R&D Scientist

AB Agri Ltd; United Kingdom; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading nutrition company in the United Kingdom is seeking an R&D Scientist. The role involves designing R&D projects focused on pig nutrition within a collaborative research team. Candidates should possess a relevant scientific degree, ideally a PhD, and experience in animal science research, particularly in vivo trials. Strong skills in statistical analysis and project management are essential. The position offers competitive salary and benefits, aimed at rewarding your impact and supporting your wellbeing.

Benefits

Discretionary performance-related bonus

Car allowance

Private healthcare

Matched pension contribution up to 10%

Qualifications

• A relevant scientific degree, with a PhD strongly preferred.
• Experience in animal science research, including in vivo trials.
• Strong capability in experimental design and statistical analysis.
• Knowledge of pig nutrition and diet formulation.
• Experience with statistical software.
• Project management experience in a research environment.

Responsibilities

• Design and deliver internal and external R&D projects.
• Create trial protocols and oversee data collection and analysis.
• Lead statistical analysis and interpret research outcomes.
• Collaborate with universities, laboratories, and internal technical teams.
• Contribute to peer-reviewed publications and technical presentations.

Skills

Experimental design

Statistical analysis

Animal science research

Knowledge of pig nutrition

Project management

Education

Relevant scientific degree (PhD preferred)

Tools

Statistical software

Job description

The Role & Key Responsibilities

Job Title: R&D Scientist

Location: European Union - United Kingdom

Contract type: Permanent

Package includes: Salary from £40226, plus a benefits package designed to support your wellbeing and reward your impact, including discretionary performance related bonus, car allowance, private healthcare, and a matched pension contribution of up to 10%

AB Neo, a specialist division of AB Agri, is seeking an R&D Scientist to join its core research team. This role sits at the heart of our science-led approach to neonate nutrition and offers the opportunity to shape future research at our Centre of Excellence and through collaborations with leading universities across Europe. You will work in a highly technical, collaborative environment, initially focused on pig nutrition, with scope to expand into other species as the business grows.

What you’ll be doing

• You will design and deliver internal and external R&D projects.
• You will create trial protocols and oversee data collection and analysis.
• You will lead statistical analysis and interpret research outcomes.
• You will collaborate with universities, laboratories and internal technical teams.
• You will contribute to peer-reviewed publications and technical presentations.
• You will support big-data and advanced analytics at the Centre of Excellence.
• You will provide research and statistical expertise across AB Neo and AB Agri.

What you’ll bring

• A relevant scientific degree, with a PhD strongly preferred.
• Experience in animal science research, including in vivo trials.
• Strong capability in experimental design and statistical analysis.
• Knowledge of pig nutrition and diet formulation.
• Experience with statistical software.
• Project management experience in a research environment.

Where growth meets purpose

What sets us apart is how we delight our customers - and that’s because of great people like you. People with different life experiences who share common values. Together, we’re shaping a world where responsible nutrition is accessible to all. With a big goal comes equally big opportunities to make a career that truly feels like your own. As a team we’re collaborative, purpose-driven and encourage trying new ideas. We also find ways to nourish your individual journey, so everyone can feel proud of the difference that they make in their own way.

We’re thrilled to share that AB Agri has been recognised as one of The Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality 2025. This is a proud moment for us all. It highlights the real progress we’ve made to build a workplace that is inclusive, supportive, and fair for everyone. Over the last 5 years we have rebuilt our talent management practices, from inclusive hiring, to transparent pay frameworks, flexible work, and the momentum of our Employee Network Groups. Our actions are embedding inclusion at the heart of how we operate and creating a culture where people can be themselves.

As a Disability Confident employer, we’re committed to ensuring our application and recruitment processes work for everyone so if you need any additional support (like alternative formats for your application, bringing a support dog to the offices, a sign language interpreter - or anything else) just let us know.

About The Company

Rewarding your passion

When you join us, you'll do meaningful work and be rewarded fairly for it. From annual salary reviews and incentive bonus, ongoing career development and enhanced family, financial and wellbeing benefits – these are just some of the ways we reward you - from day one.

About us

We are AB Neo, a specialist business bringing together the expertise of four successful companies with the aim of revolutionising nutrition for all neonates. Bring your talents to AB Neo and play your part in producing affordable, high quality and responsible food for the growing global population.

We’re part of AB Agri, the agricultural division of Associated British Foods (ABF plc) and we’re passionate about feeding the world responsibly and affordably by making quality animal feed, creating nutrition and technology-based products, and offering data services for the agri-food industry.

Application Notes

We hope you feel that AB Agri is somewhere you can thrive and so we’d love to hear from you. We get a lot of applications for our roles and sometimes need to close the process early so register your details and upload your CV via our careers website as soon as you can – it will only take a few minutes.

When you do, we’ll ask you some equal opportunities questions just to ensure our recruitment process is inclusive – or show us areas we can improve. This information is anonymised, separate from your application and is never seen by the hiring panel. You can choose not to answer these questions and this won’t affect your application.

Apply today or contact our recruitment team for more information.

Agencies and media sales

AB Agri group politely requests no contact from recruitment agencies or media sales. We don’t accept speculative CVs from recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.