Lead Chemist

Lead Chemist - Carbon Capture - Nottingham, UK - Permanent

Our client is an innovative and ambitious startup organisation specialised in developing new calcium based materials from carbon capture processes. Their mission is to utilise CO₂ and waste to create, stronger, cheaper and cleaner building materials. They are seeking an exceptional Lead Chemist to take full technical ownership of all chemistry R&D and scale-up activities across the company. This is an amazing opportunity to join an ambitious and growing organisation and make a real impact on the future of the business.

This is a hands-on position seeking a forward thinking and practical Lead Chemist who understands the scientific and technical aspects of carbon capture. The Lead Chemist is the ultimate technical authority for CO₂ mineralisation, cement chemistry, and materials development, and is personally accountable for the scientific validity, robustness, economic viability and industrial scalability of the technology.
You will own the chemistry end-to-end: from reaction mechanisms and crystallisation control in the lab, through impurity management and product specification, to translation into pilot, demonstrator, and commercial-scale processes.

Key Responsibilities
1. Full Technical Ownership of Chemistry

* Own and lead 100% of chemistry R&D, including CO₂ mineralisation pathways, crystallisation, impurity management, washing, drying, surface chemistry, and performance in cementitious systems.

* Define reaction mechanisms, kinetics, thermodynamics, and morphology control strategies.

* Design, review, and approve all experimental plans, DoE, scale-up trials, and validation protocols.

* Personally review and sign off raw data, analytical results, SOPs, and technical reports.

* Lead root-cause analysis of failures, deviations, and scale-up risks.

* Define product specifications, contamination limits, stability windows, and structure–property relationships.

2. Scale-Up and Industrial Translation

* Translate laboratory chemistry into robust, operable pilot, demo, and commercial process windows.

* Work directly with process and chemical engineering team to define mass and energy balances, operating envelopes, and chemical risk registers.

* Own chemical aspects of reactor design, solid–liquid separation, washing, drying, by-product recovery, and long-term process stability.

* Anticipate and mitigate scale-up issues such as fouling, agglomeration, impurity build-up, corrosion, and phase instability.

3. Team Leadership and Scientific Rigour

* Lead, mentor, and technically challenge chemists, materials scientists, and technicians.

* Set the scientific standard for the organisation: data integrity, documentation quality, experimental discipline, and critical thinking.

* Ensure that all chemistry work meets industrial-grade robustness, not only academic novelty.

4. Strategy, Grants, and External Representation

* Technically lead major grant proposals (UKRI, Innovate UK, Horizon Europe, EIC, etc.).

* Act as the primary chemistry authority in discussions with industrial partners, investors, and regulators.

* Define the long-term chemistry roadmap from current TRL through pilot, demo, and full commercial deployment.

* Feed and define the IP of the company from a process and chemistry standpoint

Qualifications and background:

• PhD in Chemistry, Materials Chemistry, or Chemical Engineering with strong reaction and solid-state focus.

• Post-PhD industry experience including senior technical leadership roles (e.g. Lead Scientist, Principal Chemist, Director of Chemistry)

• Proven, hands-on experience in inorganic precipitation and crystallisation, solid–liquid separation and washing, impurity and by-product control, reaction kinetics, and scale-up.

• Demonstrated record of personally owning and solving complex scale-up problems, not only managing teams.

• Strong communication skills, able to explain complex chemistry to engineers, investors, and non-specialists while retaining technical depth.

• While bringing depth of technical knowledge, a strong practical sense of economic and industrial viability to enable translation of research into development and subsequent economically viable industrial projects.

Highly Desirable:

• Background in cement chemistry, construction materials, fertilisers, CO₂ mineralisation, or carbon capture and utilisation.

• Familiarity with LCA, environmental compliance, and product certification (EPDs, standards).

• Prior startup or first-of-a-kind plant experience, with exposure to fast decision-making and technical risk