Process Safety Engineer

About the Role

Periodic Labs is building an AI that can simulate science and verify its own predictions - training on the full scientific method. Central to that mission is a high-throughput experimental materials science lab that handles hazardous chemistries, high-pressure and high-temperature processes, air-sensitive synthesis, toxic gas exposure risks, and an expanding suite of thin-film deposition tools including PVD and PLD. The complexity of what we run overnight and autonomously increases every month.

We believe EHS is integral to this ambition, not a compliance function bolted on after the fact, but a core design discipline that makes autonomous science possible. This role focuses on operational safety: making sure every new process, tool, and autonomous workflow is hazard-reviewed, safe to start up, and safe to run around the clock. You will also help train our AI to reason about risk during experimental planning and execution.

What You’ll Do

• Lead and document HAZOPs, PHA/FMEA, and risk assessments for new processes and lab systems, including toxic and pyrophoric material, high-pressure operations, glovebox workflows, and thin-film deposition platforms.
• Establish operational readiness and laboratory reliability systems for autonomous operations, including pre-startup safety reviews (PSSR), management of change (MOC), commissioning validation, alarm rationalization, startup/shutdown procedures, and critical equipment inspection programs.
• Partner with automation and controls teams to implement machine safeguarding, fail-safes, interlocks, robotics safety controls, functional safety validation, safety PLC reviews, and automated motion hazard assessments for autonomous experimental systems.
• Develop and maintain EHS standards, specifications, procedures, and governance systems that can scale across multiple facilities.
• Collaborate with ML/AI engineers on training an LLM to reason through process hazards, risk assessments, and safety constraints during experimental planning and autonomous execution - making EHS a first-class input to our AI’s decision-making.
• Provide technical expertise in high-throughput R&D with a strong focus on chemical safety, including the thin-film lab's specialty gas delivery, vacuum, and RF/high-voltage systems..
• Lead incident investigations and root cause analyses, own injury reporting and recordkeeping (Cal/OSHA 300 log, serious-injury reporting), and drive corrective actions to closure.
• Assess permitting and MAQ implications of new processes and chemistries across our labs, represent process safety during fire marshal and CUPA inspections, and partner with EHS operations on CERS and BAAQMD compliance.
• Serve as Chemical Hygiene Officer, maintaining the Chemical Hygiene Plan across our labs.

You Will Thrive in This Role If You Have

• 7-10+ years of experience in EHS, process safety, or chemical operations in labs, pilot plants, or semiconductor fabs, preferably with a strong chemistry background (solid-state chemistry, materials processing, or lab automation a plus).
• Hands-on experience leading HAZOPs or FMEAs and running PSSR and MOC programs.
• Working knowledge of functional safety: interlocks, safety PLCs, and ISO 13849 / IEC 61508 concepts.
• Working knowledge of Cal/OSHA, OSHA PELs, ACGIH TLVs/BEIs, NIOSH, and ANSI standards.
• Comfort working on-site in a fast-paced, high-complexity lab environment where experiments run 24/7 and the hazard profile evolves as new processes and equipment are introduced.

Especially Strong Candidates May Also Have

• Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Associate Safety Professional (ASP), Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), or similar credential.
• Experience with semiconductor or thin-film process safety: HF, toxic and pyrophoric gases, gas cabinets, and SEMI S2.
• Experience designing EHS systems for autonomous or semi-autonomous lab environments where processes run without continuous human supervision.
• Familiarity with AI or ML tools as applied to risk assessment, safety documentation, or experimental planning or genuine curiosity about how to apply them.

Minimum education

• Bachelor’s degree or similar experience
• Location: Menlo Park, CA

Compensation

$200,000-250,000 + equity

Visa sponsorship: Yes, we sponsor visas.