Bioprocess Engineer in Daresbury

Bioprocess Engineer

Recircle is a UK-based industrial biotechnology company focused on sustainable solutions for the waste producing rubber materials sector.

Recircle has developed technologies that combine biotechnology with polymer chemistry and industrial process engineering to allow waste rubber to be reprocessed into high-quality materials for re-use in new rubber goods, creating a true circular economy solution for the world’s rubber waste.

Recircle is currently seeking to hire an experienced bioprocess engineer to join the company and help with the industrialisation of a unique bacterial bioprocess.

The candidate will work closely with Recircle’s biotechnology and rubber materials teams at the company’s R&D centre at Sci-Tech Daresbury (Warrington area, UK) and external service providers across the UK and Europe to refine the performance and operating parameters of the process across the research and the scale up environment.

The successful candidate will be a dynamic self-starter that shares our company values and aspiration for a world without waste.

Key responsibilities

• Perform day-to-day bioprocess development work across laboratory and pilot-scale environments
• Design, operate, and optimise bacterial propagation and recombinant enzyme production processes (E. coli and other hosts) in bioreactors, including batch and fed-batch fermentation strategies.
• Develop, optimise and operate processing steps involving the application of enzymes to rubber materials, in batch and continuous systems and the subsequent downstream separation and recovery of products.
• Characterise, monitor, and optimise key bioprocess parameters (e. g. k La, oxygen transfer and uptake rates, mixing, p H, dissolved oxygen, and feeding strategies).
• Collect, structure, and analyse the engineering data required to inform full scale-up activities, including mass and energy balances, reaction kinetics, and scale-up correlations.
• Support technology transfer of processes to external scale-up partners and service providers.
• Work closely with the biotechnology team to translate molecular biology and biochemistry insights into robust propagation and scale-up strategies.
• Support development of experimental plans and their execution
• Keep daily records of laboratory activities
• Undertake any necessary training and development

Key experience and qualifications

• Degree (MSc or Ph D) in Bioprocess Engineering, Biochemical Engineering, Chemical Engineering with a biotechnology focus, or a related field.
• Hands-on experience of bacterial propagation (E. coli or similar) in bioreactors using batch and fed-batch strategies, from bench to pilot scale, including recombinant systems involving induction, enzyme expression, and purification.
• Practical experience of downstream processing unit operations such as solid–liquid separation, filtration, centrifugation, washing, solvent processes and product recovery.
• Strong grasp of the fundamentals of biochemistry, including metabolism and how biological systems operate, carried through from propagation into downstream processing, with competence in molecular biology as it applies to propagation, induction systems and scale-up.
• Solid grounding in bioprocess engineering parameters and their measurement, including k La, oxygen transfer rate, power input, and mixing characteristics.
• Proven ability to design experiments and generate engineering-grade data sets to inform process design at scale.
• Ability to analyse and interpret complex experimental data using statistical and computational tools.
• Strong documentation practices
• Effective communication and teamwork skills, with experience in multidisciplinary project environments.

Desirable experience

• Experience of enzymatic processes applied to solid substrates such as polymers, biomass, or rubber.
• Experience working with external pilot plants, CDMOs, or other scale-up facilities.
• Familiarity with Design of Experiments (Do E) and statistical process analysis tools.
• Familiarity with ATEX rated operations

Benefits

• Strong focus on innovation and a vibrant community of scientists from various educational and cultural backgrounds.
• Private healthcare.
• Enhanced Pension Scheme options after 12 months service.
• 25 days holiday plus Bank Holidays.
• Cycle to work scheme.

Remuneration

• A competitive market salary will be offered to the successful candidate.