VP / Director of Sensing Science

VP / Director of Sensing Science

Location: Dagenham, Essex (2-3 days onsite)
Salary: £80,000 - £90,000 + benefits

An innovative technology company developing next-generation odour intelligence and sensing systems is looking for a VP / Director of Sensing Science to lead and shape its sensing and scientific R&D capability.

This is a rare opportunity to join a rapidly growing, venture-backed business that combines advanced sensor technology, AI/ML, data science and chemical sensing to build products capable of detecting and interpreting biological and environmental signals in ways not previously possible.

The company has recently completed an oversubscribed seed funding round and already has commercial products in the market, alongside an expanding pipeline across pest control, agriculture, animal health and future public health applications.

What the business does

The company develops intelligent sensing platforms that analyse volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and odours using combinations of:

Gas and chemical sensors
Sensor fusion
Embedded systems and IoT hardware
Machine learning and AI classification
Data science and large-scale data platformsTheir technology is already being used commercially and the business is now scaling both its R&D capability and product development pipeline.

Projects range from smart pest monitoring systems through to animal health diagnostics and emerging human health applications.

The Role

This role will sit at the centre of the company's scientific and sensing strategy.

You will lead the sensing science and R&D direction of the business, bringing greater scientific rigour, technical leadership and coordination across sensing, experimentation, hardware integration and data science.

You'll work closely with engineering, firmware, software and data science teams to guide how sensors are selected, tested, integrated and optimised within real-world products.

This is a highly technical leadership role rather than a pure management position.

The company is specifically looking for someone with deep sensor expertise who can bridge the gap between:

Sensor technologies
Experimental design
Product development
Data interpretation
Machine learning outputs
Hardware integration

You'll help shape how sensing technologies are deployed across a broad range of applications and products.

What You'll Be Doing

Leading the company's sensing science and R&D function
Managing and mentoring multidisciplinary scientific teams
Defining experimental design and testing methodologies
Guiding sensor selection for new product applications
Evaluating sensor performance, limitations and deployment suitability
Working closely with hardware and engineering teams on sensor integration
Collaborating with data scientists to interpret sensor outputs and improve ML models
Helping turn early-stage concepts into scalable commercial products
Supporting the development of the company's growing sensing and AI platform
Influencing future hiring and technical direction within the businessThe role will also involve working with external partners and customers on "discovery" projects, where the company develops bespoke sensing solutions for new commercial applications.

Examples of projects include:

Pest detection and monitoring
Agricultural sensing
Companion animal diagnostics
Environmental monitoring
Public health and disease detection
Odour and VOC analysisWhat They're Looking For

The ideal candidate will combine strong scientific credibility with practical product development experience.

You do not need to be an expert in every area, but you must have deep expertise in sensing technologies and understand how sensor data is used in real-world systems.

Likely background areas:

Sensor technologies
Gas sensing
Chemical sensing
VOC sensing
Embedded sensing systems
Sensor fusion
Analytical chemistry
Chemical ecology
Machine learning for sensor systems
Scientific R&D leadershipExperience they are particularly interested in:

Managing scientific or technical R&D teams
Working with multidisciplinary engineering teams
Productising sensing technologies
Translating research into commercial products
Working with data science / ML teams
Designing experiments and interpreting scientific data

Sensor technologies of interest include:

Metal oxide gas sensors
MEMS sensors
Electrochemical sensors
PID sensors
FBAR sensorsThe company understands this is an extremely niche hire, so they are open to candidates from academia, research organisations or commercial environments - provided you can combine scientific depth with practical, hands-on product thinking.

Curiosity, adaptability and the ability to learn quickly are considered just as important as ticking every technical box.

Why Join?

Opportunity to shape a genuinely unique sensing technology platform
Work on cutting-edge AI and sensor-driven products
Join a business already generating commercial revenue
Significant influence over technical direction and future growth
Diverse applications across multiple industries
Fast-growing, well-funded technology environment
Chance to work on technology with major long-term public health potential