Coating Scientist

Role Overview

We are seeking a Coating Scientist with strong industrial formulation experience to support the development of PFAS-free durable water and oil repellent (DWOR) technologies across a range of substrates and industrial applications.

You will drive coating formulation and surface engineering from lab scale through pilot validation, working at the intersection of polymer science, surface chemistry, and coating application processes and other industrial application methods.

This role is ideal for someone who wants to create category-defining sustainable coating materials with real-world industrial impact.

• Design and optimize coating formulations to meet target performance specifications
• Develop polymer systems for durable, high-performance coatings
• Engineer coatings for durability, breathability, and substrate feel/finish
• Optimise formulations for manufacturability, cost, and processing robustness
• Assess formulation stability, rheological behaviour, and relevant physicochemical properties

• Apply and modify coatings for specific application methods (kiss roll, foulard/pad, spray, and other industrial techniques), adjusting rheology, viscosity, and wet pick-up as needed
• Evaluate coating performance using standardised tests
• Improve adhesion to target substrates
• Interpret performance results in the context of industrial processing conditions
• Support translation of laboratory formulations into pilot-scale coating trials
• Analyze surface properties, energies and coating morphology
• Optimize coating-substrate interactions and durability mechanisms
• Collaborate on analytical testing

PhD or MSc in one of the following:

• Chemistry / Chemical Engineering
• Polymer Chemistry / Polymer Science
• Physical Chemistry (Surface & Interface focus)
• Coatings Science

• Preferred experience with coating application methods (kiss roll, foulard/pad, spray, or similar) and modifying formulations to suit them
• Experience designing experiments, analysing formulation data, and establishing structure-property relationships
• Experience with rheology, surface characterisation and polymer systems would be highly desirable
• Ability to troubleshoot formulation and coating-performance challenges through a hypothesis-driven scientific approach

You have hands-on lab experience, ideally in a coating development setting.

You’re able and excited to work physically in our lab during weekdays in London (core hours).

You must have the right to work in the UK. Demeter Bio is unable to sponsor work visas at this time.

You’re proactive, driven, resourceful, and thrive in dynamic environments where no two days are the same.

If this is you,