Director of Battery Development

About Us

We are Sila, a next-generation battery materials company. Our mission is to power the world’s transition to clean energy. To create this future, our team is building a better lithium-ion battery from the inside out today. We engineer and manufacture ground-breaking battery materials that significantly increase the energy density of batteries, while reducing their size and weight. The result? Smaller more powerful batteries that can unlock innovation in consumer devices and accelerate the mass adoption of electric cars to eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels. We're tackling one of the biggest challenges of our time every day, and together we're redefining what's possible. Are you ready to be a part of a team committed to changing the world?

Who You Are

You are a scientific leader committed to unlocking new frontiers in battery technology and enabling them to be commercially deployed. You are passionate about building creative, collaborative, and resilient teams to take on challenges for massive global impact. Sila seeks a Director of Battery Development to galvanize and support our outstanding Battery Development team as they invent and refine battery technologies that demonstrate and enhance our product’s performance.

You will be joining a committed management team, working with the VP of Technology, and partnering closely with the Research, Product, and Commercialization teams to enable ground-breaking battery performance at automotive scale. You are an empathetic leader and critical thinker who believes science and commercialization success requires collective effort and diverse perspectives.

Responsibilities and Duties

• Lead scientists, engineers, and managers in the discovery and exploration of slurry, coating, electrolyte, and cell design technologies that leverage and enhance Sila’s material products at a multi-billion dollar scale
• Build trusting relationships with other teams and leaders across Sila’s product development efforts to ensure timely commercialization success
• Recruit, interview, hire, and onboard extraordinary new battery experts to expand your team’s capacity, capabilities, and diversity; help to guide their career growth
• Maintain processes, systems, and infrastructure that help the team function efficiently and ensure your team members have the resources they need to excel
• Mentor your team to support and empower them through the ups and downs of bold, purposeful development; set clear performance expectations and deliver regular feedback
• Champion an environment of psychological safety and accountability for the team to passionately engage in creative scientific risk-taking, healthy debate, and profoundly collaborative work
• Identify new scientific, process, characterization, and collaboration opportunities to strengthen the team and accelerate the time to market

Knowledge and Skill Requirements

• Demonstrated experience in building and leading teams to solve ambitious, complex product development challenges in a mission-driven environment
• Significant people management and team building experience with a team of 10+ Ph.D. and MS level scientists/engineers preferred
• Experience optimizing lithium-ion cell systems, with a track record of taking products from concept to commercialization
• Demonstrated experience building lasting multidisciplinary collaborations that led to new insights, research outcomes, and organizational wins
• Demonstrated experience mentoring scientists and engineers, catalyzing their professional growth and career advancement

Physical Demands and Working Conditions

• Wear personal protective equipment including, but not limited to, a lab coat, gloves, safety glasses, and steel-toe safety shoes
• Move long distances (such as from building to building) and be stationary for extended periods of time

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The starting base pay for this role is between $178,500 and $257,500 at the time of posting. The actual base pay within these ranges depends on many factors, such as education, experience, and skills. Base pay is only one part of Sila’s competitive Total Rewards package that can include benefits, perks, equity, and bonuses. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future.

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Working at Sila

We believe that building a diverse team at Sila helps us amplify our individual talents. We are an equal opportunity employer and committed to creating an inclusive environment where good ideas are free to come from anyone. We are proud to celebrate diversity and all qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, national origin, or any other status protected by law.