Lead Quality Control Engineer

Roadrunner Venture Studio • Albuquerque, NM

2d • $75,000 - $110,000

About The Position

Halo Materials is seeking a Lead Quality Control Engineer to work closely with the CTO to build and scale our materials quality function from the ground up. This is not a maintenance role — it’s a build-it role. You’ll design the processes, tools, and infrastructure that ensure our materials perform consistently from lab experimentation through full production scale.
As a key technical leader within our startup environment, you’ll bridge R&D and manufacturing, creating scalable quality systems that move as fast as we do. If you’re excited by ambiguity, ownership, and building something foundational, this role is for you.
This is a hands-on technical leadership position for someone who thrives in deep tech environments and can move seamlessly between lab bench execution, internal process development, and understanding external customer requirements.

Requirements

• B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Materials Engineering, or closely related field
• 5+ years of research laboratory or industry experience in materials characterization and/or quality assurance.
• Proven experience leading complex, cross-functional projects — ideally spanning lab environments and industrial scale-up.
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills with the ability to execute tactically.
• Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences.
• Technical literacy in engineering, materials science, or chemical processes.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in adjacent industries where similar high-temperature, catalytic, carbon, or materials growth processes are used — such as petrochemicals, advanced ceramics, specialty chemicals, battery materials, semiconductors, metallurgy, or industrial gas processing.
• Experience with government grants, compliance reporting, or lab buildouts.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement scalable processes to collect, manage, and analyze experimental and production data.
• Build and lead the development of our materials quality assurance function, establishing standards, workflows, and documentation systems. Drive the scale-up of these QA systems from lab-stage validation to production-line integration.
• Evaluate and deploy hardware and software tools to accelerate materials characterization. Explore and implement AI-enabled solutions where appropriate to improve speed, consistency, and insight generation.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives bridging R&D, engineering, and production teams.
• Translate complex technical findings into clear insights for both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Benefits

• An independent role with a supportive and flexible work environment
• Time for self-development, research, training, conferences, or certification schemes
• Full range of competitive benefits including a health care stipend and equity in a fast-growing startup

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level