Interested in this Research Scientist role at AMETEK?
Apply Now →About This Role
Location:
Oak Ridge, TN, US, 37831
Business Unit: Advanced Measurement Technologies
Posting Date: Aug 12, 2026
Job Description:
The Senior Research Scientist leads research and development activities related to semiconductor radiation detector technology used in ORTEC gamma\-ray spectroscopy and radiation measurement products. This role is responsible for advancing detector performance, semiconductor fabrication processes, and future technology capabilities while working closely with engineering, manufacturing, quality, customers, suppliers, universities, and national laboratories.
Key Responsibilities
Technical Leadership \& Research:
- Lead experimental programs focused on detector materials evaluation, device optimization, fabrication process improvement, and advanced detector concepts.
- Develop and improve semiconductor fabrication methods, including: ion implantation, diffusion, wet chemical processing, etching, surface preparation, metallization, contact formation, passivation
- Evaluate emerging detector materials, architectures, external research opportunities, and strategic partnerships that support ORTEC product strategy.
- Represent ORTEC in technical reviews, scientific conferences, customer discussions, internal leadership reviews, and technology roadmap planning.
Process Development \& Manufacturing Support:
- Partner with manufacturing teams to improve detector yield, repeatability, reliability, throughput, process control, and final performance testing.
- Collaborate with electronics, mechanical, cryogenic, software, systems, manufacturing, and quality teams to optimize complete detector systems.
- Balance scientific innovation with manufacturability, quality, reliability, schedule, cost, and customer application requirements.
Scientific Analysis \& Continuous Improvement:
- Apply strong experimental design, data analysis, root\-cause investigation, and evidence\-based decision\-making practices.
- Maintain disciplined documentation, intellectual property protection, safety, quality, and continuous improvement standards.
- Manage multiple research, process development, and product\-support priorities simultaneously.
AI and Technology Enablement:
- Demonstrate the ability and willingness to use AI tools to improve productivity, decision\-making, work quality, and cost efficiency.
- Identify appropriate AI use cases and critically evaluate AI\-generated outputs.
Requirements
Education \& Experience:
- PhD required in Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science, Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering, or a closely related scientific discipline.
- Minimum 8 years of relevant experience in:
+ - Semiconductor detector development
- Semiconductor fabrication
- Detector materials research
- Radiation detection technology
- Advanced semiconductor process development
- Demonstrated experience with semiconductor fabrication and process techniques, including ion implantation, diffusion, wet chemical processing, etching, surface preparation, passivation, metallization, and contact formation.
- Record of technical accomplishment through commercial product impact, patents, publications, conference presentations, funded research, or recognized scientific contributions preferred.
Technical Qualifications:
Detector Physics \& Radiation Detection Expertise
- Deep understanding of:
- + - Semiconductor physics
- HPGe and other semiconductor detector technologies
- Gamma\-ray interactions
- Charge transport and trapping
- Leakage mechanisms
- Charge collection
- Cryogenic operation
- Detector performance characterization
- Experience working with detector performance metrics, including: energy resolution, efficiency, capacitance, noise, long\-term stability
Technical Leadership \& Collaboration:
- Strong communication and technical leadership skills with the ability to influence across R\&D, manufacturing, quality, product management, sales, customer organizations, and external research partners.
- Ability to mentor scientists, engineers, and technical staff in detector physics, semiconductor process development, experimental methods, and performance analysis.
- Strong scientific judgment, technical curiosity, ownership mentality, and commitment to high\-quality technical execution.
Preferred Experience:
- Direct HPGe detector development.
- Gamma\-ray spectroscopy instrumentation.
- Crystal growth or impurity control.
- Detector modeling.
- Regulated product development environments.
- Collaboration with national laboratories, universities, or government agencies.
Working Environment
- Work closely with engineering, manufacturing, quality, product management, customers, suppliers, universities, and national laboratories.
- Represent ORTEC externally through customer engagements, research collaborations, technical reviews, and scientific conferences.
- Willingness to travel domestically and internationally as required for customer, supplier, research, and conference activities.
