Join our Team of Material Innovators

Job Title: Manager of Innovation Operations
Type: Full-time
Location: On-site at our Innovation Lab, Los Angeles

About Us

von Holzhausen is a material innovation company leading performance, plant-based alternatives to plastics. Our flagship material, Liquidplant, is a 100% plant-based plastic alternative that exceeds the performance of petroleum-based incumbents in demanding applications including footwear, tech, health, and consumer goods. We work with the world's leading brands to translate breakthrough material science into commercial product.

The Role

We're hiring a Manager of Innovation Operations to own the schedule for our Innovation Lab. At its core this is project management, but it sits inside a team of PhD-level scientists, so it takes a materials background, real technical depth, and knowledge of AI to supercharge the workflow. You'll work directly with our CEO and Head of Manufacturing to approve every project schedule and hold it against what we've committed to clients, and against what our own manufacturing needs from us. It's one of the most business-critical roles in the company.
Every commitment we've made to a partner is only as good as this schedule. It takes obsessive attention to detail, the ability to run a dozen projects at once without losing one, and a constant push toward speed. You'll own the engine that turns our ideas into delivered results and make it run even faster.

What You’ll Own

• The schedule. One approved plan across every project in the lab, built and maintained in our proprietary scheduling tool. You own that tool, keeping it current, trusted, and useful to everyone who depends on it.
• Planning. Lead the execution of the plan built with the leadership team.
• AI in the workflow. Finding the work in this lab that a person shouldn’t be doing, scheduling, data cleanup, trial write-ups, literature scans, and standing up the tooling that takes it off our hands. This is a standing part of the job, not a one-time project.
• Clearing the way. You find what’s blocking our progress before anyone raises it and you remove it. This is the center of the job.
• Cycle time and throughput. How long an experiment takes from queued to result, and how many we finish each week at quality. You’ll set the baseline, publish it, and move both.
• Trade-offs. Priorities change. When they do, you’re the one who says what it costs, what slips, what gets dropped, and what it would take to do both. You bring us the honest version early, with the numbers behind it.
• Client communication. You’re the voice on timing. Clients hear where their project stands from you — on a regular cadence, and immediately when a date moves.
• Capacity. Reactor utilization, parallel runs, shift structure. When the answer is more vessels rather than more hands, you’re the one who says so.
• The handoff. Formulations that clear the lab go to our manufacturing plant. You make sure what we hand over is ready to be made, on the date we said it would be.

What You Bring

• A BS in engineering (mechanical, chemical, or materials) or polymer science, plus real experience running technical projects. An MS is welcome, not required.
• A track record moving technical programs in a fast-paced environment, through influence rather than authority.
• A materials background (polymers, formulation, or materials chemistry) with enough depth to know when a delay is real and when it’s a stall.
• You’ve run a lot of projects at once and kept every one of them straight. Details don’t slip past you.
• You’ve held a schedule against external manufacturing partners and know what they need from you, and when.
• Hands-on experience putting AI to work in a technical environment. Not familiarity, things you have actually built and shipped: automated reporting, data pipelines, a scheduling assistant, experiment analysis. Be ready to tell us what you built, who uses it, and what it saved.
• When work is late, your first question is what’s blocking it, not who’s behind. You fix systems, not people.
• You’ll say the uncomfortable thing early. A change in priorities that costs us two weeks is something we want to hear about the day it happens.
• You can read the data and ask the right question.
• You count things. You’ve moved a number before, and you remember what it was.
• You’re warm, and you’re firm. You genuinely like people, and you’ll still have the hard conversations.
• A passion for solving big-picture problems that move the world forward.

Bonus Points

• Scale-up experience.
• Agile, lean, or kanban experience in an R&D setting — and a clear-eyed view of which of those practices actually survive contact with a lab.
• You’ve built with AI directly — scripts, APIs, agents, or automation platforms — not only used it through a chat window.
• Design of experiments, and a point of view on running trials in parallel rather than in series.
• Bio-based materials / biopolymers
• You’ve rolled out a new planning or scheduling tool and gotten a team to use it.

Details & How to Apply

• On-site, full-time, at our Innovation Lab in Los Angeles.
• To apply, email careers@vonholzhausen.com and tell us two things: a lab you made faster, and by how much — and one thing you’ve automated that people still use.

