Director Pharmaceutical jobs

Job Description, Head of R&D

Company: Milvus Advanced
Reports to: CEO
Location: Oxford
Team: Leads the R&D lab teams

About Milvus Advanced

Milvus Advanced is redefining materials science by creating rare metal alternatives through modern alchemy.

We replace expensive, scarce elements such as indium, gold, iridium, and platinum with high-performance, earth-abundant nanoalloys and functional materials. Our discovery and scale-up platform turns deep chemistry into manufacturable products for energy, optoelectronics, and chemical manufacturing.

As critical minerals take centre stage geopolitically, we ask: what happens when key elements are constrained or run out? Instead of merely optimising today’s materials, we pursue transformational substitutions that reduce dependence on fragile supply chains and rare elements by creating new, lab-made materials that are abundant, affordable, and sustainable.

Our technologies aim to:

· Reduce dependence on rare or critical metals

· Improve device efficiency, stability, and manufacturability

· Enable affordable, scalable next-generation materials and devices

· Accelerate the clean-tech transition

We are backed by leading global investors such as Hoxton and Lowercarbon, and are scaling rapidly from lab breakthroughs to real-world products.

The role

We are looking for a Head of R&D to lead our laboratory science team as we grow. This is a senior role for a hands-on materials chemist who can win the respect of a strong scientific team and bring out the best in them.

You will own the running of the lab and the delivery of our research. You will develop and stretch the scientists, grow the team by finding and hiring the talent we need, and bring forward the next technologies worth pursuing. You will work closely with our founder and the wider business, acting as the link between the lab and the leadership team, someone who opens doors rather than blocks them.

The team already holds real specialist expertise. What we are adding is leadership that amplifies the science and the people doing it.

What you will do

Lead the science

· Run the day-to-day research effort and keep the labs delivering to a high standard.

· Bring forward new research directions, technologies and materials approaches, backed by solid evidence and judgement.

· Keep genuine hands-on depth across nanoalloys and functional materials, challenging results, guiding experimental design and steering the work credibly.

· Spot emerging technologies and methods that could move our work forward and make the case for trialling them.

· Work alongside the team to take lab breakthroughs towards manufacturable, scalable products.

Build and lead the team

· Find, attract and hire the scientists we need as we scale. From sourcing and interviewing through to building the offer case.

· Lead, manage and develop the science team with clear roles, ownership, and performance expectations

· Stretch capable people towards their potential while looking after morale and a healthy working culture.

· Help plan the shape of the team as the company grows.

Connect the lab and the business

· Be a clear, open, two-way link between the lab and the leadership team, carrying the team's ideas and needs upwards and the business priorities back down.

· Keep direct lines open between the scientists and the leadership rather than routing everything through yourself.

Deliver

· Run the portfolio of research projects to time and quality.

· Contribute to the R&D budget and to external funding and partnership bids.

· Support partnerships with technology and input suppliers.

What you will bring

· A strong materials chemistry or chemical background with real hands-on laboratory experience, credible at the bench and in front of a technical team. PhD or equivalent industrial depth in materials, inorganic or physical chemistry, nanomaterials, electrochemistry or a closely related field.

· Proven ability to lead and develop small, multidisciplinary scientific teams in a fast-moving experimental environment

· A track record of spotting and championing new technology or methods.

· Experience taking research towards scalable, manufacturable products. Scale up or pilot to production experience is a strong plus.

· Strong people skills, a genuine enabler and motivator who builds trust quickly.

· Experience hiring and building teams, or a clear appetite to own it.

· Comfort working in a fast growing, investor backed environment.

This is a hands-on role: you will spend most of your time in the laboratory conducting and overseeing experimental work, not at a desk. You own the scientific programme: what gets tested, how it is validated, and when the evidence meets the defined threshold. You will directly lead and grow a science team of four PhD physicists and chemists — setting scientific direction, building capability, and maintaining the rigour that underpins every programme decision.

Why Milvus

A rare chance to lead the team behind a category defining mission, making critical metal dependence a solved problem, working closely with a technical founder, with serious backing and a team already doing exceptional work.

Pay: £65,000.00-£80,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Additional leave
• Casual dress
• Company pension
• Employee stock purchase plan
• Enhanced paternity leave
• Free parking
• On-site parking
• Paid volunteer time
• Private medical insurance

Work Location: In person