Principal Investigator – Reactive Polymer Chemist (Ph.D. Required / Contingent Upon NSF Award) (Clone) (Clone)

About the Role:
Morphetex LLC is seeking a highly specialized, innovative Ph.D. Polymer Chemist or Materials Scientist to serve as the Principal Investigator (PI) for our upcoming Phase I R&D project. This position is strictly contingent upon the successful award of our National Science Foundation (NSF) grant. In this role, you will personally execute the laboratory synthesis, formulate the reactive chemical composition, and lead the technical feasibility testing of a novel, responsive smart-textile polymer platform.

As the PI, you will directly formulate the polymer system, manage rheological gel stabilization, and validate closed-loop material recycling. Crucially, you must possess the academic credentials and publication background required to successfully pass an NSF SciENcv (SciSketch) biosketch review. This position is a unique opportunity to spearhead the foundational material science for a sustainable, next-generation apparel and medical device technology.

Key Technical Responsibilities:

• Reactive Polymer Synthesis: Personally formulate and synthesize advanced moisture-curable polyurethane prepolymers, optimizing them for ambient moisture-triggered cross-linking.
• Kinetics & Thermal Management: Formulate catalyst packages to tightly control reaction windows (5-to-10 minutes) and govern exothermic profiles to ensure skin-safe contact temperatures.
• Rheological Engineering: Develop and test the precise boundaries required to transition liquid polymer matrices into stabilized, high-viscosity semi-solid gel states (B-Stage) capable of withstanding industrial mechanical processing without bleeding.
• Dynamic Covalent Networks: Design and synthesize stimuli-responsive, cleavable cross-linked polymer architectures to enable triggered depolymerization and closed-loop material recycling under specific industrial processing environments.
• Grant & Vendor Management: Direct laboratory analytical verification with external research partners and regional contract research organizations, document technical milestones, and author reports for federal funding agencies.

Required Qualifications & Academic Credentials:

• Education: Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Materials Science, or Chemical Engineering.
• NSF Compliance: A strong peer-reviewed publication and professional track record capable of clearing an NSF SciENcv biosketch audit. Prior role as a PI, Co-PI, or Senior Personnel on federal grants (NSF, DoD, SBIR/STTR) is highly preferred.
• Domain Expertise: Demonstrated experience with functionalized polyurethanes, moisture-cure kinetics, rheological gel stabilization, and reversible/degradable thermoset networks.

NSF Compliance & Employment Conditions (Mandatory):

• Primary Employment: Per federal regulations, the PI must be primarily employed by Morphetex LLC (greater than 50% execution) during the duration of the project. Concurrent full-time employment elsewhere (such as a full-time tenured academic faculty track) is legally prohibited.
• Level of Effort: The candidate must commit to a minimum level of effort of at least 1-to-2 person-months to the project as required by the NSF solicitation.
• Work Location: All research and development activities must be performed exclusively within the United States.
• Legal Status: Candidates must be a U.S. Citizen, Permanent Resident, or hold an active, valid work authorization visa allowing full-time employment with a U.S. small business at the time of the award.
• Research Security: Candidates must not be a party to or participant in any Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program (MFTRP) per federal grant regulations.
• Compensation: Commensurate with experience and aligned with federal SBIR grant allocation guidelines for Phase I startups.