Job Description
About Oxford Medical Products
Oxford Medical Products is a UK-based medical device company dedicated to developing innovative solutions that address significant unmet clinical needs. OMP have developed a gastro-retentive hydrogel being used across a number of clinical indications. Our flagship programme, Sirona, is a breakthrough medical device targeting treatment of obesity and overweight a condition affecting billions of people worldwide. We combine rigorous science with a patient-centred approach to bring safe, effective therapies to market across global healthcare systems. Sirona is now in late clinical development with commercialisation planned for 2027.
This programme is at an exciting inflection point: we are seeking industrial and academic partnerships to accelerate its development. The Principal Scientist will play a central role in shaping its scientific direction and supporting industrial scale up for commercial manufacturing.
Alongside Sirona, we are developing a drug delivery platform with strong potential across multiple therapeutic indications. This platform is currently in the earlier stages of development with multiple licensing discussions ongoing.
Joining Oxford Medical Products means contributing directly to a mission that matters. We are a collaborative, ambitious team that values curiosity, precision, and a shared commitment to improving patient outcomes.
The Role
We are seeking an outstanding Principal Scientist to join our growing R&D team. This is a pivotal scientific leadership role at the interface of chemistry, chemical and biomedical engineering, biomaterials, and pharmaceutical and medicinal sciences. You will work closely with the R&D team to maximise impact, reduce reliance on external resources, and build internal capability across formulation, engineering, and drug delivery science. The successful candidate will act as the subject-matter expert bridging discovery science, process development and commercial manufacturing scale up for these novel materials.
Breadth of expertise is valued, but we equally welcome applications from exceptional scientists with deep knowledge in any of the core domains. We value both character and technical expertise.
Areas of Focus
• Expertise in polymer science and polymer chemistry, with deep understanding of polymerisation mechanisms, structure–property relationships, rheology, and material performance.
• Proven experience translating lab-scale polymer processes into pilot and commercial manufacturing, with demonstrated success in process scale-up and industrial implementation.
• Contributing to engineering-adjacent activities such as mould design and 3D printing.
• Strong knowledge of chemical engineering principles including reaction engineering, heat and mass transfer, mixing dynamics, and commercial scale dependencies.
• Extensive hands-on experience with polymer characterisation and analytical techniques
• Experience designing and executing process optimisation strategies, including Design of Experiments, root cause analysis, and statistical process control.
• Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot complex manufacturing and scale-up challenges, including yield loss, variability, fouling, purification bottlenecks, and material inconsistency.
• Knowledge of industrial manufacturing environments, including batch processing, continuous processing, and external manufacturing partnerships.
• Working knowledge of quality and regulatory frameworks relevant to advanced materials, ISO13485, GLP and GMP
• Excellent cross-functional leadership skills, with the ability to work effectively across R&D, manufacturing, quality, regulatory, and commercial teams.
• Strong project leadership and stakeholder management skills, with experience driving programmes from development through industrial transfer.
Key Responsibilities
Scientific Leadership & Research
• Lead advanced research programmes, demonstrating technical mastery, creativity, and scientific leadership across one or more fields — biomaterials, scale up, chemical and biomedical engineering
• Lead and contribute to our core programme: the standalone hydrogel-based medical device for obesity and also the hydrogel-based drug delivery system.
• Lead a small R&D team with strong project-management skills, delivering reliably to agreed timelines.
• Propose, design, and lead new research projects that support the strategic agenda and address capability gaps. Analyse complex datasets rigorously, connecting disparate findings to reach sound scientific conclusions and set experimental direction.
• Present and pitch effectively, making the scientific case in industrial and academic partnership discussions.
• Carry out laboratory work safely and in line with defined operating conditions and protocols.
• Collaborate with executive, manufacturing, quality, and regulatory teams to ensure formulation and process outputs meet applicable standards.
Partnership & External Engagement
• Play a central role in preparing technical materials to support ongoing partnership discussions for the preclinical drug delivery programme, including data packages, presentations, and scientific briefings.
• Identify and propose external collaborations, academic partnerships, and strategic alliances to expand organisational capability and accelerate development programmes.
• Represent the organisation externally through publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals, patents, and presentations at international conferences.
• Mentor and develop colleagues in sciences and methodologies, fostering a culture of scientific excellence.
Quality, Safety & Compliance
• Act as Health & Safety representative for the development laboratory, ensuring all activities comply with relevant legislation, company SOPs, and applicable regulatory requirements (ISO 9001, ISO 13485, GxP).
• Ensure experimental work is documented to the highest standards, with complete, accurate, and audit-ready records maintained throughout.
• Complete assigned quality and training actions in a timely manner and maintain up-to-date training records.
Person Specification
You do not need to cover all areas — we value intellectual breadth and the ability to collaborate effectively across disciplines.
Must Have
PhD in chemistry, pharmaceutical sciences, biomaterials, chemical engineering, biomedical engineering and >5 years industry experience or a closely related discipline is strongly preferred. Candidates with a Master’s or Bachelor’s degree combined with substantial +10 years, demonstrable industry experience at an equivalent level will be considered.
• Strong project-management skills and a clear commitment to project delivery. Experience mentoring junior scientists or leading small scientific teams.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to connect complex data and drive scientific decision-making.
• Proven track record of scientific contribution evidenced by peer-reviewed publications, patents, internal reports, or equivalent industry output.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
What We Offer
We are committed to investing in our people and creating an environment where talented individuals can thrive. In return for your commitment and expertise, we offer:
• Competitive salary commensurate with experience and seniority
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Contributory pension scheme
• Life assurance
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
• Structured training and development opportunities, including conference attendance and publication support
• A central role in shaping the scientific and strategic direction of a high-growth, mission-driven medical device company at an exciting stage of development
• A collaborative, inclusive culture with real opportunities to grow your career and scientific impact