Current Vacancies

Industrial Scientist

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Company Overview

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CuanTec is an innovative small company that processes marine waste into high-value polymers such as chitin and chitosan.  CuanTec’s technology maintains the full chain length of this amazing biopolymer while providing good quality of chitin and chitosan while enabling a wide range of applications.

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CuanTec’s products include chitosan flakes for biomedical applications as well as chitosan-based solutions for water treatment processes.

Following a significant new investment from Hive Energy and Scottish Enterprise, we are building our first commercial-scale biobased extraction facility at Glenrothes in Scotland. At the same time, we are strengthening our R&D team to develop commercial chitosan-based products and offer diverse applications.

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What we're looking for:

Key responsibilities:

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• Support the Research and Development team in undertaking projects as per client specifications, including meeting with clients, developing and optimising chitosan manufacture and performance of chitosan-based products.

• Contributed to the development of a Quality Management System aligned with Good Laboratory Practice (GLP), Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and regulatory standards such as writing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Risk Assessments (RAs) and safety data sheets (SDS).

• Prepare technical reports and deliver presentations to communicate test results and new developments to company managers and customers.

• Provided technical consultation to customers on chitosan and chitosan-based products, providing solutions to technical requirements.

• Maintained accurate records of sample analyses and equipment calibrations in compliance with good laboratory and quality standards.

• Managed laboratory inventory and organised retention samples to ensure traceability and regulatory compliance.

• Maintenance and cleaning of Lab and Lab areas.

• Contacting external suppliers for orders.

• Subcontracting external Labs for testing.

• Environmental monitoring.

• In process batch testing.

 

Essential qualifications and skills:

 

• Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, chemistry, material science or related subjects. Experience with chitosan-based materials will be distinctly advantageous.

• Strong knowledge of biopolymers, chemical process optimisation, development & optimisation of flocculants and coagulants for water treatment applications.

• Hands-on experience in analytical equipment such as rotational viscometer, FTIR, Thermogravimetric analyser (TGA) and UV-vis spectrophotometer (Nanodrop)

• Hands-on experience in wet lab skills (pipetting, titrations, analytical balance, preparation of solutions).

• Effective communication skills to present technical information to stakeholders and collaborate with external partners (customers, consultants, universities, and project collaborations).

• Ability to design experiments, take measurements, perform data analysis and interpret results.

 

Desirable skills and experience:

 

• Strong knowledge and experience in wastewater treatment processes

• Experience in the synthesis of chitosan derivatives

• Strong knowledge in computational fluid dynamics.

• Driving licence (preferable for site visits)

• Experience in scale-up from lab to industrial volumes

 

This role will be based at our facility in Glenrothes, Fife with occasional travel to customer sites. Our compensation package will reflect your experience and level of expertise as well as our benefits which includes pension, life insurance and critical illness cover. 

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To apply, please provide a CV to hr@cuantec.com highlighting your career, focusing on your skills and personal achievements and a cover letter explaining why you are the ideal candidate.