Research Lab Technician

🎯 Our Mission

To check if food is fresh, we use our nose or check the printed date. But 1/10 people get food poisoning each year, and 2/3 of food waste is edible. The system is broken, and that's our opportunity. Our mission is to make use by dates digital.

We replace use-by dates with smart labels that measure freshness, and AI that predicts shelf-life. The founders invented this technology as PhD scientists, and we're using it to improve the whole supply chain, starting with food producers.

This is an opportunity to join a fast-growing start-up changing an ancient industry with new tech.

💼 The Role

You’ll be joining our innovative hardware team to build, prepare and test our novel sensors for food spoilage detection. You’ll work with exciting equipment like laser cutters and 3D printers, and play a vital role in our sensor R&D
We welcome people from all backgrounds. You do not need a university degree, what matters most is that you are reliable and show attention to detail. You should be technically curious, reliable, organised, tidy, and hands-on.

🚀 What You'll Do

• Start, log and end experiments
• Assist teammates, learn new skills, and take on extra tasks as we grow.
• Build BlakBear’s proprietary BearCub Sensors
• Keep accurate records of tests and work done.
• Follow Health & Safety procedures carefully.
• Dispose of waste safely, calibrate machines, and help keep the lab in top shape.
• Maintain a clean and safe workspace: tidy bench, labelled tools, sterile equipment.
• Clean, maintain and troubleshoot lab tools (e.g. MAP packer/pipettes/UV steriliser/MultiVac/LaserCutter)
• Track supplies and keep stock levels healthy.

👤 Who You Are

You’ll help our research team. Attention to detail is crucial in a research environmnt.

You might be a great fit if you are:

• Reliable – you do what you say you'll do.
• Organised – you like things in the right place and don’t cut corners.
• Clean – you believe a tidy workspace is a safe and productive one.
• Curious – you're keen to learn, ask questions, and solve problems.
• Hands-on – you like building, fixing, or improving physical things.
• Routine - you work well with repetitive and consistent tasks.

🧰 Useful Skills (Not All Required)

• Experience in a lab, workshop or technical job.
• High attention to detail to run experiments
• Comfortable managing stock and supplies.
• Good at following and improving step-by-step instructions.
• Know how to use common tools or machines (we’ll train you on ours!).
• Comfortable using a computer for work (e.g. entering data, checking info).
• Able to update and maintain spreadsheets (we use Google Sheets).
• Hands-on attitude, adaptable and curious. We want someone who can reach out to everyone in the team and is keen to help to scale the company culture well.
• Team player with a strong work ethic.
• Independent and highly reliable.

📍 Location & Hours

This is an on-site role at our Tower Bridge headquarters in London. Regular hours, 8 hours per day, 5 days a week.

🤝 What We Offer

• All training provided — no experience needed if you’re the right fit.
• Opportunity to learn new skills in tech, hardware and science.
• Friendly team and a collaborative, inclusive workplace.
• A real chance to make an impact as we grow our company.

🙌 Our Benefits

You’ll have the option to grow into a senior role in our company, with a significant shareholding. You'll help us build a product-focused and inclusive culture that scales.

📈 Competitive compensation package

😃 Great team: “I don’t think I will find such a nice culture again!”

🍉 Healthy snacks available in the office

👥 Impactful work

🕹️ Monthly socials such as dinners, VR experiences, or games nights

🎓 Team skill building events, such as Hackathon with latest AI tools