This is a hands-on role focused on the design, synthesis, formulation, characterisation, optimisation, and scale-up of bio-based and/or biodegradable SAPs.

You will make a visible contribution from the beginning: shaping the science, developing valuable intellectual property, and helping move breakthrough materials towards industrial-scale adoption.

Depending on your level, you will independently lead technical workstreams, mentor other scientists, and help shape our technology roadmap.

For senior and lead appointments, this is a genuine company-building role. You will work alongside the senior team to set research priorities and help lead the scientific, technical, and product direction of A&B Smart Materials.

What You Will Do

• Conduct hands-on experimental work in polymer and SAP synthesis, formulation, and characterisation.
• Design and execute rigorous experiments, analyse results, and rapidly translate learning into improved materials.
• Optimise absorption, retention, permeability, gel strength, biodegradability, cost, and manufacturability.
• Develop and evaluate SAP formulations for hygiene, agriculture, and other applications.
• Connect material chemistry and processing conditions with end-product performance.
• Contribute to intellectual property, patents, technical documentation, and partner programmes.
• Support application testing, external validation, and collaboration with industrial partners.
• Help progress our technology from laboratory development through scale-up and commercialisation.
• Take ownership of important technical challenges and deliver high-quality results against ambitious objectives.

Senior and lead candidates may also lead major R&D programmes, mentor and build the scientific team, guide scale-up strategy, and represent A&B Smart Materials with customers, manufacturers, and research partners.

What We Are Looking For

• A PhD in polymer science, chemistry, materials, or a closely related field is essential. We will consider candidates without a PhD only where they bring 10 or more years of hands-on polymer research experience.
• Beyond the qualification itself, we care about scientific ability, judgement, and the depth of your research record.
• You should bring strong wet-laboratory and polymer-development skills, the ability to design rigorous experiments and interpret complex data, and high standards of scientific integrity and documentation.
• You must pair that research depth with genuine commercial experience. A successful material has to deliver not only in the laboratory but also on performance, cost, manufacturability, and commercial relevance — and we expect you to have worked somewhere those constraints were real, whether in industry, a commercial R&D function, or a research group delivering directly to industrial partners.
• SAP or closely analogous polymer experience is a major advantage
• Direct experience with superabsorbent polymers is the single strongest advantage a candidate can bring. Experience with closely analogous systems — hydrogels, crosslinked networks, or other water-absorbing polymers — is valued nearly as highly. We particularly value experience in:
  • SAP synthesis, formulation, characterisation, performance testing, or manufacturing.
  • Conventional, bio-based, biodegradable, or otherwise sustainable SAP technologies.
  • SAP applications in diapers, menstrual pads, incontinence products, or other hygiene products.
  • Agriculture and agriscience, including soil enhancers, water-retention materials, fertilisers, or crop inputs.
  • Working for or alongside a major SAP producer, chemical manufacturer, hygiene company, or agricultural business.
  • Taking a material or chemical process from laboratory development through pilot production, manufacturing, or commercial deployment.
  • Process development, manufacturing optimisation, and technology transfer.
  • Leading technical programmes or mentoring scientific teams.
• Candidates who have personally experienced the realities of scale-up — transferring a laboratory process to larger equipment, higher volumes, and industrial operating conditions — will be particularly valued.

Our Culture and What We Offer

We are an ambitious, collaborative, and results-oriented startup. We look for people who take ownership, move with urgency, communicate directly, and maintain exceptional scientific standards. This is an environment for people who want meaningful responsibility, rapid development, and the opportunity to do some of the best work of their careers.

We offer:

• Competitive remuneration and meaningful equity.
• 28 days of paid holiday annually.
• Significant influence over products, intellectual property, and technical strategy.
• Access to world-class investors, advisors, and industry leaders.
• Close collaboration with one of the world’s largest chemical companies.
• A role that can grow substantially as both you and the company develop.
• The opportunity to help build a category-defining company and transform a global industry.

Join Us

This is a rare opportunity to reinvent an essential material, establish a new global standard, and help build a company with the potential for lasting impact.

Whether you are an experienced researcher ready for greater ownership or a technical leader looking to help direct a high-growth company, we want to hear from you. Candidates with direct SAP expertise, relevant industry experience, or a proven record of taking technologies through scale-up are particularly encouraged to apply.

Application form: https://tally.so/r/ODZkya

Recruitment email: recruitment@absmartmaterials.com