Principal Formulation Chemist
Principal Formulation Chemists lead the design and development of pharmaceutical formulations that optimize the delivery, stability, and bioavailability of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). They oversee pre-formulation studies, develop new drug delivery systems, and guide products through scale-up and tech transfer.
Key responsibilities:
Designing dosage forms – Including tablets, capsules, suspensions, injectables, or inhalables tailored to the physicochemical properties of the API.
Conducting compatibility and stability studies – Using analytical methods like HPLC, DSC, and particle sizing to evaluate formulation performance over time.
Guiding scale-up and GMP manufacturing – Working with process engineers and quality teams to ensure reproducibility and regulatory readiness.
Leading formulation strategy – Including QbD approaches, DoE experimental planning, and documentation for regulatory submissions (e.g. IND, NDA, MA).
Mentoring formulation scientists – Providing scientific and strategic leadership to support R&D milestones and client projects.
This role typically requires experience with excipients, granulation, lyophilization, and other pharmaceutical manufacturing techniques, along with strong knowledge of ICH, FDA, and EMA expectations.
South East England
South East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex. Greater London is usually considered as a separate region, although it too is obviously located in the South East, bordering Kent, West Sussex, Surrey and East Sussex.
Major towns and cities in the South East of the UK include Brighton and Hove, Canterbury, Chichester, Oxford, Portsmouth, Southampton, Winchester, Crawley, Reading, Milton Keynes, Horsham, Farnham and Worthing. The South East of the UK is an economic hub and is second only to London in terms of its economy thanks in part to the location of Gatwick Airport in West Sussex and numerous Channel ports on the Kent coast.
Many global companies have their UK Headquarters in the South East of the UK, including a concentration of technology companies along the “M4 corridor” and numerous technology, clinical research, pharmaceutical, biotech, life science and engineering companies are located in the various counties comprising the South East of the UK.
The 'golden triangle' is the world-leading life sciences cluster of London, Oxford, Cambridge and England's greater south east.
This region is a hotbed of innovation, home to:
Four of the world's top 10 universities
Five our of seven of the UK's academic health science centres
Leading medical research institutes including hte Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK, and the national Cell Therapy Catapult, focusing on stem cell research and industrialisation.
The golden triangle is being boosted further by a wave of significant new investment, including:
The Francis Crick Institute - bringing together 1,500 scientist under one roof
Imperial West - co0locating researchers and businesses on 25 acres.
UCL East - a cross-discipline enterprise and innovation centre focused on health and biological technologies on the site of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The Institute of Cancer Research - creating the world's second largest cancer research campus in south London.
AstraZeneca's Global R&D Centre - bringing together 2,000 employees in Cambridge.
South-East England is a great place to further your career in life sciences. If you are a looking for pharmaceutical jobs in the South East, scientific careers in the South East or want to discuss cell therapy, gene therapy, ATMP, medical device, technology, biotech or pharmaceutical job opportunities inthe South East, give our Next Phase team a call. The London area is continuing to expand as a centre for jobs in science, process development, technology, software development, project management, informatics, quality, reg affairs and supply chain.
At Next Phase we help people find new jobs in life sciences across the UK, Europe and USA. This page lists some of the job opportunities in London, and if you give us a call we can also talk to you about other scientific jobs, pharmaceutical career opportunities and the latest updates in cell and gene therapy and ATMP development in the area.
