Senior Material Scientist

Department: Innovation & Design

Employment Type: Permanent employee

Schedule: Full-time

Seniority: Experienced

Location: Hackney Wick, London

At Notpla, we’re at the forefront of sustainable innovation, creating natural alternatives to single-use plastic packaging that are carefully engineered to help build a healthier planet. Founded on the belief that nature knows best, we’re an innovative, action-oriented scale-up developing and manufacturing uncompromisingly natural packaging solutions from seaweed and plants.

As a Senior Material Scientist, you’ll spearhead scientific and technological breakthroughs, playing a pivotal role in developing natural polymer technologies to replace plastic. This role will suit someone with a background in Materials Science, Polymer Chemistry, or Chemical Engineering, with hands-on experience working with natural materials such as biopolyesters, rubbers, resins, seaweed, and/or processes such as PET recycling and/or polymer extrusion. 

This is an exciting time to join Notpla - we’re on the brink of a record-breaking year for revenue and on track for major growth in the next 18–24 months. To support this, we have just secured a £20 million Series A+ fundraise, enabling us to scale our growth and environmental impact faster than ever.

Beyond offering meaningful roles and a vibrant working environment, Notpla provides competitive compensation, including EMI Share Options, a zero-carbon pension scheme, discounts with local businesses, and subsidised social activities. Our office-first hybrid working policy lets you work in the way that maximises your productivity while maintaining a dynamic and collaborative atmosphere. We’re a social business with regular clubs and events, and we’re proud of how our diverse, mission-driven community works together to make plastic disappear.

Led by strong values, all Notpla employees are encouraged to take ownership of their domain, enjoying a high degree of autonomy. Our aim is to build an inspiring culture reflected in our working policies, environment, and people.

As a Senior Material Scientist, you’ll balance fast-paced feasibility initiatives with in-depth polymer and process development. Your work will be highly hands-on and collaborative, engaging with cross-disciplinary teams and international partners. You’ll tackle complex materials challenges, coordinate trials, scout novel natural polymer opportunities, and engage with a network of scientific experts and labs to bring innovation to life.

Within the Innovation Team, you’ll thrive in a setting that embraces ambiguity and agile ways of working. You’ll collaborate closely with colleagues from diverse backgrounds - such as design, engineering, and business - to develop new materials and products. A true innovator, you’ll explore the unknown, constantly learning and pushing the boundaries of science rooted in nature.

Key Responsibilities

• Play a central scientific role in a large consortium project, guiding technical direction, developing agile strategies and experimental plans, conducting hands-on work, and coordinating polymer chemistry activities across partners.

• Pioneer new approaches to polymer synthesis and processing from abundant natural materials.

• Conduct feasibility studies and fast-paced discovery projects to address material science and packaging challenges.

• Collaborate closely with cross-disciplinary teams - including designers, engineers, seaweed specialists, and business development managers - to solve complex problems.

• Identify, source, and test natural materials; develop formulations that meet performance, sustainability, and cost targets.

• Design and execute experiments, analyse data, and present findings to drive decision-making and project progress.

• Stay up to date with the latest scientific and industry advancements, integrating new knowledge into projects.

• Contribute to the development of intellectual property, including patents and trade secrets.

• Provide technical input for grant and client proposals to secure funding.

• Lead in-depth development projects to advance the understanding of seaweed and biomaterials for packaging applications.

• Characterise polymer structures, reactions, and material behaviour, and conduct performance, shelf-life, and compatibility studies.

• Represent Notpla to external partners, academic institutions, and commercial labs; coordinate third-party testing as needed.

• Develop groundbreaking technical strategies and approaches to solve key challenges.

• Mentor colleagues (scientists, designers, engineers) to help develop their technical skills and support their project work.