Snr Microfluidics Engineer, R&D

Inertial Microfluidics, Materials and Device Scale-up

Company: uFraction8 Ltd

Location:

United Kingdom — hybrid working, with regular travel between UK and Poznań sites

Employment type:

Full‑time, permanent

Reporting to:
Chief Technology Officer

uFraction8 is seeking a practical, detail‑oriented Microfluidics Engineer or Senior Microfluidics Engineer to develop next‑generation microfluidic bioprocessing systems.

This is a hands‑on product‑development role
, not a purely academic, managerial or leadership position. The successful candidate will personally design, build, test, troubleshoot and scale microfluidic devices, translating scientific principles into robust, repeatable and manufacturable products.

The role covers inertial microfluidic design, materials selection, prototype development, experimental testing, complex parallelised architectures, scale‑up and scale‑out, and the transition from precision‑machined stainless‑steel devices towards polymer or plastic formats.

• Design and optimise devices for inertial focusing, particle and cell alignment, separation, concentration and media exchange.
• Apply knowledge of inertial lift, Dean flow, Reynolds‑number regimes, channel geometry, hydrodynamic resistance, pressure drop and focusing behaviour.
• Develop complex parallelised architectures, including multi‑channel devices, manifolds, chip stacks, cartridges and scale‑out systems.
• Experimentally validate flow distribution, pressure balance, focusing performance, separation efficiency, recovery, concentration factor, clogging tolerance and repeatability.
• Identify and resolve flow maldistribution, hydraulic‑resistance, tolerance stack‑up and device‑to‑device variation.
• Develop devices using stainless steel, precision‑machined materials, engineering polymers and plastics.
• Support the transition from stainless‑steel or machined prototypes to scalable polymer, plastic or single‑use formats.
• Select materials and fabrication routes based on pressure performance, fluid and biological compatibility, optical clarity, tolerances, surface properties, fouling, sterilisation, bonding, manufacturability, cost and supply‑chain risk.
• Build, test, debug and iterate chips, manifolds, stacks and cartridges using internal and external fabrication routes.
• Conduct root‑cause analysis and improve robustness, manufacturability, scalability, usability and cost.
• Work with UK and Poland teams, suppliers, prototyping houses, tooling partners and manufacturers.
• Maintain clear specifications, protocols, test plans, test reports, design rationales and design‑history documentation.

Applicants must demonstrate:

• A degree, MSc, PhD or equivalent industrial experience in Microfluidics, Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics or a related discipline.
• Strong practical experience in microfluidic device design, CFD or quantitative modelling, prototype development, experimental testing and troubleshooting.
• Strong knowledge of inertial microfluidics, particle or cell focusing, pressure‑driven flow, hydrodynamic separation and microchannel design.
• Practical experience developing microfluidic devices or fluid‑contact components in stainless steel, precision‑machined materials, engineering polymers or plastics.
• Demonstrable evidence of personally designing, building and experimentally validating complex parallelised microfluidic devices or systems.
• Experience with multi‑channel devices, parallel chips, chip stacks, manifolds, cartridges or other scale‑out architectures.
• Practical understanding of flow distribution, hydraulic resistance, pressure balancing, channel‑to‑channel uniformity, tolerance accumulation and device‑to‑device variation.
• Experience translating a single‑channel, single‑chip or proof‑of‑concept device into a repeatable scale‑up or scale‑out design.
• Experience selecting materials and fabrication methods for prototype and production‑stage devices.
• Ability to design and execute experiments using pumps, pressure and flow sensors, tubing, connectors, microscopy, image capture and quantitative analysis.
• Previous product‑development or…