Coating Process Engineer

The Role

At Notpla, we're at the forefront of sustainable innovation, creating natural alternatives to single-use plastic packaging that are carefully engineered to help build a healthier planet. Founded on the belief that nature knows best, we're an innovative, action-oriented scale‑up developing and manufacturing uncompromisingly natural packaging solutions from seaweed and plants.

As a Coating Process Engineer in the Innovation team, you'll develop breakthrough natural material technologies into scalable solutions. This role sits at the critical intersection of material science and industrial‑scale coating processes, where you'll develop and transform innovative biomaterial solutions in the very early stages into commercially viable packaging alternatives that replace single‑use plastics.

This is an exciting time to join Notpla – we're on the brink of a record‑breaking year for revenue and on track for major growth in the next 18‑24 months. To support this, we have just secured a Series A+ fundraise, enabling us to scale our growth and environmental impact faster than ever.

Beyond offering meaningful roles and a vibrant working environment, Notpla provides competitive compensation, including EMI Share Options, a zero‑carbon pension scheme, discounts with local businesses, and subsidised social activities. Our office‑first hybrid working policy lets you work in the way that maximises your productivity while maintaining a dynamic and collaborative atmosphere. We're a social business with regular clubs and events, and we're proud of how our diverse, mission‑driven community works together to make plastic disappear.

Led by strong values, all Notpla employees are encouraged to take ownership of their domain, enjoying a high degree of autonomy. Our aim is to build an inspiring culture reflected in our working policies, environment, and people.

As a Coating Process Engineer your expertise in coating technologies, particularly extrusion coating and water‑based coating systems, will be essential in bridging the gap between laboratory discovery and pilot‑scale implementation. You'll work hands‑on in both the laboratory and on pilot facilities, designing and executing coating trials, troubleshooting process challenges, and building technical knowledge that advances Notpla's mission across multiple concurrent projects.

This role will be operating shoulder‑to‑shoulder with material scientists, material & product designers, and business development managers. You'll drive your own projects from concept through pilot‑scale validation, while also serving as a process engineering consultant to project teams across the Innovation portfolio – accelerating collective learning and expanding coating process capabilities throughout the organisation.

This is a role for someone who sees process engineering as a creative discipline, where the challenge of making natural materials perform in existing industrial infrastructure is just as exciting as the science of the materials themselves. You'll be pioneering coating processes for materials that don't yet have established playbooks, constantly learning, adapting, and pushing the boundaries of what's possible when nature meets engineering.

• Drive new natural material development projects through material and process development into scalable solutions.
• Design, organise, execute, and analyse coating trials both in-house and at partner facilities, working hands‑on to develop and optimise processes for natural material applications.
• Lead and coordinate coating trials across multiple projects, bringing process engineering expertise while learning the nuances of each technology.
• Develop coating processes for packaging applications, focusing on extrusion coating, water‑based systems, and other paper coating technologies (flexo, gravure, curtain coating, etc.).
• Troubleshoot coating defects and process challenges through root cause analysis and corrective actions.
• Scale coating processes from laboratory to pilot stage, anticipating and addressing scale‑up challenges.
• Build deep technical understanding of how natural materials behave in…