Applied Chemistry Consultant

Firm: PA Consulting

Location:

Melbourn, United Kingdom

• Competive

We believe in the power of ingenuity to build a positive human future.

As strategies, technologies, and innovation collide, we create opportunity from complexity.

Our teams of interdisciplinary experts combine innovative thinking and breakthrough technologies to progress further, faster. Our clients adapt and transform, and together we achieve enduring results.

We are over 4,000 strategists, innovators, designers, consultants, digital experts, scientists, engineers, and technologists. And we have deep expertise in consumer and manufacturing, defence and security, energy and utilities, financial services, government and public services, health and life sciences, and transport.

Our teams operate globally from offices across the UK, Ireland, US, Nordics, and Netherlands.

Apply practical chemistry, rigorous scientific thinking and creative problem solving to complex real-world challenges across a variety of industries.

We are looking for an Applied Chemistry Consultant to join our Applied Sciences team. You should have a strong technical foundation in chemistry, a passion for applying scientific understanding through practical experimentation, and the ability to communicate complex ideas clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.

This role is ideal for someone who has recently completed a PhD, or who has 2-5 years of experience in industry, research or technology development, and is looking to broaden their experience across a diverse range of technically challenging projects rooted in chemistry. No two projects are the same, and success in this role comes from being able to rapidly understand unfamiliar technical challenges and apply chemistry in new contexts.

You will work alongside other chemists, physicists, biologists, mechanical and electronics engineers, materials scientists, modellers and domain specialists to help clients understand, develop, assess and improve technologies, products, processes and systems. Projects will span sectors including energy, manufacturing, consumer products, healthcare, defence, transport, sustainability and emerging technologies.

This is an opportunity for someone who enjoys combining hands‑on experimental work with analytical thinking, clear communication and practical problem solving. We are looking for someone with strong scientific fundamentals, curiosity, adaptability and the confidence to apply chemistry in unfamiliar contexts.

This is a hands‑on technical consulting role focused on applying chemistry to solve varied client challenges.

• Experimental design and laboratory investigation
• Chemical analysis, testing and characterisation
• Materials, formulations, surfaces and interfaces
• Electrochemical, catalytic and separation technologies
• Process chemistry and chemical engineering‑adjacent challenges
• Technology assessment, technical due diligence and innovation strategy
• Failure analysis, root‑cause investigation and troubleshooting
• Sustainability, decarbonisation and circular economy technologies
• Development and evaluation of novel products, processes or materials
• Interpretation of experimental, manufacturing or operational data

• Design, plan and carry out laboratory experiments to investigate chemical systems, materials, products or processes.
• Analyse, interpret and communicate experimental and technical data.
• Apply chemical principles to solve complex, ambiguous or unfamiliar technical problems.
• Support the development, testing and assessment of new technologies, products, materials or processes.
• Contribute to technical due diligence, technology scouting and…