Key Skills

Job Description

Terms of the role Candidates must be available within eight weeks and work 80% on-site in Delft. We are not able to offer visa sponsorship in the short term. Applications are limited to candidates who already hold Dutch work authorisation or who are eligible for the orientation year permit for recent graduates. Depending on experience, the yearly compensation is €50,000 to €60,000 gross and €20.000 in options, plus 8% holiday allowance and travel reimbursement (an NS Business Card or a car allowance). You can apply through https://akin.bio/careers/chemical-engineer-polymer-scientist. If your application meets the role's stated requirements, you will hear back from us. We aim to reply within two weeks About AKIN AKIN is a Dutch biotech startup developing a novel enzymatic platform for rubber recycling (Kinfinity). We convert end-of-life rubber, including devulcanised rubber feedstock, into high-value chemical products and materials, targeting applications in tyres and industrial rubber goods. The Role We are looking for a chemical engineer or polymer scientist to own the chemistry that happens before and after our enzymes do their work: separation and purification. That means cleaning up real rubber feedstock before the enzymatic step, by removing oils, additives, fillers and metals, and separating and purifying the polymer and oligomer streams that come out of it. This is a hands-on, benchtop role. Most of your week is spent in the lab designing and running experiments, not managing them from a desk. You are the person in the team who understands how these streams behave and how to get a clean, characterised product out of them. We are an early-stage company, and we will give you real ownership. We expect you to spot the next problem and go after it without waiting to be asked. Key Responsibilities Feedstock pre-treatment: developing and optimising pre-wash and decontamination steps for rubber crumb and other rubber feedstocks. Separation and purification: designing and iterating downstream separation and purification at bench scale: extraction, dissolution and precipitation, fractionation, filtration and centrifugation, and solvent selection and recovery. Characterisation: characterising feedstocks, intermediates and products (for example GPC/SEC, FTIR, NMR, TGA/DSC), and closing mass balances. Enzyme interface: working closely with our biocatalysis scientist on how the feedstock and product streams affect enzyme performance. Scale-up: working with our process engineer to translate bench results into scalable process steps. Lab ownership: planning your own experimental work, keeping a rigorous lab record, and reporting clearly to the team and to partners. New methods: bringing in methods from other fields, smarter workarounds and better ways of doing things. We Bring A key technical role in a company tackling a large, unsolved waste problem. Real ownership of your area and a direct line to the founding team. A modern lab and office at Biotech Campus Delft (Planet B.io). A small, flat and international team. A flexible work environment that supports you while also expecting personal accountability. A place where employees are valued regardless of background, beliefs, or identity. You Bring MSc in chemistry, chemical engineering or polymer science with at least 3 years of relevant experience; or a PhD with hands-on separation or purification work, in industry or in the PhD itself. Proven bench experience in separation and purification of polymers or other complex mixtures, owning the experiments rather than only running them. Strong polymer chemistry and characterisation skills. Self-starting and driven. You have examples of work you started yourself and of going beyond the brief, and you get energy from building something new. Comfortable with ambiguity and changing priorities, and direct in how you communicate. You speak up for your area and your results. Fluent English. Dutch or German is advantageous. Advantageous None of these is a strict requirement. Experience with rubber or elastomers Experience with recycled plastics or rubber, or solvent-based recycling (for example dissolution of polyolefins, PS or PVC) Experience removing additives, pigments or fillers from polymer waste Startup or spin-off experience

Core Responsibilities

Develop and optimize rubber feedstock pretreatment, then design and run bench-scale separation and purification processes for polymer and oligomer streams. Characterize materials, close mass balances, collaborate with biocatalysis and process engineering colleagues, and own experimental planning, records, and reporting.

Requirements

Requires an MSc in chemistry, chemical engineering, or polymer science with at least three years of relevant experience, or a PhD with hands-on separation or purification experience. Candidates should have proven bench experience with complex mixtures, strong polymer chemistry and characterization skills, initiative, adaptability, and fluent English; Dutch or German is advantageous.

Benefits

• Stock Options
• Holiday Allowance
• Travel Reimbursement
• NS Business Card
• Car Allowance