Analytical Chemist in London

Company Description

DyeRecycle is a UK-based textile waste decontamination company that turns real-world waste into high-performing materials for the textile industry. Using innovative green chemistry, the company separates clean fibers from dyes and pigments, enabling the recovery of high-quality, spin-ready textiles from previously unrecyclable waste streams. Team members collaborate at the intersection of chemistry, materials science, and circular economy solutions to advance scalable, climate-conscious innovation.

Role Description

As an Analytical Chemist at DyeRecycle, you will work full time on-site in Greater London, supporting the development and optimization of our green chemistry processes. You will perform routine and advanced analytical testing on fibers, dyes, and process streams using techniques such as chromatography, spectroscopy, and wet chemistry methods. This is a single, high-value role that owns the analytical backbone of our technology and the chemical-recycling validation loop that sits on top of it.

You will do three things that today are split across our senior team or left to external partners:

• Run our core solvent-process experiments rigorously, decolourisation, decontamination, separation, and bring real analytical discipline to the data they generate.
• Prove, at the bench, that our decoloured and decontaminated PET depolymerises to clean monomers and repolymerises back to PET.
• Own the product specifications we hand to recyclers, so our outputs are characterised, documented, and defensible to customers and investors.

We move fast and test thoroughly. We want someone eager to learn, who takes ownership and grows their remit as we scale.

What you will do

• Core solvent-process experiments
  • Design and run decontamination experiments on polyester-rich textile waste using various post-consumer textile waste streams obtained from global partners.
  • Run polycotton separation trials, separating polyester from cotton in blended fabrics - across diverse real-world feedstocks.
  • Further develop and validate PFAS removal from textile feedstocks.
  • Develop and validate solvent recovery and regeneration, characterising solvent quality across cycles.
• Depolymerisation & regular repolymerisation (bench validation)
  • Formulate and run PET chemical recycling on our decoloured PET fibre: catalyst selection, EG/PET ratios, reaction conditions, and monomer purification.
  • Run regular-grade repolymerisation of purified monomers back to PET to demonstrate the chemistry closes - bench scale, not fibre-grade.
  • Troubleshoot interference from waste contamination and define pre-treatment specifications.
• Analytical characterisation & product specs
  • Own the analytical backbone for the full chain: IV, GPC/SEC, thermal (DSC/TGA), FTIR, colour, and the contamination analytics that matter (e.g. HPLC, LC-MS/MS, NMR, Karl-Fischer, ICP-MS).
  • Define, own, and maintain the product specifications for our chemical-recycling outputs - the clean flake and monomer we hand to recyclers - and characterise every output against them.
  • Feed results back into our decontamination and separation spec; this feedback loop is a core part of the role.
• Data, materials stewardship & IP
  • Own the feedstock inventory and the sample registry - every incoming stream, sample, and output logged, labelled, and traceable.
  • Keep detailed lab-notebook to the standard required for patent prosecution and trade-secret protection.
  • Generate technical data for customer POC reports, investor reporting, and grant applications (Innovate UK, Horizon Europe).

Your first 90 days

Two concrete objectives, both with a clear pass/fail:

• Stand up the analytical backbone — the methods and records that let us characterise decolourisation, decontamination, and polymer quality consistently and defensibly.
• Close the bench loop on one feedstock — take one real decoloured PET stream through glycolysis to clean BHET and a regular-grade repolymerisation, characterised end to end, with the product spec written up.

We will agree the exact feedstock and targets with you in week one. This gives you real ownership from day one, and gives both of us an early, honest read on fit.

What we are looking for

• Essential
  • PhD or MSc in analytical chemistry, polymer chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, or a closely related discipline.
  • Strong hands‑on analytical capability: able to develop, validate, and run methods and interpret the results independently - IV, GPC/SEC, thermal analysis (DSC/TGA), FTIR, and chromatographic / spectroscopic techniques.
  • Solid grounding in polymer characterisation and a working understanding of polymer molecular weight, IV, and degradation - enough to run and interpret depolymerisation and repolymerisation reactions, not only characterise them.
  • Comfortable at the bench running reactions, not only at the instrument.
  • Strong experimental design (DoE) and the judgement to turn results into decisions.
  • Meticulous record‑keeping and data management - you are generating IP‑critical data and the specs customers rely on.
  • Clear communicator: able to write SOPs, specs, and technical reports, and translate findings for non‑technical audiences.
• Desirable
  • Hands‑on experience with PET glycolysis / chemical depolymerisation, BHET chemistry, or melt polycondensation.
  • Experience defining or owning product specifications and quality methods.
  • Prior work with solvent‑based processes.
  • Experience with textile or post‑consumer / post‑industrial waste feedstocks and their contamination.
  • 2–3 years of R&D in industry or a high‑growth startup, with work linked to commercial decisions.
  • Familiarity with LCA methodology, or with contributing to patents and trade secrets.

What we offer

• Competitive London‑based Salary assessed based on experience.
• Access to an external PET‑recycling advisor to set up and pressure‑test the depoly/repoly work.
• Direct collaboration with Professor Jason Hallett (CSO), one of the world's leading researchers in sustainable solvent systems, and our senior R&D team.
• Access to world‑class facilities at Imperial College London.
• Ownership of a visible, central workstream whose results go straight to customers and investors - and genuine room to expand your remit as we scale.
• Active commercial partnerships meaning your science has immediate real‑world application.
• Generous pension contribution, 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, and flexible working within the demands of a lab‑based role.