About Circular11
At Circular11, we're turning hard-to-recycle plastic waste into a critical material for the built environment. We're developing advanced manufacturing processes to use mixed, variable plastic streams in the production of plastic lumber, a timber-alternative that can be used in outdoor infrastructure.
Having recently secured venture investment, Circular11 is entering an exciting scale-up phase. We are expanding our production capability, relocating to a larger facility in Fareham, and building the leadership team required to take the business to the next level.
We are a hands-on, founder-led company: decisions are made quickly, good ideas are acted on, and everyone has a voice. You won't be lost in layers of bureaucracy - instead, you'll work closely with a committed team who care deeply about what they build, how they work, and the impact we create.
At Circular11, manufacturing excellence, innovation, and top-calibre people go hand in hand. We believe that great products come from great teams, and we invest time and energy into creating an environment where people feel trusted, supported and challenged to grow.
The Opportunity
As a Material Scientist, you will lead the development of new formulations based on the composition of plastic waste-streams. You will be responsible for improving the performance of existing formulations and developing ways to harness new waste streams, fundamentally contributing to our company’s ability to make scalable recycling pathways for previously unusable waste.
Your main responsibilities will include:
Polymer Formulation Development and Optimisation
- Analysing the behaviour and effect of new polymers, and adjusting blend ratios to improve performance, cost, or processability.
- Optimising additive, filler, and fibre usage, and validating and integrating the use of new materials in the supply chain.
- Design experimental programmes using Design of Experiments methodologies and other statistically-informed frameworks where appropriate. aligned with agreed project objectives and technical priorities.
- Analyse experimental and operational data and understand the shape of both patterns and anomalies in relation to how we think the material should be behaving, and use that to update formulation decisions.
- Helping the production team improve processing parameters of a material to reduce scrap rates and improve performance.
- Understanding the cause of failure, and recommending corrective action
Product Development
- Using customer specifications for new applications to develop new formulation approaches, taking into account the risk profile of new formulation profiles.
- Collaborate with a range of research partners to lead the delivery of funded R&D work packages.
- Taking on fundamental research across a range of commercially relevant areas of material science, such as influences on additive dispersion, predicting melt-flow behaviour, or improving characterisation techniques.
This will be a fundamentally practical role, with the objective being the incorporation of new and improved waste-based blends into the supply chain. We are looking for someone who is able to read the academic literature on specific topics within polymer chemistry, take what’s useful, and apply it in the experimental, commercially-focussed environment where we translate research into impact.
Requirements
- Qualifications: It’s required that the candidates will have a minimum of a 2:1 degree in Chemistry, Materials Science, or an adjacent field. A Masters or higher level is preferred., and experience in a research-driven commercial setting is a strong plus.
- Experience: The candidate must have experience with a range of polymer characterisation techniques. We have a range of material technicians who carry out the majority of physical testing, but familiarity with spectroscopic, thermal, and rheological techniques is essential. The ideal candidate should have some experience of polymer processing and/or polymer compounding, and material testing (thermal, chemical, mechanical). Process and materials modelling is a strength.
- Skills and attributes: The candidate will need to be driven, motivated and comfortable with independent work. They should be proactive, display confidence in using their initiative and able to lead their work but also able to work within a wider team. The candidate must be a good communicator, and able to clearly convey complex technical information to a varied audience. They will be able to competently address scientific and engineering problems involving technical and non-technical factors. The candidate will need the ability to review data to logically justify alternative approaches and compare them against appropriate criteria.
We are reviewing applications and interviewing candidates on a rolling basis, so please apply as soon as possible.
Pay: £30,000.00-£40,000.00 per year
Work Location: In person
