Medior/Senior Chemist

Senior Material Scientist/Chemist for R&D on Self-Healing Materials

Company: HEALANT ® (prior: Valence Technologies) Duration: Full-Time, permanent contract

Who we are

HEALANT ® (Valence Technologies) is a material science spin-off of from the University of Brussels (VUB), developing HEALANT®, a cutting-edge self-healing polymer technology. Our goal is to create the next generation of puncture-proof car and bike tires.

We are looking for an experienced (medior / senior) Polymer Chemist / Material Scientist to lead and deepen the chemistry behind HEALANT®, taking our self-healing materials from validated lab technology to robust formulations ready for series production. This role sits at the intersection of polymer chemistry, formulation, and industrial deployment, with direct ownership over the scientific direction of our material platform.

What You'll Work On

• Leading the design, synthesis, and optimization of HEALANT® polymer systems and next-generation chemistries for different tire applications.
• Owning the formulation strategy: defining and refining the recipe space (monomers, prepolymers, fillers, additives, reinforcements) to meet performance and processability targets.
• Developing and validating characterization methodologies: mechanical, thermal, rheological, healing efficiency, ageing, and durability under realistic load and environmental conditions.
• Driving the translation of formulations from lab to pilot and industrial processing, hand-in-hand with our manufacturing partners and our process engineering team.
• Establishing and continuously improving lab protocols, quality control routines, and data management standards.
• Building deep structure-property understanding of our materials and translating it into design rules for the team.
• Acting as a technical interface with industrial partners (tire manufacturers, raw material suppliers, contract manufacturers): providing expertise during co-development, qualification, and trouble-shooting.
• Contributing to IP generation (patents, technical disclosures) and to scientific communication where relevant.
• Mentoring junior team members and helping shape how the R&D function grows.

Who We're Looking For

• Master's or PhD in Chemistry, Polymer Science, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering (or similar).
• 4 to 8 years of relevant experience in polymer R&D, formulation, or applied materials development. Industrial experience is a strong plus.
• Demonstrated track record of owning polymer or formulation projects end-to-end: from concept and synthesis through characterization to handover for scale-up.
• Strong fundamentals in polymer chemistry and structure-property relationships.
• Hands-on experience with standard polymer characterization techniques (DMA, DSC, TGA, rheology, tensile, etc.) and confident in interpreting data and drawing conclusions.
• Comfortable working at the interface of science and product: you understand that a great formulation is one that also processes, performs, and ships.
• Strong communicator in English, both written and spoken. Dutch or French are a plus.
• A team player and natural mentor: you raise the level of the people around you and you thrive in a startup-paced R&D environment.

Additional skills we value

• Background in self-healing materials, dynamic covalent networks, supramolecular polymers, or related advanced polymer chemistries.
• Experience in rubber, tire, adhesives, coatings, or related industrial polymer sectors.
• Experience with statistical design of experiments (DoE) and structured data-driven R&D.
• Patents and/or peer-reviewed publications.
• Exposure to industrial partner work: co-development with OEMs, customer technical support, qualification protocols.
• Familiarity with regulatory and sustainability considerations (REACH, life cycle assessment).

What We Offer

• A steep learning curve in advanced materials R&D
• Real industrial innovation: you contribute to a product heading towards the market
• Exposure to cutting-edge self-healing polymer chemistry and applied testing
• Mentorship from a strong, interdisciplinary technical team
• A full-time contract with competitive salary calibrated to your background and experience, plus standard Belgian benefits (meal vouchers, eco-cheques, hospitalization and group insurance, public transport reimbursement)

If you're excited about building materials that literally fix themselves, Valence Technologies is the place to do it. Contact: michael.elwell@healant.com