Adiabatic Materials | Somerville, MA

Reinvent chemistry. Decarbonize industry. Electrify the future.

Today, most chemicals are still made with heat from fossil fuels in energy-intensive, polluting processes. Adiabatic Materials has developed a fundamentally new approach: an electrochemical synthesis platform that uses clean electricity instead of heat. The platform grew out of 15 years of Harvard research and has been demonstrated for a broad range of chemicals. Adiabatic recently spun out of Harvard and is scaling its operations in the Boston area.

Why Adiabatic might be great for you

We're a small, early-stage team working on hard, meaningful problems. If you enjoy shaping strategy in environments where the answers are not obvious and want your work to directly influence a company's trajectory, this could be a great fit.

·       Direct strategic impact. Your work will help shape our early product roadmap as well as our commercial and GTM strategies.

·       Front-row seat to deep tech commercialization. You'll help translate breakthrough chemistry into real product and market opportunities.

·       Cross-functional exposure. You'll work at the intersection of science, engineering, and business — translating technical capabilities into commercial plans.

·       Potential full-time opportunity. Your work could form the foundation for longer-term projects and may lead to part-time opportunities during the academic year or a full-time role in the future.

·       Meaningful mission. Our goal is to fundamentally modernize chemical manufacturing while reducing emissions and supply chain risk.

The Role

We are looking for a MBA Summer Intern to help refine Adiabatic's product, commercial, and go-to-market strategies.

Our platform can potentially produce a wide range of chemical products across pharmaceuticals, advanced materials, agrochemicals, and other fine chemicals. A key challenge for the company is determining which products and markets to pursue first and how best to bring them to market.

You will work closely with the founding team to help answer these questions through market research, industry engagement, and strategic analysis.

What You'll Do

Product Strategy: Help identify and prioritize the most promising chemical products and reaction classes based on market size, margin potential, technical feasibility, strategic positioning, and industry feedback.

Market & Competitive Analysis: Research fine chemical and pharmaceutical supply chains, including pricing, production methods, customer needs, and competitive technologies.

Customer Discovery: Support conversations with potential partners, customers, and distributors in pharma, chemical manufacturing, and materials industries.

Go-to-Market Strategy: Help evaluate commercialization pathways such as channel sales through chemical distributors, direct fine chemical production, partnerships with manufacturers, or technology licensing.

Supply Chain Mapping: Analyze how key pharmaceutical intermediates/APIs and fine chemicals are currently produced and where Adiabatic's technology could offer cost, safety, or sustainability advantages.

Strategic Modeling: Assist with basic techno-economic analysis, margin modeling, and product portfolio prioritization.

What We're Looking For

Many strong candidates don't fit a standard blueprint. If you bring relevant experience and are excited about what we're building, we encourage you to apply even if you don't check every box.

Required

·       Currently pursuing an MBA (or equivalent graduate business program)

·       Prior experience in chemicals, pharmaceuticals, materials, or industrial supply chains

·       Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills

·       Ability to translate technical concepts into commercial opportunities

·       Comfort working in a fast-moving startup environment with ambiguity

Nice to Have

·       Background in chemical engineering, chemistry, or materials science

·       Experience in strategy consulting, corporate strategy, venture capital, or industrial business development

·       Familiarity with pharmaceutical or fine chemical manufacturing value chains

·       Exposure to techno-economic analysis or cost modeling

Working Style & Character

·       Curious and analytical — enjoys understanding how industries actually work

·       Entrepreneurial mindset — comfortable working in ambiguous early-stage environments

·       Structured thinker who can turn complex information into clear insights

·       Strong communicator who can interact with scientists, engineers, and business stakeholders

Logistics & Compensation

• Location: In-person or hybrid (our offices/labs are situated at Greentown Labs in Somerville, MA).
• Work style: Flexible, family-friendly schedule with occasional travel.
• Compensation: TBD depending on time commitment.

How to Apply

Please submit your resume and include a few sentences about why you're excited about Adiabatic and how this role aligns with your experience. This is also an opportunity to highlight experiences that you feel are particularly relevant for the role. This doesn't need to be a formal cover letter; we just want to understand what motivates you.