Research Scientist - Applied Green Chemistry (R&D Lab)

About Plinius Labs

Plinius Labs is a mission-driven scale-up turning local agricultural and foodtech side-streams into high-value ingredients for cosmetics and food, replacing fossil- and resource-intensive inputs with sustainable green chemistry. We run on hands-on craftsmanship and short decision loops, giving scientists ownership of their work.

The role

We’re looking for a

hands-on Research Scientist

who is, above all,

driven to do science

,

has a deep curiosity and the persistence to crack application-oriented problems at the lab bench

. This is a role for a builder: your ambition is to investigate, develop, and prove what works and to grow with the company as it scales, becoming one of the people our Chief Scientific Officer can lean on. The work spans both lab and pilot scale: alongside bench research you’ll help build and run the pilot installation for our AMPLE process, acting as the liaison who carries developments from lab to pilot and feeds pilot learnings back to the lab. In practice, you’ll turn biomass into bio-based ingredients, build the intellectual property and deliver analytical services to specialised customers.

Where you fit

You’ll report to the CSO and work closely with our extraction specialist, supporting the wider lab and pilot team as the connection point between bench and pilot.

Your impact

• Work side-by-side with our CSO as a dependable scientific right-hand, turning research directions into concrete experimental results
• Develop and validate processes that convert complex natural feedstocks into high-value ingredients
• Help build, run, and troubleshoot the pilot installation for the AMPLE process, taking developments from lab bench to pilot scale
• Act as the liaison between lab and pilot: feed pilot results into lab development and translate validated lab work into reliable pilot operation
• Build robust, reproducible protocols and analytical methods that hold up to customer timelines and scale-up
• Generate the data, insights and know-how that become our patents and proprietary processes
• Deliver high-end analytical and method-development work as a service to third-party clients
• Run experimental work with your own hands and a problem-solver’s instinct, building, fixing and improvising lab set-ups as the work demands

What you bring

• A Master’s or Bachelor’s degree in chemistry or industrial chemistry (or a closely related field such as biochemistry or chemical engineering)
• A genuine drive to do research:

full focus on the scientific problem and the satisfaction of solving it, rather than an ambition toward management

• Strongly practical, “handy” capabilities: you’re comfortable getting things working at the bench yourself and enjoy the craft of experimental work
• Comfortable moving between lab and pilot scale and keen to see processes work at real scale (hands-on pilot experience a plus)
• Hands-on experience with complex natural feedstocks (a strong plus)
• Solid command of GC, HPLC, UV-Vis and IR, with an appetite for custom method development
• An organised, proactive style suited to shifting priorities, clear documentation and consistent follow-through

What you can expect

• An environment where you own your scientific work end to end
• A path from supporting the CSO toward shaping our IP and service offering yourself
• Work that goes well beyond routine analysis, with visible impact for our customers

Apply via LinkedIn (Easy Apply) or via our website at Careers \| Plinius Labs - We have a natural chemistry

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