Surface Engineer, Consumables Oxford

Working in the C onsumables development team, the Surface Engineer, Consumables will play a critical role in translating cutting-edge surface chemistry innovations into robust, scalable, and commercially viable products. Working closely with scientists, engineers, and manufacturing teams, you\'ll help bring next-generation functionalised microscope slides from small-scale prototypes to ready-to-market consumables, enabling single-molecule analysis at scale.

Primary responsibilities for this role include:

• Lead the scale-up of surface functionalisation processes developed in R&D, transforming them into robust, manufacturable solutions for a range of consumable products used in mass photometry.
• Translate customer and application requirements into clear product specifications, test criteria, and performance benchmarks to guide development and ensure market readiness.
• Analyse complex data sets to evaluate instrument, consumable and surface performance.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with scientists, product managers, and R&D engineers to ensure solutions meet product requirements and integrate smoothly into new or existing workflows.
• Support automation and scale-up by selecting materials, defining process parameters, and partnering with suppliers to ensure consistency and quality at production scale.
• Establish and maintain SOPs, QC protocols, and technical documentation aligned with quality management systems such as ISO 9001.
• Contribute to continuous improvement across our consumables platform, helping to drive innovation and reliability in support of emerging applications and markets.

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

• MSc (or BSc with significant experience) in Chemistry, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, or a related field.
• Hands-on experience with surface functionalisation, including coatings, surface modification, or polymer technologies.
• Knowledge of surface analysis techniques (e.g. AFM, XPS, contact angle, microscopy).
• Experience translating scientific or customer requirements into product specifications and test plans.
• Familiarity with scaling surface processes from lab to production, including troubleshooting and optimisation.
• Strong skills in data analysis and interpretation; experience with Python a plus.
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work independently in a multidisciplinary team.
• Excellent communication skills for technical documentation and cross-functional collaboration.
• Understanding of coating methods (e.g. wet chemical, CVD, spin/dip coating) and material selection for production.
• Awareness of quality and regulatory standards (e.g. ISO 9001) is advantageous.
• Experience working with biomolecules or bio-interfaces is a plus.
• Exposure to or experience with single-molecule microscopy or optical biosensors is 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.

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