Principal Scientist - Polymer Chemistry

Location: Sedgefield

Principal Scientist - Polymer Chemistry
Sedgefield | Permanent | £49,045 - £65,045

About the Role

CPI is seeking an experienced Principal Scientist - Polymer Chemistry to join our established Nanomaterials & Composites Team within the Advanced Materials & Devices technology centre at NETPark, Sedgefield. This is a senior technical leadership role within one of CPI's largest and fastest-growing materials science groups.

The team delivers a broad portfolio of commercial and collaborative R&D projects across sustainable polymers, advanced coatings, nanomaterials, composites, battery materials, and future manufacturing technologies. Due to continued growth and major long-term programmes, CPI is looking to strengthen its expertise in polymer chemistry and scale-up.

A significant part of this role will involve supporting the development of next-generation polymer technologies, including projects focused on advanced fibre and materials manufacturing. We're particularly interested in candidates who combine deep polymer chemistry expertise with practical experience of scaling polymerisation processes from laboratory development through to pilot-scale operation.

This role offers the opportunity to lead high-profile, multi-year programmes while helping shape CPI's future capability within polymer chemistry and advanced materials.

What You'll Be Responsible For

Technical Leadership & Project Delivery

Act as a recognised technical expert in polymer chemistry across CPI projects and programmes.
Lead complex research, development, and scale-up activities from concept through to pilot-scale delivery.
Provide technical leadership across projects ranging from short proof-of-concept studies through to multi-year strategic programmes.
Polymer Synthesis & Process Development

Lead the development of novel polymer synthesis routes and polymer processing technologies.
Design, execute, and oversee laboratory and pilot-scale polymerisation programmes.
Support development and operation of pilot-scale reactors and polymer manufacturing equipment.
Optimise polymer synthesis, reaction conditions, scaling strategies, and process performance.
Technology Strategy & Innovation

Identify emerging scientific developments and future market opportunities.
Translate technical trends into new capabilities, projects, and innovation programmes.
Support the development of CPI's materials science and polymer technology strategy.
Contribute to capability building within polymer chemistry, sustainable materials, and advanced manufacturing.
Customer Engagement & Business Development

Work closely with Business Development and Bid Development teams to secure new commercial and collaborative projects.
Contribute technical expertise to funding proposals, bids, and customer discussions.
Act as a credible technical representative for CPI with customers, partners, and external stakeholders.
Mentoring & Capability Development

Coach and mentor scientists and engineers across the organisation.
Support knowledge sharing and development of technical excellence.
Help shape future capability within polymer chemistry and materials science.
Contribute to building a high-performing and collaborative technical culture.
About You

You are an experienced Polymer Chemist with deep technical expertise, industrial experience, and the ability to lead complex technical projects.

You'll bring:

Significant industrial experience in Polymer Chemistry.
A degree, Master's, PhD, or equivalent experience in Chemistry, Polymer Science, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, or a related discipline.
Strong expertise in polymer synthesis and polymer process development.
Experience operating at pilot scale and scaling processes into tens-of-litre reactor environments.

Particularly Relevant

Experience:

We are especially interested in candidates with expertise in:

Step-growth polymerisation (highly desirable)
Radical polymerisation
Pilot-scale or industrial-scale polymer synthesis
Polymer process development
Structure-property relationships
Solution polymerisation
Dispersed-phase polymerisation
Reactor-based polymer manufacturing
Scale-up and commercialisation of polymer technologies

Desirable Experience

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