Global Materials Scientist - Polycrystalline Wool

Alkegen; Widnes; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Alkegen is seeking a Materials Scientist for our Widnes, UK site to ensure operational efficiency and material consistency in polycrystalline wool manufacturing. You will work across raw materials, formulation and production processes, building strong supplier relationships to improve quality and yield.

You will develop control plans, investigate material changes, and provide technical support to both UK operations and the Buffalo, USA facility (about 20% travel).

Qualifications

• Degree in Materials Science or related field (BSc minimum; MSc/PhD preferred).
• Experience in inorganic materials, ceramics, fibres, or high-temperature materials.
• Experience in manufacturing environments and process troubleshooting.
• Experience with supplier technical management or external collaboration desirable.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and data-driven mindset.

Responsibilities

• Understand incoming raw materials, compositions, impurities and supplier variations.
• Build strong relationships with key raw material suppliers.
• Interface with suppliers on material chemistry, consistency, change management and innovation.
• Work with suppliers to understand process windows, production routes and variability sources.
• Support supplier audits, technical reviews and joint improvement initiatives.
• Establish and maintain material specifications, acceptance criteria and incoming quality controls.
• Optimize formulations to balance performance and cost while monitoring plant batches.
• Lead investigations into raw material changes and their impact on process and product performance.
• Provide day-to-day technical support to manufacturing to ensure stable production of polycrystalline wool.
• Analyze and troubleshoot process variability across the material lifecycle.
• Identify improvements to efficiency, yield, waste reduction and process capability.
• Collaborate with production, engineering and quality teams to resolve issues.
• Capture and document material/process knowledge for standardisation and best practice.
• Develop technical guidelines, control plans and troubleshooting tools for operations.
• Support training and capability development in manufacturing and technical teams.
• Provide onsite and remote support to Buffalo facility ~20% of time; travel as needed.
• Align material control strategies and best practices between UK and US operations.
• Support cross-site consistency and knowledge transfer.

Skills

Materials science

Ceramics

Troubleshooting

Process optimization

Supplier management

Analytical thinking

Communication

Problem solving

Education

BSc

MSc/PhD preferred

Job description

Alkegen is seeking a Materials Scientist for our Widnes, UK site to ensure operational efficiency and material consistency in polycrystalline wool manufacturing. You will work across raw materials, formulation and production processes, building strong supplier relationships to improve quality and yield.

You will develop control plans, investigate material changes, and provide technical support to both UK operations and the Buffalo, USA facility (about 20% travel).