Materials Engineer

Materials Engineer

Location: Antwerp / Amsterdam | Experience: 5+ years of experience in materials engineering, materials science, or materials development within physical consumer products.

Shape the materials behind every Loop product

At Loop, materials aren't something we choose at the end. They shape how our products feel, perform, look, last, and ultimately how people experience them. From foams and fabrics to adhesives, coatings, and finishes, every material decision matters.

As our Materials Engineer, you'll bring deep materials expertise into Loop's product development process, guiding teams through material selection, validation, and problem-solving across multiple products in development.

The Role

You'll act as our materials expert across multiple product programs, working closely with Product Design Engineering, Quality, Industrial Design, CMF, Product Management, suppliers, and manufacturing partners.

You'll help teams define what materials need to deliver, understand the trade-offs behind different options, and validate that they perform in the real world. You'll move between research, testing, supplier collaboration, and hands-on problem-solving, focusing your expertise where the biggest material risks and challenges sit.

What You'll Do

• Guide product teams on material selection and trade-offs across comfort, durability, acoustic performance, cosmetics, manufacturability, sustainability, and cost.

• Define and refine material performance requirements early in product development and make sure they're validated before products move forward.

• Develop and execute material testing and validation methods, turning test data into clear recommendations and achievable specifications.

• Investigate material-related product issues, identify root causes, and drive cross-functional teams toward viable solutions.

• Partner with Quality to ensure materials meet robustness, safety, compliance, and certification requirements.

• Work with suppliers and manufacturing partners to identify and develop materials, fabrics, finishes, coatings, and adhesion methods that meet product needs.

• Bring materials expertise into design reviews and development decisions, making material risks and trade-offs visible early.

• Research new and emerging materials, technologies, coatings, and manufacturing processes that could unlock future Loop products.

• Build Loop's materials knowledge base and make complex material concepts accessible to teams beyond materials engineering.

You Won't

• Wait until late-stage development to start thinking about materials and their impact on the product.

• Recommend materials based on theory alone without validating how they perform in the real product.

• Optimise one material property without considering the wider product trade-offs around comfort, durability, acoustics, cosmetics, and manufacturability.

• Work on one product in isolation when your expertise can solve material challenges across multiple programs.

• Keep materials knowledge inside Engineering instead of making it useful and accessible across Loop.

How You'll Succeed

You spot material risks early and know how to turn complex technical questions into structured investigations, clear data, and practical recommendations.

You understand that there is rarely one "perfect" material. You're comfortable balancing comfort, performance, durability, aesthetics, manufacturability, and cost to find the right solution for the product.

You become a trusted materials expert across Loop, someone teams involve early because your expertise helps them make better decisions and avoid expensive problems later in development.

What You'll Bring

• 4+ years of experience in materials engineering, materials science, materials development, or a related role within physical consumer products.

• Deep knowledge of materials such as foams, fabrics and textiles, adhesives, coatings, finishes, and related material systems.

• Strong understanding of fabrics and softgoods materials, dyeing methodologies, and relevant manufacturing processes.

• Hands-on experience defining material requirements and developing or executing material validation and testing methodologies.

• Experience interpreting test data, investigating failures, and translating findings into clear recommendations and specifications.

• Experience working directly with suppliers, manufacturing partners, Engineering, Design, and Quality teams.

• Strong understanding of how material choices influence product performance, comfort, durability, cosmetics, and manufacturability.

• Comfortable moving across multiple product programs and prioritising the material challenges where your expertise can have the biggest impact.

Loop isn't for everyone. We might not be a match if you:

• Prefer specialising in one narrow material category rather than working across foams, fabrics, adhesives, coatings, and other material systems.

• Prefer theoretical materials research over applying material science to real-world product development.

• Find it difficult to make trade-offs when performance, comfort, aesthetics, cost, and manufacturability pull in different directions.

• Prefer working within one project rather than moving between multiple product programs and challenges.

• Prefer keeping technical expertise within your own discipline rather than translating it for designers, product teams, and other non-specialists.

Still interested?

Great. If you're excited about shaping the materials behind Loop's products, solving complex material challenges, and building the expertise that will influence what we create next, we'd love to hear from you.

—-

Application Window & Recruiter Interview: 11 SEPT - 25 SEPT

Hiring Manager Interview: 28 SEPT - 2 OCT

Business Case & Team Interview: 5 OCT - 16 OCT

Target Start Date: 7 DEC

Compensation

€60,000 – €80,000 gross annual salary

Based on internal benchmarks and market data, we determine salary ranges for each role and location. Loop takes into consideration a wide range of factors when making compensation decisions, including but not limited to experience, skill sets, qualifications, education, and other business and organizational needs. Final salary is based on a number of factors such as location, relevant prior experience, and specific skills or expertise. Please note that the range listed is just one component of Loop's total rewards.