Polymers Application Engineer

Job description

What we do Cambrium is a molecular intelligence company engineering advanced materials that outperform. From personal care to textiles, mobility to home care, we design and manufacture materials that deliver real results today and for generations to come. Our platform brings together molecular intelligence and living systems to design and produce enzymes, polymers, and peptides at scale, unlocking performance characteristics that traditional chemistry could never access. Within polymers specifically, we have developed our first base polymer and are now scaling it through partnerships with global leaders across performance materials applications. Our research team is already developing the next generation of grades, and we are now gearing up to bring these products to market and scale our operations across multiple application categories. We are an equal-opportunity employer and value diversity. We consider all applications equally regardless of race, colour, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, or gender identity. We strongly encourage individuals from groups traditionally underrepresented in chemistry and engineering to apply, and we can support with immigration. Please also apply if you don't match the criteria exactly, but still feel like you would be a good fit. Minor mismatches can often discourage great candidates, especially those who belong to minorities, from applying. We believe that potential and grit beat experience, and we want to get to know you beyond your CV. Your role As a Polymers Application Engineer at Cambrium, you will be the senior technical operator across our polymers business. You will be the person who works most closely with our customers, who ensures that technical issues are resolved through coordinated R&D activity, and who owns the documentation backbone that takes a working formulation through to a commercial product. Working directly with the Head of Polymers and alongside our research teams, you will be the technical face of Cambrium in customer meetings and the bridge between commercial demand and laboratory execution. This is a senior individual contributor role. Your leverage will come from technical judgement, organisational rigour, and the ability to represent Cambrium credibly in front of customers and partners. Your Responsibilities Working closely with customers to debug product issues, sitting with their technical teams to diagnose performance challenges and design the experiments that resolve them Ensuring those issues are resolved through coordinated R&D activity, from protocol design through interpretation of results and onward iteration Owning manufacturing quality and the regulatory documentation backbone, including technical data sheets, certificates of analysis, specifications, safety data sheets, and REACH and CLP inputs Collaborating with our business development team to uncover new applications for our polymer technology, acting as the technical co-pilot in commercial conversations and pressure-testing application fit in adjacent markets Building and maintaining strong relationships with customers and partners, ensuring effective communication and technical alignment across long-running development programmes Your profile Degree in polymer engineering, polymer science, or chemical engineering with a clear polymer specialisation, ideally from a programme with a strong practical polymer focus 7-12 years of industry experience in polymer applications development, ideally with time at a major polymers group or in a more applied environment such as a specialty compounder or formulator Hands-on experience across thermoplastic elastomer or engineering polymer systems, with depth in at least one block copolymer or segmented copolymer family (for example thermoplastic polyurethanes, copolyester elastomers, or polyether block amides) and familiarity with both melt and solution-based processing routes Demonstrated track record of owning a customer programme end to end, from the first technical conversation through trials, qualification, and into commercial supply Comfortable as the senior technical voice in a customer meeting, including when results are unfavourable and the path forward is uncertain Strongly organised, with a natural inclination toward documentation, specification management, and the kind of systematic record-keeping that allows a young company to operate to industrial standards Working knowledge of European chemical regulation (REACH, CLP) at the level of a senior application engineer, sufficient to know what to gather and when to escalate A practical, hands-on disposition, comfortable rolling up your sleeves to keep a programme moving and thoughtful about cost and resource use in development work Fluent in English, both written and spoken; German or French an advantage given our footprint Willing to travel approximately 30-40% in the first year to build and maintain relationships with customers and partners across Europe What we offer Employee Stock Options Flexible working hours Learning & Development Programme for all our team members Gym membership Subsidised lunch and impassioned lunch discussions 30 days of individual vacation plus up to 5 all-company holidays between the 25th of December and 1st of January Regular team events Be part of our journey to a future of advanced materials that outperform