Human Factors Scientist (Ph.D.)

Exponent is the only premium engineering and scientific consulting firm with the depth and breadth of expertise to solve our clients' most profoundly unique, unprecedented, and urgent challenges.

Our vision is to engage multidisciplinary teams of science, engineering, and regulatory experts to empower clients with solutions that create a safer, healthier, more sustainable world. For over five decades, we've connected the lessons of past failures with tomorrow's solutions to advise clients as they innovate technologically complex products and processes, ensure the safety and health of their users, and address the challenges of sustainability.

Join our team of experts with degrees from top programs at over 500 universities and extensive experience spanning a variety of industries. At Exponent, you'll contribute to the diverse pool of ideas, talents, backgrounds, and experiences that drives our collaborative teamwork and breakthrough insights. Plus, we help you grow your career through mentoring, sponsorship, and a culture of learning. Thanks for your interest in joining our team!

Key statistics:

950+ Consultants
• 640+ Ph.D.s
• 90+ Disciplines
• 30+ Offices globally

We are currently seeking a Human Factors Scientist for our Human Factors Practice in New York, NY for a Summer 2026 start date. In this role, you will work as part of a team to analyze human performance related to a wide variety of scenarios involving consumer products, FDA/EPA-regulated products, and occupational work. These assignments will involve the analysis of past incidents and managing safety risk to help prevent such incidents in the future.

• Supporting a broad range of human factors and UX consulting activities, including litigation support, usability testing, sensory study design, survey development, and evaluation of how users interact with consumer products. This may include assessing human perceptual, cognitive, olfactory, and motor capabilities and their implications for safety and use-related risk.
• Supporting safety-focused litigation and investigations by analyzing human factors contributors to incidents, evaluating the design and effectiveness of warnings and safety information, and assessing product instructions, labeling, and patterns of use and misuse
• Working on multidisciplinary teams to provide case management, data processing, structured analysis, and cross-functional project support across engineering, UX, regulatory, and scientific domains
• Communicating complex analyses clearly and succinctly to non-technical audiences, including clients, attorneys, and other stakeholders
• Providing project management for multiple projects at a given time, including managing budgets and deadlines; managing project teams; and performing support tasks for team members
• Participating in the design and evaluation of warnings and safety information
• Contributing to business development by building and maintaining client relationships

• Ph.D. in Sensory Science, Food Science, or a related psychology discipline
• Currently based in or willing to relocate to the New York City area
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, as well as strong interpersonal skills
• Experience with U.S. foodregulatory frameworks, including FDA and USDA compliance requirements and familiarity with CFR Title 21 as it relates to food and cosmetic products, labeling, safety, and sensory evaluation standards
• Strong record demonstrating your ability to design behavioral studies using a variety of human subjects and database research methods (e.g., survey, experimental, quasi-experimental, case study)
• Experience leading multiple scientific studies from start (i.e., design) to finish (i.e., communicating your results)
• Proficiency in qualitative research methods and analyses, including study design, participant interviewing or observation, coding, and thematic analysis
• Willingness to travel for research sessions, client meetings, conferences, or on-site evaluations
• Assertive, self-starter, and able to work with accuracy and attention to detail under pressure and/or deadlines
• Proficiency in analytical, statistical, and computer programming (specifically Excel, SPSS, MATLAB, Python, or R)
• Presently legally authorized to work in the United States; no immigration sponsorship or processing required

Applicants are encouraged to submit a CV (Curriculum Vitae) with publications (feel free to include publications that are in review or pending) [not restricted to 1 page].

To learn more about life at Exponent and our impact, please visit the following links:
https://www.exponent.com/careers/life-exponent
https://www.exponent.com/company/our-impact

Attracting, inspiring, developing, and rewarding exceptional people with diverse backgrounds and expertise are central to our corporate culture. Our diverse team allows us to provide better value to our clients and enjoy an enriched work environment.

Our firm is committed to offering a variety of programs and resources to support health and well-being. We believe that providing competitive benefits as well as compensation and recognition programs empowers our staff to do work that makes a difference.

At Exponent, we have found that in-person interactions deepen employee engagement and are crucial for development, for realizing the full potential of our talented and diverse teams, and for building a more inclusive workplace where all have a sense of belonging. In our offices, you can expect a supportive culture and a collaborative, dynamic, multi-disciplinary work environment. Our consultants engage in-person in the office unless they are traveling for client work or other business activities.

We value the rich lives our colleagues enjoy outside of work and understand that work/life balance is critical to our employees and their well-being. Consultants have the autonomy to balance their work and personal schedules so you can meet with clients, visit inspection sites, attend conferences, and make time for priorities outside of work, too. It is this flexible, agile work style and working hours that allow our teams to drive innovation and results in their own ways, while meeting the needs of clients. #LI-Onsite

Our consultants are rewarded for their technical and business contributions and have an opportunity to plan for future success and career growth. Exponent's total compensation plan is consistent with its expectations of the quality and quantity of work performed and with the professional standards set by Exponent. At the Associate and Senior Associate level, total compensation includes base salary, bi-weekly bonuses for high-intensity efforts, annual bonus and 401(k) employer contribution of 7% of base salary.

The base salary range for this position is dependent on experience and capabilities which will be assessed during the interview process.