Polymer Process Scientist – Scale-Up & Commercial Development

Planet Smart is developing biodegradable polymer materials designed to replace persistent

plastics in high-volume applications such as hygiene products, agriculture, and packaging.

Our focus is on building polymer systems that deliver required performance while enabling

realistic pathways to industrial manufacturing, scale-up, and commercial adoption.

Many essential products today rely on polymer materials that persist in the environment for

centuries. Planet Smart’s approach is not incremental substitution, but the development of

alternative polymer solutions that can be manufactured reliably, perform consistently, and

meet growing environmental and regulatory expectations.

Planet Smart is an early-stage company backed by international investors. We are currently

focused on strengthening the technical and process foundation required for pilot-scale

production, manufacturing partnerships, and commercial validation.

As our Polymer Scientist – Scale-Up & Commercial Development, you will lead Planet

Smart’s internal polymer development activities with a clear mandate: translate laboratory-

validated polymer materials into commercially credible processes and data sets.

You will manage and guide a small internal R&D team while working closely with external

scale-up and toll manufacturing partners who are not co-located with the London laboratory.

This role requires building strong working relationships with these partners and overseeing

data generation and process development activities across multiple sites.

The position is structured as a hybrid role, combining on-site work at White City Scale Space

with periodic off-site work at partner and manufacturing locations, as required to meet

development and scale-up objectives. This is not a discovery-driven research role, but a

hands-on position focused on reproducibility, process definition, and effective translation

from lab-scale development to pilot and early commercial manufacturing.

• Lead and develop the internal polymer R&D team, ensuring experimental work is aligned with defined technical, scale-up, and commercial objectives
• Maintain a safe and compliant wet-lab environment, including the development, maintenance, and continuous improvement of SOPs and safety practices
• Define reproducible polymer specifications, performance metrics, and acceptance criteria relevant to pilot and commercial manufacturing
• Design and execute scale-relevant experimental programs to establish process windows, sensitivities, and failure modes
• Serve as the primary technical interface with external scale-up partners and toll manufacturers, including on-site engagement during critical development and scale-
• up phases
• Ensure scale-up learnings, process data, and operational insights are captured internally rather than remaining solely with external partners
• Develop and implement internal scale-up and process translation plans bridging laboratory results with pilot and toll manufacturing realities
• Build robust experimental documentation and data packages suitable for technical diligence, partner discussions, and future regulatory engagement
• Contribute technical insight to early commercial discussions by identifying key cost, risk, and scalability drivers

• MSc or PhD in Polymer Science, Polymer Chemistry, Materials Science, or a closely related discipline
• Demonstrated experience progressing polymer or materials systems from laboratory scale toward pilot or commercial production
• Hands-on involvement in process scale-up, including collaboration with external manufacturers, CMOs, or tolling partners
• Willingness and ability to travel periodically to external partner sites to support scale-up activities and relationship building
• Proven responsibility for laboratory safety, documentation, and experimental planning in a wet-lab environment
• Ability to balance scientific rigor with practical, commercially driven decision-making
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English, with the ability to clearly explain complex technical topics
• Experience working effectively in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams

The following are advantageous but not…