Formulation Scientist in City of London

We’re partnered with an early-stage platform biotech startup emerging from stealth, backed by leading venture capital investors. The company is building AI-driven “self-driving laboratories” designed to transform how drug products are developed. Their platform combines robotics, automation, and machine learning to explore vast formulation spaces, automatically design and run experiments, and continuously learn from the results. By replacing traditional trial-and-error experimentation with high-throughput automated workflows, they aim to reduce formulation development timelines from months to days while unlocking medicines that were previously too complex to develop. Operating at the intersection of biotech, robotics, and AI, the team is building the next generation of laboratory infrastructure to accelerate pharmaceutical innovation. This is a rare opportunity to shape how an AI-powered formulation platform is applied to real drug development challenges. You will be a scientific anchor: defining what gets tested, how it gets measured, and what the results mean, in close partnership with data scientists and automation engineers.

Responsibilities

• Design and execute formulation studies for biologics (mAbs, proteins, peptides+).
• Pioneer new formulation development technologies.
• Define experimental conditions for optimisation, framing scientific problems so their ML platform can learn from them effectively.
• Develop and apply analytical methods to assess critical quality attributes.
• Develop new accelerated characterisation methods suited to high-throughput screening.
• Design protocols for biologic formulation automation, with a focus on robustness and traceability.
• Work with their Automation team to scale methods onto robotic platforms and with Engineering to ensure data is captured cleanly and in structured formats.

Requirements

• Advanced degree PhD/ MSc with industry experience in pharmaceutics, biopharmaceutics, or formulation science, with a focus on biologics.
• Hands-on experience with excipient selection, protein stability mechanisms, and formulation assessment for biologics.
• Practical command of characterisation techniques.
• Comfortable interpreting analytical data and making formulation decisions at startup pace, balancing scientific rigour with speed.
• Clear communicator who can work across scientific and engineering disciplines.

Desirable

• Experience with high-throughput experimentation or automated liquid handling platforms (e.g., Hamilton, Tecan, Opentrons).
• Python or scripting skills for data analysis and visualisation.
• Experience working with or developing ML models.
• Familiarity with robotic workflows or automation-friendly SOP design.
• Background in early-phase drug product development or CMC.

Benefits

• Competitive base salary alongside a meaningful equity package, giving you the opportunity to share in the company’s long-term success.
• The chance to have real autonomy and impact within an early-stage startup, helping shape both the scientific direction and the development of the platform.
• Direct exposure to founders and the C-suite, with the opportunity to influence strategy and decision-making as the company scales.
• A beautiful, collaborative lab and working space in the heart of Central London, designed to bring scientists, engineers, and data teams together.
• Hybrid flexibility, balancing hands-on lab work with the ability to work remotely where appropriate.

Interested? Apply and we will be in touch!