Process Chemist in Warrington

LanthaGen Bio is a biotech startup building biotechnologies for selective metal binding and recovery from industrial waste streams, including electronic waste and metallurgical residues. Our Process Chemist will own the chemistry that sits either side of our protein-based capture step: leaching complex mixed-metal waste streams with a range of lixiviants, and downstream processing to convert recovered metals into pure oxides, nanoparticles, and functionalised products built to customer requirements. This is a highly hands-on role, split approximately 50% leaching and downstream chemistry and 50% downstream processing and product formulation.

Salary: £38,000 per annum (fixed term, 12 months initially, with extension subject to further funding), within a salary band of £38,000–£42,000, with progression subject to annual project continuation and performance review.

Location: Onsite; Central Manchester. Role will be largely onsite.

Working Hours: Full time: 32 hours Monday–Friday; It is not a compressed-hours role and is designed to support accessible working patterns, increase productivity, and promote work life balance.

Annual Leave: You are entitled to 25 working days paid annual leave per leave year (equivalent to five weeks flexible leave) + paid leave for UK bank holidays on your normal working days/paid leave during the Company’s Christmas closure.

Benefits:

• 3 months full pay maternity/paternity/shared parental leave.
• Fully paid volunteer day with local charity.
• Paid leave on your birthday.
• £500 learning and development budget for independent online courses, conference attendance, etc.

What You Will Do:

Leaching & Downstream Chemistry (≈50%):

• Develop and optimise dissolution routes for industrial residues, metallurgical by-products and complex mixed solid matrices.
• Optimise leaching parameters for metal yield and selectivity.
• Condition and characterise metal-bearing liquors using ICP-OES/MS, titration, and pH/redox control.
• Develop biologically compatible leachates and liquors suitable for downstream protein-based capture.
• Own safe handling, storage, and disposal of strong acids, oxidants, and leachate waste streams, with COSHH assessments and SOPs for each process step.
• Contribute to an accessible lab design that fosters an inclusive and diverse team.

Downstream Processing & Product Formulation (≈50%):

• Develop downstream processing routes from loaded eluates to finished products, including high-purity metal oxides, metal and metal-oxide nanoparticles, and functionalised, application-specific products.
• Run precipitation, reduction, solvent exchange, calcination, purification, and drying steps, plus particle synthesis and functionalisation.
• Deliver material to customer requirements on purity, particle size, morphology, and surface chemistry, with supporting analytical data.
• Work closely with biochemists to integrate biological capture and elution into the process flow.
• Translate lab-scale chemistry toward scalable, low-toxicity processes, tracked with mass balances, yields, and cost per kilogram.

Technical Skills Required from Day 1:

• Strong wet-lab chemistry background with hands-on handling of strong acids and hazardous materials.
• Practical experience of metal dissolution, leaching, or hydrometallurgical processing.
• Practical experience with concentrated acids, oxidants and corrosives; metal salts and metal solutions; and solvents and flammables.
• Inorganic synthesis and purification (precipitation, filtration, calcination, or equivalent).
• Strong experimental discipline, documentation, and safe working practice (COSHH, risk assessments, SOPs).
• Hydrometallurgy, refining, or metal recovery process experience.
• Nanoparticle synthesis, functionalisation, or materials characterisation (XRD, SEM/TEM, DLS, BET).
• Process optimisation, scale-up, or techno-economic assessment.
• Experience working alongside biological or biochemical labs.
• Experience of early-stage startup or fast-moving R&D environments.

Skills Developed in Role:

• Development of end-to-end chemical and biohydrometallurgical workflows for extracting metals of interest from waste, as directed by the CSO/CTO.
• Integration of protein-based capture and elution chemistry into a continuous process flow.
• Design and specification of functionalised nanoparticle and metal-oxide products against customer specifications.
• Techno-economic modelling of recovery routes, including mass balance, yield and cost-per-kilogram analysis.
• Contribution to grant applications, IP filings and technical due diligence.
• Development of accessible, inclusive laboratory design and process safety culture.

What success looks like (first 3–6 months in the job):

• Reproducible leaching protocols established for key waste feedstocks, with quantified metal recoveries.
• Characterised, biologically compatible metal liquors supporting downstream protein capture.
• A working downstream route demonstrated from loaded eluate to a purified oxide or nanoparticle product.
• Clear SOPs, mass balances, and safety documentation in place across every process step.
• Smooth integration between process chemistry and bioprocess R&D.

Interview Process:

• Stage 1: Teams call to assess CV and skill fit for the role.
• Stage 2: Practical/process discussion and scenario-based leaching and downstream processing planning exercise, presented to the leadership team on site.

Experience needed:

• MChem/MSci in Chemistry with 3–5 years hands-on laboratory experience, or a PhD in Chemistry or a related field with 1–3 years industry experience.
• Experience must include practical wet-lab chemical work with acids and metals, and ownership of safe working practice.

Additional: This role is 12 months initially, with extension subject to further funding and satisfactory performance.

Equalities and Values Statement: LanthaGen Bio is committed to an inclusive, respectful, and safe workplace. We do not tolerate discrimination, harassment, or exclusion on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief, age, or any other characteristic protected under UK law. We respect that individuals may hold a wide range of personal, cultural, religious, or philosophical beliefs. However, all employees are expected to act professionally and respectfully at work. Behaviour that creates a hostile, intimidating, or exclusionary environment is not acceptable, regardless of personal belief or intent. These expectations apply to all work-related interactions, including communications, meetings, and events. LanthaGen Bio complies fully with the Equality Act 2010 and relevant UK employment law.