Research Scientist Senior

Posting Details Job Title Research Scientist Senior Requisition Number RE56335 Working Title Department Name 8H200:Chemical & Materials Engineering Work Location Lexington, KY Grade Level 47 Salary Range $58,302-96,179/year Type of Position Staff Position Time Status Full-Time Required Education PhD Click here for more information about equivalencies: https://hr.uky.edu/employment/working-uk/equivalencies Required Related Experience 2 yrs Required License/Registration/Certification None Physical Requirements Lifting, pushing, or pulling of objects up to 50 lbs., sitting for long periods of time, and standing for long periods of time etc. Shift Monday-Friday; 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Job Summary Lead complex materials research, strengthen cross-institutional collaboration, and advance high-impact scientific discovery. The University of Kentucky is seeking a Research Scientist Senior to join the Chemical & Materials Engineering department. This position provides technical leadership across a portfolio of externally funded materials research and characterization projects while executing complex experimental work and coordinating research activities with internal and external collaborators. The Research Scientist Senior also supervises research personnel, leads scientific reporting and communication, and helps guide the strategic management of laboratory instrumentation and infrastructure. What You’ll Do Provide technical leadership for complex materials research and characterization projects, personally conducting novel or high-priority experimental work while directing and reviewing related work performed by other group members. Define experimental approaches and translate broad project goals into executable technical plans across multiple concurrent projects. Serve as a primary technical resource for advanced materials characterization, including electron microscopy and X-ray scattering, and evaluate emerging techniques and instrumentation for research applications. Manage research activities, timelines, deliverables, and resource allocation across University units and external collaborating institutions. Represent the research group in planning discussions with external partners and shared-resource stakeholders, resolving scheduling and resource conflicts and identifying risks to project timelines. Supervise research support staff and student personnel, including onboarding, task assignment, performance feedback, time-record approval, and day-to-day program activities. Collaborate on research proposals and funding activities while independently leading scientific manuscripts, sponsor reports, and other research communications. Help develop and execute strategic plans for laboratory instrumentation, including equipment evaluation and acquisition, safety compliance, shared-instrument access and training, maintenance planning, and service contract management. What You’ll Bring Advanced expertise across multiple materials experimentation and characterization techniques, with particular strength in electron microscopy and X-ray scattering. Strong understanding of the relationships among materials processing, structure, properties, and performance. Ability to translate research objectives into technical plans and effectively direct the technical work of others. Project management skills and the ability to coordinate priorities, resources, timelines, and deliverables across multiple internal and external stakeholders. Personnel management, mentoring, scheduling, and sound judgment in supervising research staff and students. Strong scientific writing, presentation, communication, and interpersonal skills, including the ability to prepare proposals, reports, and manuscripts. Knowledge of laboratory instrumentation management, equipment planning, procurement and budgeting processes, and chemical, laser, and radiation safety requirements. Strong organizational and time-management skills for balancing multiple concurrent research pr…

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