400 employees
100 patented solutions
10 locations globally

Materials Science Manager

Salary Up to £70,000.00 per annum, depending on experience
Location Skelmersdale, UK
Mergefield Title {Mergefield Value}
Mergefield Title {Mergefield Value}

This is a Permanent, Full Time vacancy that will close in {x} days at {xx:xx} BST.

The vacancy

The Materials Science Manager oversees the development and implementation of advanced material technologies to drive innovation and operational excellence. This role requires the provision of technical leadership across multiple business areas—including production, engineering, sales, operations, and purchasing—while managing and mentoring a team of materials science professionals.

Responsibilities:

Leadership and Team Management

  • Supervise, mentor, and manage the day-to-day activities of the Materials Science team.
  • Develop team members' technical and professional skills through coaching and support.
  • Set annual performance targets and ensure alignment with business objectives

Technical Expertise

  • Lead materials science initiatives to support engineering, production, and commercial projects.
  • Drive the development and implementation of new material technologies to meet customer and business needs.
  • Apply current materials science knowledge and analyse new data to inform business decisions.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

  • Serve as a key technical advisor across the business, communicating material science expertise and best practices.
  • Build and maintain external networks with suppliers, customers, and industry partners to gain technical and commercial insights.
  • Support continuous improvement projects, focusing on efficiency gains and waste reduction.
  • Actively collaborate with wider Group technical teams on sharing of knowledge, best practice and cross-group development projects.

Strategic Initiatives

  • Deliver on strategic objectives related to materials science and ensure adherence to company policies and regulations.
  • Evaluate new materials and formulations for application-specific requirements.
  • Conduct root cause analysis and material troubleshooting to address production challenges.

Main Duties:

  • Design and execute material qualification programs for customer-specific applications.
  • Analyse experimental data to determine material properties and recommend improvements.
  • Leverage tools such as Six Sigma for data analysis and continuous improvement initiatives.
  • Collaborate with suppliers, universities, and technology partners on materials development projects.
  • Validate material suitability for manufacturing through experimentation and testing.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

  • Strong leadership and team management skills, with experience mentoring technical staff.
  • Technical expertise in polymer and composite systems, including mechanical property analysis.
  • Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to develop innovative technical solutions.
  • Effective communicator across technical and managerial audiences, with experience delivering presentations.
  • Customer-focused mindset, ensuring high satisfaction in technical and commercial interactions.

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor's degree or higher in Chemistry, Materials Science, Polymers, or a related field.
  • Six Sigma/Lean training, preferred

Experience Of:

  • At least 3 years of hands-on experience working with polymer, thermoset, thermoplastic, or rubber materials.
  • Proven success in managing multiple projects simultaneously while delivering measurable results.
  • Familiarity with relevant industry standards and materials regulations.

Pay & Benefits

  • Annual salary of up to £70,000. DOE
  • 24 days annual leave + Bank Holidays
  • Company Bonus Scheme
  • Life Assurance Scheme of 4x annual salary

AIS is a global leader in the engineering, manufacture and application of insulation and passive fire protection systems, as well as buoyancy and SURF (subsea, umbilicals, risers and flowlines) products. Our advanced materials deliver mission-critical solutions for the energy, industrial, automotive, chemical and marine sectors.

Our vision

Our vision is to be globally recognised as the most technically advanced provider of fire protection, insulation and marine products, working closley with customers to deliver innovative, effective and sustainable solutions.

Our purpose is to make the world a safer place by protecting life, infastructure and vital assets on land and sea.

Our mission is to harness our skills and knowledge to diversify and grow, combining bold thinking and world class expertise to create a range of products with strong appeal for individual markets, while forming part of an integrated family of solutions.

Who we are

AIS is a global leader in the engineering, manufacture and application of insulation and passive fire protection systems, as well as buoyancy and SURF (subsea, umbilicals, risers and flowlines) products. Our products deliver mission-critical solutions for the energy, industrial, automotive, chemical and marine sectors.

Above all, we are driven by our commitment to meeting our clients’ unique and evolving needs. That’s why we invest 10% of our revenue into R&D year on year: to ensure that we are always a world-class authority when it comes to industry insight and innovation.

We are experts in the manufacture and application of specialised technical coatings - including our syntactic phenolic resin-based foam thermal insulation materials.

From our popular off-the-shelf products to bespoke all-in-one packages, we provide high-performance innovations for the world’s most challenging environments. From design and build to installation and maintenance, our clients count on us to deliver best-in-class service - and systems that perform, whatever the conditions.

Find out more

Our values

We are responsible.
We use our influence wisely. We own our actions and are answerable for them.

We are perceptive.
we bring our experience and expertise to bear, always perceptive in spotting the right opportunities and then making them count.

We are candid.
We are open and straight-forward in our dealings with customers and amongst ourselves. We create honest relationships.

We are fearless.
There are no old paths to new directions. We believe in innovation and are fearless in our approach to problem solving.

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