AMPHISTAR - WHO WE ARE
At AmphiStar, we’re on a mission to make biosurfactants mainstream. As a fast‑moving, science‑driven spin‑off of Ghent University and the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, we convert local waste and industrial side streams into high‑performance, 100% upcycled biosurfactants.
Today, most surfactants are still fossil‑ or palm‑based. We’re here to change that: radically and at scale so we can make biosurfactants mainstream. Our technology converts waste and industrial side streams into high‑quality biosurfactants using fermentation, enabling a circular, local, and scalable production model.
To strengthen our R&D team, we are looking for someone who combines strong formulation skills with commercial feeling. In this role, you help shape innovative applications for our biosurfactant portfolio, with a primary focus on personal care and home care markets.
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR
WHAT YOU WILL DO
The surfactant market is a highly dynamic environment, requiring continuous product improvements and short- to medium-term innovation projects. With several competing technologies entering the biosurfactant space, AmphiStar must keep differentiating itself.
You sit right at the intersection of R&D, application development, and customer-facing technical support. You turn our biosurfactants into real‑world formulations that make customers go: “Wow-this works.”
You will:
Formulate, test, and create impact
* Translate AmphiStar’s strategic roadmap into a clear and actionable formulation plan, prioritizing projects based on customer needs, market insights, and internal strategy.
* Lead the development and optimization of formulations using AmphiStar’s biosurfactants, with an initial focus on home and personal care applications.
* Evaluate new biosurfactant molecules in model formulations, identify unique value‑adding properties, and convert these into new prototypes or application concepts.
* Work hands-on in the lab and manage the formulation team to ensure structure, consistency, and creativity in day‑to‑day formulation and application development.
Bring insights to customers & amplify our story
* Collaborate closely with R&D and Sales to turn technical results into clear customer-ready guidance, formulation support, and application recommendations.
* Interact directly with customers and our partners: answer questions, evaluate their needs, and bring promising suggestions back into the lab to explore feasibility.
* Represent AmphiStar at customer visits, trade shows, and industry events: showing the world what our biosurfactants can do.
Combine formulation with performance testing
* Design and execute a structured set of performance tests, including surface and interfacial activity, foaming behavior, wetting, detergency, emulsification and stability, rheology, and stress testing.
* Benchmark AmphiStar biosurfactants against conventional surfactants and translate performance data into actionable formulation improvements and strategic recommendations.
* Interpret analytical data (purity, degradation profiles, stability, molecular interactions) and use these insights to optimize formulations, guide application development, and support decision-making.
WHAT YOU BRING
You’re not only a strong formulator, you’re someone who enjoys interacting with customers, understands their needs, and can turn science into solutions.
* Master in chemistry, chemical engineering, formulation science, biotech, biochemistry, bio-engineering or equivalent. Bachelor degree with min. 6 years experience;
* Experience in formulation development in home/personal care industry (4-6 years)
* Strong interest in the commercial and customer facing side of the job: comfortable interacting with clients and distributors.
* Hands‑on, creative formulation mindset with excellent problem-solving skills and a willingness to work actively in the lab.
* Experience working in multidisciplinary teams and the ability to translate insights across R&D and commercial colleagues.
* Familiarity with characterisation tools for surfactants and formulation processes (interfacial tension, contact angle, etc.), bonus: tests related to personal care
* A strong communicator who can easily build relations and grow partnerships with key internal and external stakeholders;
* A proactive team player who takes ownership, shows initiative, and drives projects forward with clarity and structure.
* Fluent in English; other languages (French, German, Dutch) are an asset.
WHAT DO WE OFFER YOU?
We offer you the opportunity to take on a key role within one of the most innovative biosurfactant companies in the world, headquartered in Ghent (Zwijnaarde). You will join a young, growing, and informal organization where initiative, engagement, and responsibility are truly valued.
* A key role in shaping our biosurfactant application portfolio.
* A varied position with room to grow and add your own personal touch.
* A close-knit and (really) enthusiastic team of AmphiStars who support each other and have fun together.
* An open, multicultural, inclusive work environment built on respect, sustainability & collaboration.
* A competitive salary package, complemented by:
o Meal vouchers
o Additional leave days (ADV)
o Hospitalization insurance
o Group insurance
o CAO90 bonus
o Bicycle allowance
* A safe and pleasant workplace in Zwijnaarde, easily accessible from Gent Sint-Pieters with a free shuttle service.
* In summer: Ice‑cream Fridays 🍦
Are you excited to help build a more sustainable future and shape the bio-economy of tomorrow? Send us your motivation letter and CV today – we look forward to meeting you!
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