About the Business Unit
Headquartered in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, ORTEC is part of Advanced Measurement Technology (AMT) within the Materials Analysis Division of AMETEK, Inc. ORTEC is a global leader in the design and manufacture of precision radiation detectors, nuclear instrumentation, analysis software, and integrated measurement systems. Founded in 1960 by scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORTEC has built a long\-standing reputation for technical excellence, reliability, and innovation in nuclear measurement solutions.
ORTEC’s product portfolio includes high purity germanium (HPGe) radiation detectors, scintillation detectors, digital spectrometers, analysis software, and turnkey spectroscopy systems used across homeland security, nuclear safeguards, health physics, waste assay, radiopharmaceuticals, and scientific research applications. ORTEC solutions are trusted by government agencies, nuclear facilities, research laboratories, universities, and industrial customers worldwide.
Visit us online:
- www.ametek.com
- www.ortec\-online.com
- www.sunpowerinc.com
- www.ameteksi.com
- www.ortec\-online.com/innoriid
- www.amptek.com
Compensation
----------------
Employee Type: Salaried
Currency: USD
Salary Minimum: 145,000
Salary Maximum: 175,000
Incentive: No
Disclaimer: Where a specific pay range is noted, it is a good faith estimate at the time of this posting. The actual salary offered will be based on experience, skills, qualifications, market / business considerations, and geographic location.
For more information on AMETEK's competitive benefits, please click here.
AMETEK, Inc. is a leading global provider of industrial technology solutions serving a diverse set of attractive niche markets with annual sales over $7\.5 billion.
AMETEK is committed to making a safer, sustainable, and more productive world a reality. We use differentiated technology solutions to solve our customers’ most complex challenges. We employ 22,000 colleagues, in 35 countries, that are grounded by our core values: Ethics and Integrity, Respect for the Individual, Inclusion, Teamwork, and Social Responsibility. AMETEK is a component of the S\&P 500\. Visit https://www.ametek.com/careers for more information.
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class. Individuals who need a reasonable accommodation because of a disability for any part of the employment process should call 1 (866\) 263\-8359\.
Salary Context
This $145K-$175K range is in the lower quartile for Research Scientist roles in our dataset (median: $195K across 149 roles with salary data).
Role Details
About This Role
Research Scientists push the boundaries of what AI can do. They design experiments, develop novel architectures, publish papers, and translate research breakthroughs into production capabilities. This is where the fundamental advances happen, from attention mechanisms to diffusion models to reasoning chains.
The work is intellectually demanding and often ambiguous. You might spend months on an approach that doesn't pan out. The best research scientists combine deep mathematical intuition with engineering pragmatism. They know when to go deep on theory and when to run experiments. They read papers voraciously and can spot incremental contributions from genuine breakthroughs.
Across the 4,317 AI roles we're tracking, Research Scientist positions make up 4% of the market. At AMETEK, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
What the Work Looks Like
A typical week includes: reading and discussing recent papers with your team, designing and running experiments on multi-GPU clusters, analyzing results and iterating on hypotheses, writing up findings for internal review or publication, and collaborating with engineering teams to productionize promising results. The ratio of thinking to coding is higher than in engineering roles.
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
Skills in Demand for This Role
PhD strongly preferred for most roles. Deep expertise in a specific area (NLP, computer vision, reinforcement learning, multimodal) is expected. PyTorch is the standard. Publication track record matters. Strong mathematical foundations in linear algebra, probability, optimization, and information theory are assumed.
Beyond the fundamentals, companies value experience with large-scale distributed training, novel architecture design, and the ability to bridge theory and practice. Understanding of current frontier topics (reasoning, multimodal, long-context, alignment) is essential. Code quality matters more than many researchers expect. Labs want researchers who can implement their ideas cleanly.
Strong research postings specify the research area, mention the team you'd join, and describe the problems they're working on. They often list recent publications from the team. Vague 'AI research' postings without specifics usually mean the company wants to sound impressive but doesn't have a real research agenda.
Compensation Benchmarks
Research Scientist roles pay a median of $222,200 based on 378 positions with disclosed compensation. Senior-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $227,400. This role's midpoint ($160K) sits 28% below the category median. Disclosed range: $145K to $175K.
