Materials Characterisation Scientist

Pharmaron is a global CRO helping pharma and biotech companies bring new therapies to life. With over 25,000 employees worldwide across 23 locations in the US, UK and China, we support drug discovery through to manufacturing with fully integrated, high-quality services.

We’re proud of the impact we make and just last year, we supported over 780 discovery projects
, 1,000+ CMC programmes
, and 1,000+ clinical trials across all phases. Our teams are involved in everything from small molecules to biologics and gene therapies, and we work with more than 3,000 global customers
. To learn more, visit .

Does a new XRPD pattern get you excited? Do you enjoy unravelling a polymorph landscape and helping a client land on the right salt and solid form? If so, we’d love to hear from you.

As a Materials Characterisation Scientist, you’ll have the chance to put your knowledge of a wide range of analytical techniques to work. You’ll support the development and characterisation of Starting Materials, Intermediates, APIs and formulations, working closely with our Process Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Product Development and Analytical Chemistry colleagues.

You’ll bring a background in Materials Characterisation and Analytical Chemistry, with expertise in XRPD, DSC, TGA, DVS, microscopy and PSD. Knowledge of crystallisation development, process analytical technology, chemical engineering, milling, polymorphism and crystallography, along with other analytical methodologies used to characterise APIs, would be a definite advantage.

• A vibrant, dynamic place to work: we’re a highly specialised, growing company in a critical sector of the economy. Our future is strong and exciting, and you can be part of it.
• Room to grow: our rapid growth means more opportunities for you to learn, develop and progress faster.
• A team that has your back: we support each other and enjoy what we do. After all, you spend about a third of your time here!

• An MSc in Chemistry or a related subject with experience in Materials Characterisation, ideally in a Pharmaceutical Development role, or a BSc in Chemistry with at least 2 years’ relevant industrial experience in Materials Characterisation
• Significant expertise in developing and troubleshooting materials characterisation methods, including XRPD, DSC, TGA, DVS, microscopy and PSD
• In‑depth, hands‑on and up‑to‑date knowledge of other analytical methodologies
• Knowledge of data analytics and data visualisation tools
• Knowledge of crystallisation methodologies relevant to drug substances (desirable)
• A strong scientific track record you’re proud of

• Experience with modelling and simulation tools
• Proficiency in computational software such as Gaussian, Materials Studio or ORCA
• Experience with force field methods (COMPASS, MMFF
  94)
• Experience with COSMO-RS
• Experience with electrostatic potential mapping and analysis
• Experience with energy minimisation and conformational analysis
• Experience with Hirshfeld surface analysis and lattice energy calculations
• Experience with a coding language

• Helping clients define their final salt and polymorphic form through a full materials characterisation assessment
• Running salt and polymorph screens using state‑of‑the‑art High Throughput Experimentation
• Mapping the polymorph landscape for final APIs and identifying the thermodynamically stable form
• Supporting Process Chemistry in defining crystallisation processes by characterising starting materials, intermediates and APIs
• Assessing solubility in a variety of media
• Carrying out solid‑state and solution‑based stressed stability evaluations
• Developing crystallisation procedures
• Supporting preformulation…