AMPHICO
Junior Materials Scientist
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About Amphico
For decades the textile industry has accepted a dirty secret: to make fabrics waterproof you need PFAS (“forever chemicals”), and to make them colourful you need hazardous dyes and vast amounts of water. At AMPHICO, we don’t accept that trade-off, so we engineered it away. Twice.
Amphitex™ is our PFAS-free waterproof breathable membrane: all the performance of the materials in your favourite outdoor gear, none of the forever chemicals, and designed from day one to be recycled. Amphicolor™ is colour without the water: broader palettes, predictable results, no toxic chemistry. Two technologies, one mission, and an industry actively looking for exactly this as regulation and consumer pressure push toxic chemistry out of the supply chain.
We’re at the fun part. The science is proven, Innovate UK and industry partners back us, and our team spans London and Tokyo. Now we’re scaling from lab to production, and the people who join at this stage don’t just watch that happen; they shape it.
The Role & What we are looking for
We are looking for a curious, hands-on Junior Materials Scientist to sit at the heart of our R&D team in London. This role lives at the intersection of materials development, testing and production. You’ll spend your days in the lab working directly with polymers and textiles, helping move our PFAS-free technologies from bench to product.
A core part of the job is developing new materials, not just testing them. You’ll help formulate and process new polymer systems, iterate on recipes, and turn ideas into materials that you can actually see scaled up, working as waterproof breathable textiles. From polymer compounding and extrusion work through to physical and chemical characterisation, you’ll be involved across the full development loop, running experiments, interpreting what the data is telling you, and feeding that straight back into the next iteration.
Alongside the development work, you’ll keep the lab running well: testing and validating materials, catching defects early, supporting equipment maintenance and documenting results clearly so the whole team can build on them. You’ll collaborate closely with our R&D Materials Scientists and Engineers, so good organisation, clear communication and a collaborative mindset matter as much as bench skill.
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If you like working with your hands, get genuinely excited by the question of how to make a material do something it has never done before, and want to build new PFAS-free chemistry that ends up in real products, we want to hear from you.
Key Responsibilities
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Polymer & Materials Development. Support the design, formulation and processing of new polymer systems for our PFAS-free waterproof-breathable technologies. Prepare samples, iterate on formulations and processing conditions, and help translate concepts into testable materials.
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Laboratory Testing & Material Characterisation. Carry out physical and chemical testing on polymers and textiles using both standard and advanced techniques. Collect, interpret and report data to assess performance and validate experimental material runs.
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Hands-on Experimentation & Problem-Solving. Run experiments end-to-end, troubleshoot in real time, and suggest sensible follow-up tests. Bring a practical, get-stuck-in attitude to whatever the bench throws up.
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Quality Control & Inspection. Examine incoming and in-house materials to detect defects, confirm consistency, and ensure compliance with quality standards, resolving issues quickly to minimise disruption.
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Equipment Maintenance & Technical Lab Support. Support the maintenance, calibration and troubleshooting of lab and production equipment, and provide hands-on support for a range of experimental test setups.
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Technical Documentation & Knowledge Sharing. Record results and lab notes accurately, and prepare clear reports and summaries so knowledge transfers effectively across teams.
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Inventory & Resource Management. Manage lab consumables and materials, track and replenish stock, and maintain sample libraries so the lab is always ready to support innovation.
Skills & Experience Required
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Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science, Polymer Chemistry, Chemistry or a related discipline.
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Comfortable with hands-on lab work and happy to spend the day at the bench conducting physical experiments and testing.
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Genuine curiosity about polymers and materials, with an interest in developing new formulations for PFAS-free technologies.
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Comfortable to learn and conduct both physical property analysis. Previous experience with tensile testing is a big plus.
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Able to conduct accurate data entry, interpret experimental results, and propose relevant follow-up testing.
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Excellent time management and organisation; able to prioritise across several concurrent tasks.
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Good technical writing skills to document findings and report outcomes clearly.
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Collaborative and communicative, able to work well within a multidisciplinary team.
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Proactive and solution-focused, with a strong sense of initiative.
Desirable Skills & Experience
- Hands-on experience with polymer processing (e.g. compounding, extrusion, film casting, coating or lamination).
- Passion for technical textiles and the outdoor performance industry.
- Experience with materials characterisation tools (tensile testing, SEM)
- Understanding of product performance prediction from characterisation data.
- Interest in green chemistry, sustainable materials, and designing toxic-free alternatives.
- Exposure to R&D and prototyping workflows in a commercial or research setting.
Benefits & Key Info
- Competitive base salary of £27,000–£30,000 depending on experience.
- Flexible working schedule.
- On-site, in our London office and lab.
- Cycle to work scheme and tech scheme.
- Career development and learning budget.
- 24/7 access to all of Makerversity’s facilities (wood, metal, textiles/fashion and digital workshops, photography studio, 3-D printers, CNCs and laser cutters) and a weekly team breakfast.
- A dynamic, innovative environment focused on cutting-edge materials science and engineering.
Language: Fluency in English is required. Additional languages are a strong plus — please list all languages you speak fluently in your application.
Location: Applicants must be based or within commutable distance of Central London. This is a full-time, in-person role.
Right to work in the UK: We are unable to sponsor a visa for this role at this time, so candidates must have full right to work in the UK.
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