Associate R&D Engineer

Refeyn Ltd; Oxford; On-site; GBP 34,000 - 39,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Base salary £34k–£39k

25 days annual leave

Pension contribution up to 7%

Private health insurance

Medicash & critical illness cover

Cycle to Work

Annual bonus scheme

Volunteer day

Job summary

Refeyn Ltd in Oxford is seeking a System Engineer to design, build and maintain cutting‑edge instrumentation. You will lead high‑level design decisions and integrate new modules into the platform, working with research, engineering, software, product and operations teams.

You will translate product requirements into technical specs, scope architecture, and plan integration/upgrades, delivering both technical and customer-facing specifications for new products.

Qualifications

• BSc Engineering or equivalent.
• Self-starting and excited by working in a multi-disciplinary team.
• Desirable: PhD in Microscopy/laser optics/Nano-optics or related field.
• Experience with design/alignment/troubleshooting of optical equipment.
• Experience performing data analysis in C/C++/Python/MATLAB.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical and scientific input to develop new innovations in mass photometry instrumentation and submodules.
• Design, build and troubleshoot prototype optical microscopy instruments.
• Analyze complex data from custom hardware to evaluate instrument performance.
• Collaborate with applications, systems, and software teams to deliver new designs or features.
• Define technical specifications and translate them into actionable design verification plans.

Skills

Optics design

Data analysis (C/C++, Python, Matlab)

Multi-disciplinary teamwork

Education

BSc Engineering

Tools

C/C++

Python

MATLAB

Job description

To help deliver next generation instruments involving a combination of lasers, electro-optics systems, 3D positioners, high speed CMOS detectors and microfluidics.

How you'll achieve it

Working in the engineering function alongside multidisciplinary engineers, the system engineer is responsible for designing, building, and maintaining Refeyn’s cutting edge technology platforms and will lead and participate in high-level instrument design choices, definition of module boundaries and the integration of new and improved modules/features into the broader technology platform. The system engineer will work closely with research, engineering, software, product, and operations teams, to translate product requirements into technical specifications and actionable design verification plans. The system engineer will be responsible for scoping future product/system requirements, scoping their architecture and how they will fit/interact with our current systems, and planning for this integration/upgrade. They will take ownership for the delivery of all technical and customer facing specification for new products and systems.

Key responsibilities for this role include:

• Provide technical and scientific insight to develop/deliver new innovations in the implementation mass photometry for next generation instruments and submodules, including optical/electro-optical design and data analysis approaches, from proof of concept to production handover.
• Concepting, designing, building and troubleshooting prototype optical microscopy instruments that measure single molecule properties based on the detection of light scattering.
• Analysing complex data sets taken on custom built hardware to evaluate instrument performance and
• Working closely with applications specialists, systems engineers and software developers to deliver new designs or features.
• Understand and define complex technical specifications and requirements and interpret these to realise new designs/features quickly.
• Actively participating in the growth of Refeyn’s IP portfolio and identifying patentable IP.
• Keep up to date on the cutting-edge advances in the fields of light microscopy, light scattering and single molecule bioanalytics, with a view to offer novel approaches and improvements to our technology roadmap.

We are ideally looking for someone with the following skills and experience:

• BSc Engineering (all fields) or equivalent experience
• Self-starting and excited by the prospect of working alongside/contributing to a multi-disciplinary team focussed on developing novel high-tech instrumentation.
• Relevant experience in an optics/electro-optics background, for example: a PhD in Microscopy/laser optics/Nano-optics and a degree in a related field
• Design/alignment/troubleshooting of optical equipment; Building new optics systems in microscopy or similar technologies.
• Data analysis in C/C++/Python/Matlab or similar package – ability to perform complex analysis on novel data.

We know there is no such thing as the perfect candidate and that there is great value in transferrable skills, so please don’t feel you have to tick all of the above boxes to apply!

Why work for Refeyn?

Compensation and core benefits

• We anticipate a base salary of £34,000 to £39,000 for this role, depending on candidate experience
• 25 days annual leave per year in addition to bank holidays
• Up to 7% employer matched pension contribution
• Private health insurance from day one plus Medicash, critical illness cover, income protection and life insurance
• Give as You Earn and Cycle to Work salary sacrifice schemes.
• Annual Company and Individual bonus scheme
• Paid volunteer day each year

Family Friendly Benefits

Refeyn offers YellowNest Nursery Scheme to all employees once probation is passed, and new parents can benefit from up to 17 weeks fully paid maternity, adoption and shared parental leave, 4 weeks fully paid paternity leave, plus an annual allowance for emergency childcare.

Supporting your Development

All employees receive access to Linkedin Learning which offers thousands of courses to support their personal and professional development. We also run frequent training sessions on both hard and soft skills.

Creating an Engaging Culture

Refeyn supports hybrid working where the role allows and offers flexible start and finish times. We also have a subsidised weekly lunch for onsite employees and a vibrant social calendar which includes holiday parties and midsummer festivals plus an annual team budget for managers to plan team-building activities.

Values-Led

Refeyn is committed to celebrating each other’s differences and creating a dynamic, driven and diverse culture where everyone can flourish. We are proud to have been awarded Committed Status by the Inclusive Employers Standard in 2024 and are working hard to create a safe and empowering environment for all.

We firmly believe that there is great strength in building teams with different voices, experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds so that we can continue to share the team workload and enable our customers to succeed, and we welcome applicants from all sections of society to join us on our mission to advance discovery through innovation.

Expected Interview Plan

• Initial Teams call with the hiring manager (30 minutes)
• Onsite panel interview with presentation and site tour (90 minutes)
• Final call with Chief Product and Marketing Officer (30 minutes)

Refeyn is proud to use anonymised hiring practices. Identifying information such as a candidate's name, email address, date of birth and photo will not be visible to the hiring manager when they review CVs.

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