelf and bespoke equipment for other engineering teams
- Developing SOPs according to optimized operations and safety
- Incorporate non-destructive evaluation in-line our production process
Preferred Experience: We’re looking for a hands-on, pragmatic engineer with a strong foundation in mechanical or chemical engineering, who has seen how real-world parts get built and tested. You should bring:
- Experience owning production quality of FRP or similar composite parts, including:
- * Setting up and tuning manufacturing process parameters
- * Performing or supervising mechanical testing
- * Interpreting customer specs and translating them into actionable criteria for the engineering team
- Familiarity with a variety of FRP processes (e.g., pultrusion, RTM, filament winding) and fiber formats (e.g., UD, biaxial, woven, stitched)
- Familiarity with Ansys Granta or similar software for materials information management
- Familiarity with process modeling/digital twins with custom or commercially available systems
- Exposure to different product types across industries (not just one niche)
- Time spent in startups or early-stage companies where you wore multiple hats and had to troubleshoot across disciplines
- Ability to work across disciplines—especially alongside robotics, mechanical, and chemistry team members—and help define the handoffs between them
- Ideally, experience building large composite components (e.g., wind turbine blades, structural panels)
- Experience building or tuning new 3D printing or composite manufacturing processes
Location:
- This role will begin as remote with weekly travel to Knoxville, TN and eventual relocation to the company’s headquarters which is still TBD.
Roadrunner Venture Studios is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer that proudly pursues and hires a diverse workforce. We do not make hiring or employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion or religious belief, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender-identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable local, state, or federal laws or prohibited by Company policy. We strive for a healthy and safe workplace and strictly prohibit harassment of any kind.
