Product Engineer

Periodic Labs is an AI + physical sciences lab focused on novel scientific discoveries, rapidly growing and well-funded. We are seeking a product-focused generalist engineer to transform our cutting-edge AI models into practical tools for scientists, both internally and for customers. This role involves prototyping end-to-end products, connecting AI models with lab systems, and collaborating with scientists and researchers to define product shape and guide model objectives. As an early product hire, you will help shape the product engineering culture, owning the stack from schema design to deployment.

Must Have

• Prototype fast, ship often, building small, sharp products.
• Create lightweight apps (chat-style, dashboards, experiment planners) on top of models and scientific data.
• Collaborate with model researchers to define product shape, telemetry, and signals.
• Own the stack from schema design to API, minimal frontend, deployment, and observability.
• Observe workflows, spot bottlenecks, and proactively build useful tools.

About Periodic Labs

We are an AI + physical sciences lab building state of the art models to make novel scientific discoveries. We are well funded and growing rapidly. Team members are owners who identify and solve problems without boundaries or bureaucracy. We eagerly learn new tools and new science to push forward our mission.

About the role

We’re hiring a product-focused generalist engineer to turn Periodic’s cutting-edge models into real tools for scientists—both inside our labs and in customer environments. You’ll prototype end-to-end products connecting AI models with real lab systems, and iterate directly with scientists, model researchers, and customers to shape the right product, in turn informing what the model optimizes and how it’s deployed.

You’ll be the engineering owner on a small, highly collaborative pod of materials, ML, and product expertise. As one of Periodic’s first product hires, you’ll help define the culture of product engineering at the company, spanning internal tools and customer-facing applications.

What you’ll do

• Prototype fast, ship often. You’ll build small, sharp products that scientists use daily and iterate based on real lab feedback.
• Create lightweight apps (chat-style, dashboards, experiment planners) that sit on top of our frontier models and scientific data.
• Collaborate with model researchers to define product shape, telemetry, and signals that guide model objectives and RL reward design.
• Own the stack from schema design to API and minimal frontend, deployment, and observability.
• Sit with materials scientists, watch workflows, spot bottlenecks, and proactively build what’s useful before it’s requested.