Job Title: Manufacturing Technician, Polymer Extrusion
Type: Full Time
Location: In-person, Los Angeles, CA

About Us

von Holzhausen is a fast-growing materials innovation company focused on replacing plastic with plant-based alternatives. We innovate industry-defining chemistries in our Los Angeles lab and create low-carbon materials made from plants, supplying them to large companies within industries like footwear, fashion, consumer tech, and beyond.

We are scaling production of the polymers of the future, and we need hands-on operators to help us build and run our pilot production facility.

Job Description

We are looking for a motivated and detail-oriented Manufacturing Technician to run and support pilot-scale production processes. This role is highly execution-focused and centered on operating equipment, running production, and keeping operations moving. The ideal candidate is reliable, high-energy, and thrives in a fast-paced environment where priorities shift and output matters. This is not a purely research role—this is about building, running, and delivering material at scale.

Hourly rate: $25-31

Key Responsibilities

• Operate and monitor pilot-scale process equipment to execute production runs
• Prepare, run, and track production processes from start to finish
• Record process data, observations, and outcomes with accuracy and consistency
• Troubleshoot equipment and process issues in real time to keep production on track
• Work closely with R&D and process teams to support scale-up and process improvements
• Maintain a clean, organized, and safe work environment following all EHS guidelines
• Assist with equipment setup, changeovers, and general pilot line operations
• Support increasing throughput, reliability, and consistency of pilot production

Requirements

• Expertise with polymer compounding on a twin-screw extruder
• Experience performing maintenance on machinery
• Experience operating process equipment, pilot systems, or manufacturing lines
• Ability to lift up to 50 lbs and perform physically active, hands-on work
• Willingness to work long hours, including nights, weekends, and flexible shifts as needed
• High energy, strong work ethic, and a production-first mindset
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, sometimes demanding environment
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to safety
• Ability to work independently while also contributing effectively to a team

What We’re Looking For

• People who want to build and run processes, not just observe them
• Individuals motivated by execution, output, and continuous improvement
• Team players willing to step in wherever needed to keep operations moving
• Operators who take ownership of their work and push to get production completed

Nice to Have

• Background in chemistry, materials, or a related technical field
• Previous work in industrial labs, pilot production, or manufacturing environments

Why Join Us

• Join a small, collaborative team where you’ll learn quickly and have real impact
• Gain hands-on experience with innovative, plant-based materials
• Work alongside experienced scientists, engineers, and operators
• Competitive compensation and benefits
• 401(k) plan
  
• Opportunity to grow your skills and responsibilities as the company scales

Job Title: Materials Science/Engineering Intern
Type: Paid Internship
Location: In-person, Los Angeles, CA

About Us

von Holzhausen is a material innovation company leading performance, plant-based alternatives to plastics. Our flagship material, Liquidplant, is a 100% plant-based plastic alternative that exceeds the performance of petroleum-based incumbents in demanding applications including footwear, tech, health, and consumer goods. We work with the world's leading brands to translate breakthrough material science into commercial product.

Job Description

von Holzhausen is seeking a materials science/engineering intern to work within our East Los Angeles Innovation Lab on our next generation materials. During this opportunity, the intern will gain valuable skills in materials formulation, mechanical testing, polymer synthesis, and green chemistry. This paid internship will be for the term of 1 quarter/semester with the possibility of renewal each quarter/semester, and the intern is expected to work 10-15 hours per week.

Major Job Responsibilities

• You are expected to work in an industrial laboratory following all the applicable EHS guidelines and maintain a clear track record of your lab work.
• You are expected to develop products that meet customer specifications and/or industrial standards.
• You are expected to conduct research into the scientific literature to discover cutting-edge techniques.
• You can work independently with minimal supervision as well as function well as in a team.
• You can communicate effectively within the team and across multiple functions.
• You can operate and monitor pilot-scale process equipment to execute production runs
• You can record process data, observations, and outcomes with accuracy and consistency
• You can assist with equipment setup, changeovers, and general pilot line operations

Requirements

• Current university enrollment in materials science/engineering, chemistry/chemical engineering, or other similar major
• Completion of 1+ years of materials science coursework
• Completion of 1+ organic chemistry courses
• 1 year of courses preferred
• Organic laboratory preferred
• Must provide own transportation to our laboratory in East Los Angeles
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office
• Research experience (preferred)

To Apply

Please complete an application on LinkedIn. Additional application materials can be sent to careers@vonHolzhausen.com with the subject “Intern Application (Fall 2026).” It is highly recommended (but not required) to also include a brief (1 page or less) cover letter expanding on any relevant experience in your resume and explaining why you would be a good fit for this position along with an unofficial transcript.