Process Specialist Industrial Placement Student

With our strong investment in research and development and our culture of continuous improvement, Hexcel is the industry leader in the manufacturing of advance composite materials, including carbon fiber, woven reinforcements, resins, prepregs, honeycombs and additive manufactured parts. We invite you to join the Hexcel team at various manufacturing sites, sales offices and R&T centers around the globe. Become a part of the “strength within.”

Hexcel is currently seeking a Process Specialist Industrial Placement Student for our Duxford, UK location.

The selected individual will be responsible for but not limited to the following obligations:

• Set up, operate, and maintain equipment to replicate plant production processes.
• Plan and conduct experimental work, generating high‑quality data for a Design of Experiments dataset.
• Carry out chemical testing and analysis to assess the impact of varying input parameters.
• Review, extract, and preprocess data from multiple sources to support ongoing development and production projects.
• Develop and maintain a structured database of test results to enhance understanding and improve plant responsiveness.
• Collaborate closely with Production, Process Safety, and R&D teams on lab‑scale resin production and process optimisation.
• Provide support for production issues and contribute to continuous improvement initiatives as required.

Qualifications:

• Working towards a degree in Chemistry.
• Genuine interest in synthetic chemistry, with the confidence to work independently once fully trained.
• Strong understanding of statistics, with the ability to interpret, analyse, and manipulate data effectively.
• Excellent communication skills, able to collaborate across multidisciplinary teams and explain chemistry concepts to colleagues from non‑chemical backgrounds.
• Strong IT competency, including proficiency with standard software tools and scientific data systems.
• Knowledge of Machine Learning and Design of Experiments (DoE) is advantageous, but not essential.

Candidates must be eligible to work in the country where the position is based. Hexcel (NYSE: HXL) is a global leader in advanced composites technology, a leading producer of carbon fiber, and the world leader in honeycomb manufacturing for the commercial aerospace industry.