Our portfolio opportunities

At Notpla, we create disappearing packaging carefully engineered for a healthy planet. Founded on the belief that nature knows best, we’re an innovative, ideas and action-oriented scale-up developing and manufacturing packaging solutions from seaweed and plants that disappear naturally. We are currently looking to recruit a Research Scientist to join our innovative Research team to support our pivotal research and development with a particular focus on our rapidly developing films product.

At Notpla, we strongly believe in our mission and our employees' ability to help us achieve our goals. We encourage everyone who joins us to develop and grow and take responsibility for your domain without micromanagement. Our objective is to foster a fantastic business culture that is reflected in our working policies and environment.

Besides offering exciting roles and a great working environment, Notpla provides competitive salaries, the potential for EMI Share Options, a zero-carbon pension scheme, discounts with local businesses, and subsidised social activities. Our flexible working policy allows you to work at your own pace.

We are a social business with regular clubs and events, and we are proud of how our diverse workplace has created a community that is all pushing towards the common goal of making plastic disappear.

The driving force behind every Notpla product is its research department. A highly innovative and talented team of individuals comprising graduates, experienced scientists, PhDs, and industry professionals, this diverse range of backgrounds has enabled the team to build a solid technical expertise capable of answering any question. As a team member, you will be encouraged to pursue your ideas, trusted in your role, and empowered to strive for the best. As a Research Scientist you will report into the Research Lead, and be responsible for the formulation development of natural, edible, biodegradable materials for packaging applications, working closely with the development team to push our products into the real world.

We are looking for an experienced scientist with a degree in Polymer Science or Engineering, Materials Science or Chemistry, Food Science or Technology, Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology or similar disciplines, with a strong understanding of biopolymers and compostable materials, polymeric materials and extrusion technologies. You will have a demonstrable interest in natural and compostable materials and extrusion. You should have experience working with extrusion based technologies for film development, including cast film and blown film. You will also have at least two years’ experience working in an industrial research environment within biopolymers, polymer extrusion or polymer processing, or a PhD within a relevant discipline. Previous experience on the processing of natural compostable biopolymers based on renewable resources i.e. polysaccharides (such as cellulose), proteins and lipids by using extruders or previous experience in food packaging and food science is not essential but will be an advantage. As well as the above, your day to day responsibilities will also include:

• Identifying, sourcing and testing natural materials with specific target properties

• Physical and chemical characterization of biopolymeric materials and formulations to assess their performance including tensile testing, thermal analysis and viscosity measurements.

• Preparation of samples using extrusion and other techniques, especially cast and blown film

• Working closely with the development & scale up team to translate lab scale formulations to the larger scale, including participation in internal and external manufacturing trials where needed

• Conducting shelf-life evaluation and quality analysis of prototypes and finished products

• Benchmarking of Notpla formulations against industrial standards

• Extrusion of natural material formulations through compounding and film formation

If the above sounds like something you can see yourself doing, then please apply with a CV and cover letter and someone from our recruitment team will be in touch.

Negotiable

We’re hard to define because what we’re doing hasn’t been done before.

Notpla is a sustainable packaging start-up founded in 2014. A combination of designers, chemists, engineers, and entrepreneurs. We create advanced packaging solutions made from seaweed and other natural materials as an alternative to single-use plastic.

We received multiple awards and grants from Innovate UK and the Ellen Macarthur Foundation for our innovative product “Ooho” – an edible and fully biodegradable sachet. Our portfolio has now extended with multiple innovation solutions.

We're committed to creating a working environment where every member of our team can bring their full self to work regardless of their race, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability or age.