Visibuilt is looking for a senior chemistry consultant who can help their R&D team make better material decisions faster. This is a focused advisory role for someone who can explain what is happening inside a composite system, point to the most promising next experiments and keep recommendations grounded in simple, scalable industrial reality.
Location
Remote, but with a possibility to visit the R&D site, if needed.
Engagement
Ad hoc freelance consultancy on hourly compensation - start date ASAP
Core focus
Polymers, additives, crosslinking, bonding, durability and water resistance in Visibuilt's material system
About Visibuilt
Visibuilt develops fossil-free alternatives for pavement materials. Our core technology, visiBINDER, is a 100% bio-based binder developed from mycelium and designed to reduce energy use and CO2 emissions in infrastructure materials. As our material portfolio evolves, we want sharper chemistry guidance that can improve performance without adding complexity or cost to production.
The role
You will act as a senior advisor to the internal team on chemistry questions related to material strength, bonding, reinforcement, durability and moisture resistance. This is not a role for long reports or abstract theory. We need clear, practical guidance that helps the team interpret results, reduce trial-and-error and focus on the most promising formulation directions.
• Biology or mycelium experience is not required. The key contribution is strong chemistry judgement applied to materials development.
• The ideal consultant is able to enter an ongoing development process, review imperfect data and still provide useful, decision-oriented recommendations.
Responsibilities
• Review experimental results and help explain likely chemical mechanisms behind observed performance differences.
• Advise on polymers, additives, crosslinking approaches, bonding strategies and formulation changes that can strengthen the composite system.
• Suggest practical next experiments that improve durability, water resistance and stability under outdoor conditions such as moisture, temperature cycling and ageing.
• Help the team prioritise which hypotheses are worth testing and which routes are unlikely to pay off.
• Translate chemistry into short, actionable guidance that a hands-on R&D team can use immediately.
• Join concise check-ins and occasional asynchronous reviews of notes, data or formulation options.
Need-to-have requirements
• Senior-level chemistry expertise with strong foundations in organic chemistry and relevant experience in polymer chemistry, materials chemistry, additives or crosslinking systems.
• Track record of contributing to industrial or applied material-development projects.
• Ability to connect chemical theory to practical formulation choices and product performance.
• Comfort working in an advisory role with limited time, where clear judgement matters more than long execution hours.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to give concise, decision-useful recommendations.
Nice to have
• Experience from composites, coatings, adhesives, sealants, construction chemistry or adjacent industrial materials.
• Experience with outdoor durability, water resistance, ageing or weather-exposed materials.
• Previous consulting or freelance advisory work.
Important practical constraints
Any recommendation needs to work in a simple, scalable industrial setup. We are not looking for solutions that only work with expensive or overly complicated processing.
• No dependence on high-temperature processing as the main route to performance.
• No complex curing routes, vacuum steps or expensive process additions.
• Recommendations should be realistic to source, low-cost in principle and compatible with minimal production changes.
What success looks like
• The team gains a clearer understanding of why specific formulations work or fail.
• Experimental work becomes more focused, with fewer low-value trials and faster learning cycles.
• Visibuilt gets closer to stronger, more durable and more water-resistant materials through chemistry that is actually scalable.
What you can expect from Visibuilt
- This is a flexible advisory engagement with a small, ambitious climate-tech company that values practical expertise and quick iteration.
- Flexible ad hoc support designed for a senior specialist who can create leverage quickly
- Remote setup with focused, lightweight collaboration
- Opportunity to influence a novel biobased materials platform at an early stage
Contact:
This recruitment is supported by Black Swans Exist. Please reach out to Søren Spanner Bach at s.bach@blackswansexist.com
