Science and Technology Lead - AI for Chemistry (Digital Olfaction)

Salary Levels £70,000, £90,000, £105,000 (offers calibrated on benchmarked experience levels and assessment against our selection criteria)

Location Kings X, London; Tues - Thurs (3 days) at HQ, Monday + Friday, anywhere

Employment Type Full-time Contract Permanent

About ARIA

ARIA is a new R&D funding agency built to unlock technological breakthroughs that benefit everyone. We fund scientists and engineers to pursue research at the edge of the possible. From climate change to AI, society faces enormous challenges and opportunities that can be uniquely addressed by science and technology. ARIA was created to activate the UK’s world‑class R&D in new ways, so we can meet these head on. Our success is shaped by one question: how will ARIA transform the lives of the UK’s future generations? Whether that’s a life‑changing new technology or a burgeoning new industry, it should be obvious that ARIA played a catalytic role.

Role Summary

As an ARIA Science and Technology Lead, you will have the rare chance to catalyse breakthroughs that could change the world. You'll sit alongside Programme Director Claire Donoghue and their Programme Specialist on ARIA's Hypersensory Intelligence: Olfactory Perception programme. You’ll be exposed to every aspect of the programme's technical management from design through approval, project selection, and delivery. Your impact will extend beyond a single programme; you will play a key role in strengthening the wider Extending Our Perception opportunity space, with a deep, evolving understanding of programmes and projects over time. As Programme Directors join the opportunity space and new programmes are launched, you will surface insights that build on existing ARIA‑funded technologies, accelerate discovery, and turn past lessons into future breakthroughs, maximising impact across the portfolio.

What You’ll Do

• Build a general‑purpose artificial “sense of smell” that matches or exceeds biological performance, transforming how we detect and interpret high‑dimensional chemical signals across health, food, and the environment.
• Review project proposals, grant applications, assess technical milestones, and stay close to the ground on what’s being built and tested by Creator teams.
• Plan, lead, and contribute to technical discussions in project meetings, workshops, and formal reviews, bringing depth, challenge, and direction to every interaction.
• Provide evidence‑based technical insight to the Programme Director and the ARIA team to support high‑quality decisions and sharpen the programme’s strategic direction.
• Confidently communicate complex scientific ideas surrounding the programme to stakeholders, from government and funders to key players across the ecosystem.
• Contribute technical prowess in application areas for robot locomotion (e.g., inspection & maintenance, construction) and other cutting‑edge capabilities within the programme, amplifying its overall effectiveness.
• Identify emerging trends and surface the most promising technologies, people and ideas across the programme and its surrounding opportunity space.
• Co‑author white papers, open calls and technical reviews that articulate the ambition of the programme and set a clear, compelling vision for external communities.
• Work closely with the Programme Specialist and Creator teams to drive project delivery, tracking against ambitious technical milestones, benchmarking progress against the state of the art, and spotting opportunities for research cross‑pollination to sustain momentum.
• Provide continuity to the opportunity space, and maintain a deep understanding of past and present programmes, and Creator projects, to help new Programme Directors build on what has worked, avoid what hasn’t, and leverage existing technologies and insights.

Connecting the Programme to the Ecosystem

• Represent the programme, often on behalf of the Programme Director, at events, workshops and talks.
• Bring together cross‑disciplinary communities working across both AI algorithm development and hardware development.
• Support the broader opportunity space by identifying and developing innovative ways to expand it, bringing in new ideas, talent and opportunities that deliver long‑term value beyond the immediate needs of one programme.
• Build trusted relationships with world‑class researchers, labs and founders working at the forefront of the programme’s focus area, as well as the broader opportunity space.
• Work closely with ARIA’s Activation Partners to ensure Creator teams can access the right tools, platforms and networks to accelerate translation and achieve impact beyond ARIA’s direct reach.

Define and Cultivate ARIA’s Technical Culture

• Collaborate across ARIA on funding models, budgets, tooling and operational mechanisms to support effective, flexible funding and programme delivery.
• Contribute as a member of ARIA’s team of Science and Technology Leads, sharing best practices and learnings between programmes to strengthen ARIA’s overall portfolio of work.
• Identify opportunities to expand the opportunity space and build the connective tissue between adjacent spaces.
• Help build and sustain ARIA’s scientific and operational culture.

Who You Are

Essential Criteria

• First‑hand experience developing AI models for applications in chemistry, with a preference for experiences related to digital olfaction or volatile chemistry.
• Strong understanding of one or more of the following: sensor design, biological systems modelling, analytical chemistry and sample preparation considerations, neuroscience.
• Excellent at grasping and navigating diverse technical projects.
• Excellent at translating complex technical concepts and timelines to diverse stakeholders, effectively bridging gaps between diverse teams and perspectives.
• Willing to ask questions and can rapidly learn and adapt to new scientific areas, comprehending key components of new technical disciplines.
• Can uncover non‑obvious opportunities and risks, connecting teams, ideas and research threads in novel ways that drive adoption and translation.
• Highly adaptable, comfortable with uncertainty and a fast‑paced environment.
• Comprehend and articulate complex concepts clearly and with conviction, think and communicate with structure, and interrogate ideas effectively.

Desirable Criteria

• Worked with advanced chemical sensing arrays, electronic noses (e‑noses) or analytical instruments (e.g., GC‑MS, PTR‑MS).
• Experience working in a high‑performance, applied research setting, in academic or commercial environments (e.g., industry or start‑ups), providing deep context on translating technology for real‑world impact in domains adjacent to the programme (e.g., life sciences, pharma, healthcare, food sciences or beyond).
• Successfully performed technical assignments that require unconventional or novel approaches.
• Skilled in identifying technical bottlenecks, risk analysis and resolution, tracking technical milestones, and reporting on complex technical projects.
• Excel at indirect technical leadership; can build trusted relationships with world‑class Creator teams and use scientific credibility to influence, course‑correct, and push them toward ambitious goals.
• Strong working knowledge of the UK R&D ecosystem.

Qualifications

Scientific qualification, preferably a PhD or other deeper technical experience in AI for science, chemistry or biochemistry, bioengineering.

Benefits

• 27 days annual leave provision, with the option to buy/sell additional days.
• Hybrid working arrangements; 60% in office / 40% at home.
• Supportive environment for learning and development opportunities.
• Enhanced family leave arrangements.
• A free and confidential 24/7 employee assistance programme.
• 2 days of paid volunteer days.
• 5% defined contribution pension scheme with Smart Pension.
• Cycle to Work scheme.
• Excellent office location in Kings X, London.

ARIA adopts a highly considered approach to ethical and social responsibility. If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process, please notify us and we will make every effort to accommodate you. You will be required, as and when necessary, to travel to different locations around the UK and internationally to support projects, depending on the Programme you are designated to.