Research Scientist, Surface Technologies

About the Role:

Working in the Advanced Development team alongside multidisciplinary engineers, chemists, and applications scientists, the Research Scientist, Surface Technologies is responsible for designing, producing, and testing novel surface technology platforms for mass photometry.

The Research Scientist, Surface Technologies will work cross-functionally to translate product requirements into technical solutions and help deliver next generation surface technologies to support the utilisation and diversification of our instruments and consumable products, within existing and new application areas.

Primary responsibilities for this role include:  

• Concepting, designing, fabricating and troubleshooting prototype surface technologies, that work with mass photometry to measure single molecule properties based on the detection of light scattering.
• Provide technical and scientific insight into the development and delivery of new innovative surface technology platforms.
• Functionalise consumable products, including coating, modifying and tuning surface properties, towards specific targets.
• Analyse complex data sets to evaluate instrument, consumable and surface performance.
• Work closely with applications specialists, systems engineers, software developers and external partners to deliver new designs or features and application-specific surface solutions.
• Actively participate in the growth of Refeyn’s IP portfolio and identify patentable IP.
• Keep up to date on the cutting-edge advances in the fields of light microscopy, light scattering and single molecule bio-analytics, as well as surface modification and surface analysis techniques, with a view to offering novel approaches and improvements to our capabilities and technology roadmap.
• Actively participate in the growth and development of the surface technologies team.

We are ideally looking for someone with the following skills and experience:

• MSc or PhD in Chemistry, Materials Science, Biotechnology, or a related field.
• Strong background in materials science, including surface chemistry, surface modification, coatings, and polymer technologies, particularly related to glass substrates/surfaces.
• Practical experience in organic synthesis/purification, coupling chemistry, and immobilisation strategies.
• Knowledge and practical application of surface analysis techniques for measuring surface properties, such as AFM, XPS, water contact angle measurement and light microscopy.
• Experience in designing and testing polymers and coatings.
• Working knowledge and practical application of different coating methods, such as chemical vapour deposition and wet chemical approaches.
• Experience working with and analysing biomolecules, and (bio)interfaces.
• Exceptional problem-solving skills and a creative mind-set.
• Ability to communicate complex scientific ideas.
• Strong data analysis skills in software packages such as Python, Matlab or R highly desirable.
• Working knowledge of regulatory standards, such as ISO 9001, would be advantageous.
• Experience developing surface coatings compatible with single molecule microscopy highly desirable.

 

Why work for Refeyn?

Compensation and core benefits

• We use Radford benchmarking data to ensure we offer competitive salaries for all our roles. 
• Incredible Company bonus scheme 
• 25 days annual leave per year in addition to bank holidays
• Up to 7% employer matched pension contribution
• Private health insurance from day one plus critical illness cover, income protection and life insurance
• Give as You Earn and Cycle to Work salary sacrifice schemes.

Family Friendly Benefits

Refeyn offers a salary sacrifice nursery scheme to UK employees after 3 months, and new parents can benefit from up to 17 weeks fully paid maternity, adoption and shared parental leave, 4 weeks fully paid paternity leave, plus an annual allowance for emergency childcare.

Supporting your Development

All employees receive access to Linkedin Learning which offers thousands of courses to support their personal and professional development. We also run frequent training sessions on both hard and soft skills.

Creating an Engaging Culture

Refeyn supports hybrid working where the role allows and offers flexible start and finish times. We also have a subsidised weekly lunch for onsite employees and a vibrant social calendar which includes holiday parties and midsummer festivals plus an annual team budget for managers to plan team-building activities.

Values-Led 

Refeyn is committed to celebrating each other’s differences and creating a dynamic, driven and diverse culture where everyone can flourish. We are proud to have been awarded Committed Status by the Inclusive Employers Standard in 2024 and are working hard to create a safe and empowering environment for all.

We firmly believe that there is great strength in building teams with different voices, experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds so that we can continue to share the team workload and enable our customers to succeed, and we welcome applicants from all sections of society to join us on our mission to transform analytical workflows using the power of light.