Lead Chemist

Adepto Technical Recruitment Ltd; Nottingham; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading recruitment agency is seeking an exceptional Lead Chemist to take ownership of R&D activities in Nottingham, UK. This groundbreaking role focuses on carbon capture technology, requiring a PhD in relevant fields and significant industry experience. The ideal candidate will lead all aspects of chemistry, oversee scalability in industrial applications, and mentor science teams. This position offers a unique opportunity to impact innovative building materials, emphasizing both practical and economic viability.

Qualifications

• Strong industry experience in senior technical leadership roles.
• Demonstrated record of solving complex scale-up problems.
• Ability to explain complex chemistry to non-specialists.

Responsibilities

• Own and lead all chemistry R&D and scale-up activities.
• Translate laboratory chemistry into commercial process windows.
• Lead and mentor teams while setting scientific standards.

Skills

Hands-on experience in inorganic precipitation and crystallisation

Strong communication skills

Experience in solid–liquid separation and washing

Education

PhD in Chemistry, Materials Chemistry, or Chemical Engineering

Job description

Lead Chemist - Carbon Capture - Nottingham, UK - Permanent

Our client is an innovative and ambitious startup organisation specialised in developing new calcium based materials from carbon capture processes. Their mission is to utilise CO₂ and waste to create, stronger, cheaper and cleaner building materials. They are seeking an exceptional Lead Chemist to take full technical ownership of all chemistry R&D and scale-up activities across the company. This is an amazing opportunity to join an ambitious and growing organisation and make a real impact on the future of the business.

This is a hands-on position seeking a forward thinking and practical Lead Chemist who understands the scientific and technical aspects of carbon capture. The Lead Chemist is the ultimate technical authority for CO₂ mineralisation, cement chemistry, and materials development, and is personally accountable for the scientific validity, robustness, economic viability and industrial scalability of the technology.

You will own the chemistry end-to-end : from reaction mechanisms and crystallisation control in the lab, through impurity management and product specification, to translation into pilot, demonstrator, and commercial-scale processes.

Key Responsibilities

• 1. Full Technical Ownership of Chemistry
  • Own and lead 100% of chemistry R&D, including CO₂ mineralisation pathways, crystallisation, impurity management, washing, drying, surface chemistry, and performance in cementitious systems.
  • Define reaction mechanisms, kinetics, thermodynamics, and morphology control strategies.
  • Design, review, and approve all experimental plans, DoE, scale-up trials, and validation protocols.
  • Personally review and sign off raw data, analytical results, SOPs, and technical reports.
  • Lead root-cause analysis of failures, deviations, and scale-up risks.
  • Define product specifications, contamination limits, stability windows, and structure–property relationships.
• 2. Scale-Up and Industrial Translation
  • Translate laboratory chemistry into robust, operable pilot, demo, and commercial process windows.
  • Work directly with process and chemical engineering team to define mass and energy balances, operating envelopes, and chemical risk registers.
  • Own chemical aspects of reactor design, solid–liquid separation, washing, drying, by-product recovery, and long-term process stability.
  • Anticipate and mitigate scale-up issues such as fouling, agglomeration, impurity build-up, corrosion, and phase instability.
• 3. Team Leadership and Scientific Rigour
  • Lead, mentor, and technically challenge chemists, materials scientists, and technicians.
  • Set the scientific standard for the organisation : data integrity, documentation quality, experimental discipline, and critical thinking.
  • Ensure that all chemistry work meets industrial-grade robustness, not only academic novelty.
• 4. Strategy, Grants, and External Representation
  • Technically lead major grant proposals (UKRI, Innovate UK, Horizon Europe, EIC, etc.).
  • Act as the primary chemistry authority in discussions with industrial partners, investors, and regulators.
  • Define the long-term chemistry roadmap from current TRL through pilot, demo, and full commercial deployment.
  • Feed and define the IP of the company from a process and chemistry standpoint

Qualifications and background

• PhD in Chemistry, Materials Chemistry, or Chemical Engineering with strong reaction and solid-state focus.
• Post-PhD industry experience including senior technical leadership roles (e.g. Lead Scientist, Principal Chemist, Director of Chemistry)
• Proven, hands-on experience in inorganic precipitation and crystallisation, solid–liquid separation and washing, impurity and by-product control, reaction kinetics, and scale-up.
• Demonstrated record of personally owning and solving complex scale-up problems, not only managing teams.
• Strong communication skills, able to explain complex chemistry to engineers, investors, and non-specialists while retaining technical depth.
• While bringing depth of technical knowledge, a strong practical sense of economic and industrial viability to enable translation of research into development and subsequent economically viable industrial projects.

Highly Desirable

• Background in cement chemistry, construction materials, fertilisers, CO₂ mineralisation, or carbon capture and utilisation.
• Familiarity with LCA, environmental compliance, and product certification (EPDs, standards).
• Prior startup or first-of-a-kind plant experience, with exposure to fast decision-making and technical risk