Senior Microbiologist

Senior Microbiologist / Biofilm Formulation Scientist

Bionema Group Ltd | Swansea, UK | Full-time | Senior Scientist / Project Delivery

Salary

£42,000 – £50,000 per annum, depending on experience

Location

Swansea, UK — on-site laboratory role

Role type

Full-time, permanent

Level

Senior Scientist / Project Delivery

Start date

As soon as possible

Closing date

15 July 2026

How to apply

Send CV and covering note to ***email_hidden***

About Bionema

Bionema Group Ltd is a UK biological crop protection and plant health technology platform company developing microbial biopesticides, biostimulants, biofertilisers and proprietary formulation and delivery technologies, including Incapsulex and BiofilmTech. Our work focuses on translating biological science into field-ready products through microbial screening, fermentation, formulation, encapsulation, delivery systems and field validation.

Bionema holds two King’s Awards for Enterprise — Innovation 2024 and Sustainability 2026 — recognising the commercial and scientific impact of our biological platform. In 2021, Syngenta acquired three of our biological technologies, validating the commercial quality of our science. We are a platform company, not a single-product business, and we are growing.

We are now seeking a strong, hands-on senior scientist to support our BiofilmTech and microbiome product development programme.

The Role

We are looking for a Senior Microbiologist / Biofilm Formulation Scientist with strong academic training and practical experience in microbial systems, plant-associated microbiomes, biofilm formation, formulation and biological product development.

The successful candidate should be comfortable working with multiple plant-beneficial microorganisms, including PGPR and biofilm-forming bacteria and fungi such as Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Trichoderma, Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Paenibacillus, Streptomyces, Rhizobium / Bradyrhizobium and other beneficial microbial consortia relevant to plant health, biofertilisers, biostimulants and biological crop protection.

This is not a purely academic role. The successful candidate must be able to move from laboratory microbiology into practical product development, including formulation, encapsulation, WDG, WP, OD, liquid formulations, microbial viability, stability, compatibility, quality control, scale-up support and field-relevant performance testing.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead laboratory work on microbial consortia, biofilm-forming microorganisms and plant-associated microbiomes.

• Develop and optimise microbial formulations for biofilm-based biofertiliser, biostimulant and plant-health products.

• Support formulation development across WDG, WP, OD, liquid suspension, encapsulated and biofilm-based delivery systems.

• Assess microbial viability, compatibility, biofilm formation, stability, shelf life and performance under relevant storage and application conditions.

• Design and run experiments involving bacteria, fungi and microbial consortia.

• Support fermentation, downstream processing, drying, formulation and scale-up activities.

• Generate robust experimental data, analyse results and prepare technical reports.

• Translate research outputs into practical product-development decisions.

• Work with internal and external partners on project delivery, milestones and technical troubleshooting.

• Support quality control, SOP development, risk assessments and laboratory best practice.

• Contribute to grant-funded and commercially focused R&D programmes.

Essential Requirements

• PhD in microbiology, microbial biotechnology, plant microbiome science, biofilm biology, formulation science, biological crop protection, biofertilisers or a closely related field.

• Minimum 5 years’ post-PhD experience in microbiology, microbial formulation, microbiomes, biofilms or biological product development.

• Strong hands-on laboratory experience with multiple microbial groups — not only a single bacterial or fungal species.

• Practical experience with plant-beneficial microorganisms such as PGPR, Bacillus spp., Pseudomonas spp., Trichoderma spp. or other biofilm-forming bacteria or fungi relevant to plant health.

• Practical knowledge of microbial viability, compatibility, biofilm formation, stability, shelf life and formulation challenges.

• Experience with microbial formulation or delivery formats such as WDG, WP, OD, liquid formulations, encapsulation or biofilm-based systems.

• Ability to design experiments independently and produce high-quality, decision-ready data.

• Strong record of scientific problem-solving, technical reporting and project delivery.

• Comfortable working in a small, fast-moving company where practical delivery matters.

Desirable Experience

• Industry or industry-facing experience in biologicals, agri-tech, microbial products, fermentation, formulation or crop input development.

• Experience developing or testing microbial consortia, not only single-strain systems.

• Experience with biofilm-forming microbial systems, root colonisation, plant-microbe interactions or rhizosphere microbiology.

• Knowledge of fermentation, scale-up, downstream processing, drying, encapsulation, liquid formulations or shelf-life testing.

• Experience with greenhouse, growth-room or field trial support.

• Understanding of regulatory, quality or commercial requirements for biological products.

• Experience working in collaborative projects with universities, research organisations or industry partners.

What We Offer

• £42,000 – £55,000 depending on experience

• Company pension scheme.

• A senior role with real responsibility — not a support position within a large team.

• The opportunity to work across a genuine technology platform: biopesticides, biostimulants, biofertilisers, encapsulation and biofilm delivery systems.

• Direct involvement in product development, grant-funded R&D and industry-facing outcomes.

• A science-led environment where your work connects to commercial product delivery.

What We Are Looking For

We need a scientist who is technically strong, hands-on in the laboratory, commercially aware, able to solve formulation and viability problems, comfortable working to deadlines, and able to translate microbiology into progress in product development.

This role is suited to someone who wants to work at the interface of microbiology, formulation, plant health and commercial biological product development.

How to Apply

Please send your CV and a short covering note to ***email_hidden*** with the subject line: Senior Microbiologist / Biofilm Formulation Scientist.

• Your experience with microbiomes, biofilms, PGPR or microbial consortia.

• Which microbial groups have you worked with — for example, Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Trichoderma, Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Paenibacillus, Streptomyces, Rhizobium / Bradyrhizobium or other relevant bacteria or fungi?

• Your practical experience in formulation, encapsulation, WDG, WP, OD, liquid formulations, stability, viability or scale-up.

• One example where your work contributed to a product, field trial, technology development or industry-facing outcome.

Applications based solely on academic microbiology at the single-organism level, without clear evidence of practical formulation, biofilm, microbiome, or product development experience, may not be shortlisted.

Closing date: 15 July 2026.