About Us

We are developing next-generation filament materials for industrial 3D printing that unlock performance capabilities not achievable with conventional materials. Our products are already gaining traction in highly demanding environments, including defense and aerospace, where engineers require materials that can perform under extreme conditions.

We are a small, fast-moving team (~30 people) building new material capabilities for additive manufacturing. While our materials can serve as drop-in replacements on standard FDM printers, achieving industry leading performance..

To accelerate adoption and help customers realize the full potential of our materials, we are hiring a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer.

This role will work directly with engineers at customer organizations to deploy, optimize, and expand the use of our materials in real-world applications.

Role Overview

As a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer, you will serve as the technical bridge between our materials and the engineers using them in production environments.

You will partner with defense and aerospace customers to help them successfully implement our materials, troubleshoot printing challenges, and redesign parts to take advantage of our unique material properties.

You will also play a critical role internally by identifying patterns in customer usage, documenting best practices, and helping shape future product development.

This role is highly cross-functional and combines elements of applications engineering, technical consulting, and early-stage product feedback.

Travel of up to ~50% is expected, particularly during the first year as we build strong technical relationships with customers.

What You’ll Do

Customer Deployment & Technical Engagement

• Work directly with engineering teams at customer organizations to deploy and optimize our materials in their additive manufacturing workflows

• Support both pre-sales evaluations and post-sale optimization

• Travel onsite to assist with printer setup, parameter tuning, and troubleshooting

• Help customers redesign parts to maximize performance with our materials

• Guide customers through qualification and early production use cases

Build Technical Credibility in the Market

• Serve as a trusted technical partner to defense and aerospace engineers

• Communicate clearly about the strengths and limitations of our materials

• Help customers identify the right applications where our materials deliver the greatest performance advantages

Capture Learnings & Develop Best Practices

• Identify patterns across customer environments and printing systems

• Develop internal and customer-facing technical guidance including:

• Print parameter guidelines

• Printer compatibility insights

• Failure mode troubleshooting documentation

• Design recommendations for additive manufacturing

Inform Product Development

• Provide structured feedback to our materials and product teams

• Surface recurring technical challenges, feature requests, and opportunities for improvement

• Help shape the roadmap for future materials and product iterations

What Success Looks Like (First 12 Months)

Customers achieve reliable, repeatable results using our materials

• Increased reorder rates from existing customers

• Successful technical deployments across multiple defense and aerospace customers

• Development of foundational technical documentation and print guidelines

• Identification of high-value use cases where our materials provide clear advantages

• Establishment of several technically credible reference customers

Required Experience

• 7+ years of experience in additive manufacturing, advanced materials, or industrial 3D printing

• Hands-on experience tuning and optimizing FDM/FFF printing processes

• Strong understanding of polymer behavior, print parameter tradeoffs, and additive manufacturing design principles

• Experience working directly with engineering teams in technical environments

Preferred Experience

• Experience in aerospace, defense, or other highly regulated engineering environments

• Background in materials science, polymer engineering, mechanical engineering, or related fields

• Experience supporting customers in a field applications, technical consulting, or deployment role

• Familiarity with design for additive manufacturing (DfAM)

Travel

• Up to ~50% travel, primarily within the United States.

Location

• Flexible within the United States, with proximity to major aerospace and defense hubs considered a plus.

Aether is committed to building an inclusive and diverse workplace. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and do not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, gender identity or expression, marital or civil-partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation. All employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and business needs.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates throughout the recruitment process. If you require any adjustments to participate fully in interviews or assessments, please let us know and we will work with you to support your needs.

Any personal data you submit will be processed by Aether in accordance with applicable data protection laws. Your information will be used solely for recruitment purposes and will not be shared outside Aether without your consent.

We aim to ensure a fair and respectful hiring experience. If you have concerns about the recruitment process or require additional support, please reach out to our team.