Environmental Health and Safety

About Periodic Labs

The most important scientific discoveries of our time won’t happen in a traditional lab. We’re an AI and physical sciences company building state-of-the-art models to accelerate breakthroughs across materials, energy, and beyond. Backed by world-class investors and growing rapidly, we operate at the pace the frontier requires. Our team brings deep expertise, genuine ownership, and an insatiable drive to push the boundaries of what’s scientifically possible.

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, fluoride compounds, toxic gas exposure risks, and an expanding suite of thin-film deposition tools including PVD, PLD, and plasma ALD. Our lab is growing rapidly: a new thin-film facility is under construction with a May 2026 start date, and the complexity of what we run overnight and autonomously is increasing 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 is our first dedicated EHS hire and the person who will build our safety architecture from the ground up: defining permitting strategy, designing life safety systems, conducting process hazard analyses, and ultimately training our AI to reason about risk during experimental planning and execution. You will also build and lead the team that sustains this work as we scale.

What You’ll Do

• Own and manage all permitting processes with local, state, and federal agencies: Fire Department/CUPA via Accela, CERS submissions for hazardous materials, AQMD/BAAQMD air permits, and TSDF coordination for hazardous waste.

• Maintain and update chemical inventory systems, SDS library, and hazard labeling in compliance with OSHA, CalEPA, and permitted MAQ thresholds — including managing the expansion of our chemical inventory as new thin-film processes introduce HF-based wet chemistry, fluoride compounds, and specialty gases.

• Lead Hazard Communication (HazCom) and SDS training programs for lab staff, including night shift and autonomous overnight operation protocols.

• Coordinate EHS inspections and maintain required documentation and postings across both the existing powder lab and the new Bohannon West thin-film facility.

• Design and review life safety systems, including fire suppression, e-stop networks, gas detection (including toxic gas alarms for HF, H2Se, and other process chemistries), interlocks, alarm interfaces, and emissions/waste abatement systems such as baghouses and scrubbers.

• Support process safety design through utilities analysis and upgrade of facilities equipment needed to achieve safe operations as the lab scales — including establishing a formal Incident Commander role and evacuation notification infrastructure currently absent in office areas.

• Conduct and document HAZOPs, PHA/FMEA, and risk assessments for new processes and lab systems, including high-pressure furnace operations, glovebox workflows, and thin-film deposition platforms.

• Collaborate with automation, facilities, and controls teams to implement functional and operational safety protocols: LOTO, fail-safes, industrial hygiene monitoring, and safe work-alone procedures for overnight autonomous lab operation.

• Develop and maintain SOPs, incident response protocols, and lab safety procedures — building on and formalizing the JHA framework and Engineering Control Master Sheet already in development.

• 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.

• Hire and build the EHS team that sustains and scales this work as our lab footprint and chemical complexity grow.

You Will Thrive in This Role If You Have

• 5+ years of experience in EHS, process safety, or chemical operations in labs, pilot plants, or manufacturing environments — preferably in solid-state chemistry, materials science processing, or lab automation.

• Demonstrated familiarity with hazardous materials permitting systems: CERS, Accela, and AQMD/BAAQMD portals.

• Hands-on experience conducting HAZOPs or FMEAs and designing or reviewing functional safety systems.

• Drive to not only achieve fluency in industry-relevant codes and standards but to contribute to their development: OSHA, Cal/OSHA, NFPA, EPA, RCRA, DOT, as well as IEC 61511, ISO 13849, and ISO/TS 15066.

• Ability to interface effectively with external agencies — fire departments, CUPA, AQMD, regulatory inspectors — and internal engineering, automation, and facilities teams alike.

• 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

• Experience designing EHS systems for autonomous or semi-autonomous lab environments where processes run without continuous human supervision.

• Background supporting the build-out of a new laboratory facility, including coordinating permitting and safety system design in parallel with construction.

• Familiarity with AI or ML tools as applied to risk assessment, safety documentation, or experimental planning — or genuine curiosity about how to apply them.

• Active participation in technical committees contributing to OSHA, NFPA, or IEC standard development.

• Demonstrated accomplishments recognized in your field.

Mechanics

Minimum education: Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and training or experience

Location: Our lab is located in Menlo Park and we prefer folks to be located in Menlo Park or San Francisco but can be flexible based on role

Compensation: The annual compensation range for this role — $200,000–$250,000

Visa sponsorship: Yes, we sponsor visas and will do everything we can to assist in this process with our legal support.

We’re building a team of the world’s best — the scientists, engineers, and problem-solvers who don’t just follow the frontier, they define it. If you’re driven to bring AI to life in the physical world and make discoveries that have never been made before, you belong here.