
Open positions
Head of Lab Operations
About the role
You’ll be the operational backbone of Amphiform’s UK lab, taking an empty room to a fully-functional ALD/MLD facility running production-grade nano-catalyst synthesis.
What you’ll do
- Lead the buildout and commissioning of our Oxford lab, including ALD systems (Beneq TFS 200, Picosun R-200 and Arradiance units) and supporting equipment
- Establish SOPs, safety protocols, and quality systems for catalyst synthesis and characterisation
- Manage equipment suppliers, service contracts, and planning
- Lab budget and inventory
What we’re looking for
- Experience operating an academic or industrial research lab, ideally in materials or catalysis
- Hands-on experience with ALD, CVD, or related thin-film deposition techniques
Nice to have
- Background in fuel cells, electrolysis, or electrochemistry
- PhD in chemistry, materials science, or chemical engineering
- Prior startup experience
Research Chemist
About the role
Designing and running the synthesis for main materials. Mainly organic synthesis, but simple inorganic will be present. You’ll work directly with the founding team.
What you’ll do
- Design and execute ALD/MLD synthesis pipeline for organic/inorganic layered structures
- Develop and run characterisations
- Build the reporting infrastructure for closed-loop materials discovery pipeline
- Iterate on catalyst architectures targeting improved mass activity at reduced PGM loading
- Document protocols and contribute to internal application notes and IP filings
What we’re looking for
- Degree in chemistry, materials science, or a closely adjacent field
- Strong fundamentals in organic synthesis or electrocatalysis
- Comfort with experimental design and statistical analysis
Nice to have
- PhD in chemistry, materials science, or a closely adjacent field
- Hands-on experience with ALD, CVD, or related vapour-phase synthesis techniques
- Direct experience with PEM fuel cell or electrolyser MEA fabrication and testing
- Familiarity with DFT or other computational chemistry workflows
- Prior experience in industrial R&D or a deep tech startup
- Track record of high-quality publications in the relevant area
ML for Material Science Researcher
About the role
You’ll build the machine learning systems that close the loop between simulation, synthesis, and measurement at Amphiform. You’ll own this from day one.
What you’ll do
- Design and build active learning pipelines that propose synthesis candidates from prior experimental and DFT data
- Develop models for catalyst performance: composition, geometry, electronic structure → activity
- Work on the data platform
- Work directly with our chemists
What we’re looking for
- Strong ML fundamentals and production engineering skills
- Experience applying ML to scientific or physical-system data (materials, chemistry, biology, physics)
Nice to have
- Background in computational chemistry, DFT, or molecular dynamics
- Publications in ML for materials/chemistry venues (NeurIPS, ICML, npj Comp Mat, Nature Comp Sci)
- Prior startup experience
Lab Technicians
About the role
You’ll be working with ALD systems, organic synthesis, characterisation tools and synthesis workflows running reliably day-to-day. You’ll work alongside our research chemists and report to the Head of Lab Operations.
What you’ll do
- Operate and maintain ALD/MLD systems (Beneq TFS 200, Picosun R-200) for routine deposition runs
- Prepare substrates, precursors, and samples
- Run standard characterisation workflows: XRD, SEM, BET, electrochemical testing
- Maintain equipment calibration, consumables, and lab inventory
- Follow and help refine SOPs, safety protocols, and quality systems
- Flag anomalies early
What we’re looking for
- Hands-on experience in a chemistry, materials, or semiconductor lab
- BSc in chemistry, materials science, or a related discipline (or equivalent practical experience)
- Meticulous, methodical, and genuinely cares about the quality of their work
- Comfortable with vacuum systems, gas handling, and standard lab safety practices
- Clear written communication
Very nice to have
- Direct experience with ALD, CVD, sputtering, or other vapour-phase deposition
- Familiarity with electrochemical testing or fuel cell MEA fabrication
- Experience commissioning new equipment from scratch
Lab Manager
About the role
You’ll be the person who keeps the science running on time and on budget. You’ll work closely with our Head of Lab Operations on strategy and budget, and lead our technicians day-to-day.
What you’ll do
- Own day-to-day lab operations: scheduling, throughput, equipment uptime, consumables
- Run procurement and supplier relationships for consumables, gases, and routine maintenance
- Coordinate with research scientists to plan synthesis and characterisation campaigns
- Accurate records
What we’re looking for
- Experience in a research or production lab
- BSc or higher in chemistry, materials science, chemical engineering, or related
- Strong organisational skills
Nice to have
- Experience setting up a new lab or scaling an existing one through significant headcount growth
- Background in electrochemistry, fuel cells, or catalysis
- Familiarity with ISO 9001, GLP, or other formal quality frameworks
- Prior startup experience