Across all AI roles, the market median is $215,000. Top-quartile compensation starts at $266,300. The 90th percentile reaches $320,790. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Safety ($287,500) and Research Engineer ($272,100). By seniority level: Entry: $110,000; Mid: $194,400; Senior: $227,400; Director: $274,554; VP: $241,000.
AMETEK AI Hiring
AMETEK has 1 open AI role right now. They're hiring across Research Scientist. Based in Oak Ridge, TN, US. Compensation range: $175K - $175K.
Location Context
Across all AI roles, 15% (635 positions) offer remote work, while 3,657 require on-site attendance. Top AI hiring metros: New York (1,650 roles, $220,000 median); San Francisco (1,335 roles, $265,000 median); Los Angeles (708 roles, $214,112 median).
Career Path
Common paths into Research Scientist roles include PhD Student, Research Engineer, Postdoc.
From here, career progression typically leads toward Research Lead, Distinguished Scientist, VP of Research.
The PhD is the entry point for most paths. Choose your advisor and research area carefully since they'll define your first industry position. Publish consistently, contribute to open-source projects in your area, and build relationships at conferences. Industry research offers better compensation and compute resources than academia, but the pressure to show product impact is real.
What to Expect in Interviews
Research interviews are multi-stage: a research talk (present your best paper), technical deep-dives on your methodology, and often a 'research proposal' exercise where you design an experiment to test a hypothesis. Coding rounds test implementation ability alongside theoretical knowledge. Be prepared to implement a paper from scratch and discuss the design choices the authors made. Strong candidates can critique papers constructively and identify gaps in experimental methodology.
When evaluating opportunities: Strong research postings specify the research area, mention the team you'd join, and describe the problems they're working on. They often list recent publications from the team. Vague 'AI research' postings without specifics usually mean the company wants to sound impressive but doesn't have a real research agenda.
AI Hiring Overview
The AI job market has 4,317 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 138 entry-level, 2,071 mid-level, 1,655 senior, and 453 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 15% of the market (635 positions). The remaining 3,657 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.
The market median for AI roles is $215,000. Top-quartile compensation starts at $266,300. The 90th percentile reaches $320,790. Highest-paying categories: AI Safety ($287,500 median, 34 roles); Research Engineer ($272,100 median, 227 roles); AI Engineering Manager ($244,000 median, 23 roles).
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
The AI Job Market Today
The AI job market spans 4,317 open positions across 15 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (3,004), Data Scientist (345), AI Software Engineer (309). These three account for the majority of open positions, though smaller categories often have higher per-role compensation because of specialized skill requirements.
The seniority mix tells a story about where AI teams are in their maturity. Entry-level roles (138) are outnumbered by mid-level (2,071) and senior (1,655) positions, reflecting that most companies are past the 'build a team from scratch' phase and need experienced engineers who can ship production systems. Leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level) total 453 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.
Remote work availability sits at 15% of all AI roles (635 positions), with 3,657 requiring on-site or hybrid attendance. The remote share has stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Senior and specialized roles (Research Scientist, ML Architect) are more likely to be remote-eligible than entry-level positions, partly because experienced hires have more negotiating power and partly because these roles require less hands-on mentorship.
AI compensation is structured in clear tiers. The market median sits at $215,000. Top-quartile roles start at $266,300, and the 90th percentile reaches $320,790. These figures include base salary with disclosed compensation. Total compensation (including equity, bonuses, and sign-on) runs 20-40% higher at companies that offer those components.
Category matters for compensation. AI Safety roles lead at $287,500 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $145,000. The spread between highest and lowest-paying categories reflects the premium on specialized technical skills versus broader analytical roles.
The most in-demand skills across all AI postings: Python (2,249 postings), Aws (1,224 postings), Azure (938 postings), Rag (915 postings), Gcp (660 postings), Pytorch (640 postings), Prompt Engineering (624 postings), Kubernetes (559 postings). Python dominates, appearing in the vast majority of role descriptions regardless of category. Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the second most common requirement. The newer entrants to the top skills list (RAG, vector databases, LLM APIs) reflect the shift from traditional ML toward generative AI applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
Get Weekly AI Career Intelligence
Salary data, skills demand, and market signals from 16,000+ AI job postings. Every Monday.