Chemist

Cranleigh STEM, Sustainability & SHEQ Recruitment provided pay range

This range is provided by Cranleigh STEM, Sustainability & SHEQ Recruitment. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

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An Oxford-based technology company is developing new catalytic processes to turn waste carbon into useful fuels and chemicals. The team is now moving from small-scale lab work towards larger batch production and early pilot activity, and they’re looking to bring in a chemist who enjoys being hands‑on in the lab and wants to grow with the technology.

Location:

Oxford

Role:
Full-time, Permanent

This role would suit someone who wants to focus on making and improving catalysts, not just analysing them.

You’ll be part of a small R&D team working on the synthesis and development of heterogeneous catalysts. The focus is on preparing catalyst powders, improving how they’re made, and scaling up lab methods so they actually work in practice.

This is a practical, lab-based role where your work feeds directly into how the technology develops.

• Preparing heterogeneous catalysts using methods such as precipitation, impregnation and related techniques, including powders and reactor‑ready form.
• Supporting the translation of catalyst powders into shaped materials (e.g. pellets, granules, supported catalysts) suitable for testing.
• Scaling synthesis from gram‑scale experiments to larger lab or pilot‑relevant batches.
• Modifying catalyst compositions and preparation routes to improve performance, reproducibility and robustness.
• Carrying out supporting characterisation to understand catalyst structure and behaviour.
• Analyzing results and feeding insights back into the next round of experiments.
• Keeping clear lab records and working safely (COSHH, SOPs, risk assessments)

• MSc (minimum) or PhD in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a closely related subject.
• Hands‑on experience preparing heterogeneous catalysts or inorganic materials, ideally beyond powder synthesis alone.
• Practical lab experience iterating synthesis and preparation methods based on performance data.
• A curious, hands‑on problem solver who enjoys working in a small, fast‑moving technical team.

• Experience preparing shaped catalysts (e.g. pellets, granules, extrudates, supported catalysts) for reactor use.
• Exposure to Fischer–Tropsch, syngas or related catalytic processes.
• Familiarity with characterisation techniques such as XRD, BET, SEM or similar.
• Experience outside pure academia (industry roles, scale‑up projects, pilot work or industrial collaborations).

• Annual bonus
• Employer pension contribution
• 25 days holiday + bank holiday
• A chance to work on technology that’s moving out of the lab and into the real world
• The opportunity to build rare, in‑demand skills in catalyst synthesis and scale‑up

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