Biocatalysis Scientist

Chemstars; Leiden; On-site; EUR 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock option plan

Job summary

AKIN is a Dutch biotech company developing a novel enzymatic platform for rubber recycling. We seek a biocatalysis scientist to own enzyme performance at benchtop scale, develop assays, run reaction studies, and coordinate small-scale production in Delft, with strong collaboration alongside our chemical engineer.

The role includes variant screening, integrated process development, partner interface tasks, and strategic input to R&D roadmap and grant reports.

Qualifications

• MSc in biochemistry, biotechnology, life science & technology, or a closely related discipline, with 3-6 years of hands-on experience; or a PhD with up to 3 years of industry experience.
• Hands-on experience with enzyme activity assays, kinetics and reaction optimisation.
• Experience expressing and purifying recombinant proteins in bacterial and fungal hosts: cell banking, shake-flask and benchtop bioreactor cultures, affinity purification and SDS-PAGE.
• Structured experimental mindset: design controlled benchtop studies (including DoE), keep clean, reproducible data, and iterate quickly.
• Organised and comfortable working with external partners and several priorities at once, including day-to-day running of a shared lab.
• Fluent English. Dutch is not required.

Responsibilities

• Enzyme performance ownership: developing robust activity assays and running reaction studies on rubber substrates, covering kinetics, stability and the effect of temperature, pH, enzyme loading and co-solvents.
• Variant screening: testing enzyme variants from our engineering partner and turning the results into clear, decision-ready feedback for the next design round.
• Integrated process development: working with our chemical engineer to connect reaction conditions to product profiles, so that upstream and downstream are developed together.
• Partner interface: specifying enzyme batches and checking incoming lots with our scale-up partner, and preparing samples for and interpreting results from external analytical and materials-testing facilities.
• Small-scale enzyme production: maintaining cell banks and expressing and purifying enzyme variants, from shake flasks to our 2.5 L benchtop bioreactors, in our ML-I lab space, so experiments are always supplied.
• Lab coordination (around 10% of your time): inventory, ordering, equipment upkeep, ML-I records, and keeping lab safety and house rules on track.
• Strategic input: contributing to the R&D roadmap, IP filings and grant reporting.

Job description

About AKIN

AKIN is a Dutch biotech company developing a novel enzymatic platform for rubber recycling (Kinfinity). We convert end-of-life rubber, including devulcanised rubber feedstock, into high-value chemical products and materials, targeting applications in tyres and industrial rubber goods.

The Role

We are looking for a biocatalysis scientist to own enzyme performance at benchtop scale. You will develop the assays and run the reaction studies that show how our enzyme variants perform on rubber substrates, working side by side with our chemical engineer, who leads the chemistry and product recovery. Enzyme engineering, scale-up production and specialised analytics are carried out with expert partners; your role is to make the enzymes work in our process, keep the feedback loop with those partners sharp, and produce enzyme in-house at small scale. You will also coordinate the day-to-day running of our lab.

Key Responsibilities

• Enzyme performance ownership: developing robust activity assays and running reaction studies on rubber substrates, covering kinetics, stability and the effect of temperature, pH, enzyme loading and co-solvents.
• Variant screening: testing enzyme variants from our engineering partner and turning the results into clear, decision-ready feedback for the next design round.
• Integrated process development: working with our chemical engineer to connect reaction conditions to product profiles, so that upstream and downstream are developed together.
• Partner interface: specifying enzyme batches and checking incoming lots with our scale-up partner, and preparing samples for and interpreting results from external analytical and materials-testing facilities.
• Small-scale enzyme production: maintaining cell banks and expressing and purifying enzyme variants, from shake flasks to our 2.5 L benchtop bioreactors, in our ML-I lab space, so experiments are always supplied.
• Lab coordination (around 10% of your time): inventory, ordering, equipment upkeep, ML-I records, and keeping lab safety and house rules on track.
• Strategic input: contributing to the R&D roadmap, IP filings and grant reporting.

Your First Year

• Reliable, reproducible activity and stability assays for our enzymes on rubber substrates.
• In-house small-scale enzyme supply up and running for screening.
• A well-run screening loop with our enzyme engineering partner, with each round guided by your data.

We Bring

• A fully equipped lab in Delft designed specifically for this programme, access to ML-I lab space, and broad enzyme engineering, scale-up and analytical coverage through partner and service agreements.
• A company that is scaling, with ample room to grow, take on new projects, and influence its development direction.
• Work that pushes the state of the art while remaining critical to the company's commercial success.
• The opportunity to make a direct impact on sustainability in the rubber and tyre industries.
• A flexible work environment that focuses on what empowers you but also expects personal accountability.
• A place where employees are valued regardless of background, beliefs, or identity.
• A competitive compensation package, including stock option plan.

You Bring

• MSc in biochemistry, biotechnology, life science & technology, or a closely related discipline, with 3-6 years of hands-on experience; or a PhD with up to 3 years of industry experience.
• Hands-on experience with enzyme activity assays, kinetics and reaction optimisation.
• Practical experience expressing and purifying recombinant proteins in bacterial and fungal hosts: cell banking, shake-flask and benchtop bioreactor cultures, affinity purification and SDS-PAGE.
• A structured experimental mindset: able to design controlled benchtop studies (including DoE), keep clean, reproducible data, and iterate quickly.
• Organised and comfortable working with external partners and several priorities at once, including the day-to-day running of a shared lab.
• Fluent English. Dutch is not required.

Advantageous

• Experience with enzymes acting on solid, insoluble or polymer substrates (for example plastic- or cellulose-degrading enzymes)
• Experience operating benchtop stirred-tank bioreactors, ideally Getinge (Applikon) systems
• Experience working in ML-I (GMO contained-use) laboratories
• Lab coordination or lab safety contact experience
• Analytical methods such as HPLC and UV-Vis spectroscopy
• Enzyme immobilisation
• Early-stage startup or CRO experience

Terms of the role

Availability & location Candidates must be available within eight weeks and work 80% on-site in Delft.

Visa sponsorship We are not able to offer visa sponsorship in the short term.

Work authorisation Applications are limited to candidates who already hold Dutch work authorisation or who are eligible for the orientation year permit for recent graduates.

If your application reaches us while the role is open and meets the terms above, you will hear back from us either way.