Biotech and Process Workers Could Gain Almost 100 MiAlgae Jobs as Its Grangemouth Plant Lands £2.5m

Scottish biotech company MiAlgae has secured £2.5m from the Scottish National Investment Bank to support its new commercial-scale production facility in Grangemouth, and the expansion will create almost 100 jobs over the next two years. The company expects to grow its workforce from 60 to approximately 156 employees by the end of 2028. This guide looks at the plan from the side of lab technicians, production operators, process engineers and the former workers made redundant when Grangemouth's crude oil refinery closed in April 2025. For Metaintro readers, the practical questions are which roles the company has described, what the priority rule says, what the benefits are and how to put yourself forward, and the answers sit on the MiAlgae careers page and in the UK government grant announcement. Here is that detail.

What Did MiAlgae Secure From the Scottish National Investment Bank?

The Scottish National Investment Bank has put £2.5 million into MiAlgae to support its new commercial facility in Grangemouth. The money is meant to help the company scale its commercial production and bring new employment opportunities in the Grangemouth community.

The investment ticks all three of the bank's impact missions, innovation, net zero and a place mission which aims to support thriving communities, Jane Reoch, the bank's executive director of innovation, said.

This is not the first money behind MiAlgae's scale-up. In December 2025 the UK government backed MiAlgae with up to £1.5 million to develop the project on the Grangemouth site, alongside £1.5m from the Scottish Government’s Grangemouth Just Transition Funding, which the UK money matched, for a total of £3m, with the Scottish Government funding to be administered by Scottish Enterprise. Before that, MiAlgae raised £14m in an oversubscribed round in September 2024 to finance the development of an industrial scale production facility in Scotland and support team growth with strategic hires. This week brings the bank's £2.5m investment and a forecast that the workforce will grow to approximately 156 people by the end of 2028.

How Many Jobs Is MiAlgae Planning, and Why Do the Figures Differ?

Two sets of numbers are in circulation, and they measure different things over different periods.

• The company forecast. MiAlgae is forecasting to grow its workforce from 60 to approximately 156 people by the end of 2028, and the expansion will create almost 100 jobs over the next two years. That is a headcount target for the whole company.
• The UK government's December 2025 estimate. The UK grant will help to support around 310 jobs over the next 5 years, and the project is expected to deliver an additional £53 million into the Scottish economy. The project is set to create around 130 direct full-time jobs at Grangemouth over the next 5 years, alongside supporting an additional 180 roles across Scotland.

The same MiAlgae project has the potential to create up to 130 direct new jobs in Grangemouth over the next five years and an extra 180 roles across Scotland. The 180 extra roles are across Scotland, not inside MiAlgae's Grangemouth plant.

Both are forecasts, not open vacancies, and there are no current vacancies on MiAlgae's careers page.

MiAlgae’s growing presence and creation of high-quality jobs at Grangemouth contributes to the area’s industrial economy, Jane Reoch, executive director of innovation, said of the Scottish National Investment Bank investment.

What Will the Grangemouth Plant Actually Make?

MiAlgae makes an omega-3 powder using by-products from the whisky distilling process, a plant-based alternative to omega-3 that traditionally comes from wild-caught fish. The ingredient sells into the aquaculture feed and pet nutrition markets.

The process upcycles whisky by-products to grow microalgae naturally rich in DHA, an essential fatty acid. The UK government calls Grangemouth's position in the Central Belt an ideal location to source by-products from Scotland's distilleries.

At the December 2025 groundbreaking, the large-scale facility was due to go live in early Q2 2026 and to increase its pet-nutrition omega-3 output more than tenfold. MiAlgae also said the expansion would create hundreds of new green jobs in biotechnology, engineering and production at full scale.

Douglas Martin founded MiAlgae following his MSc in Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology in 2016, and the University of Edinburgh has remained a backer. In 2024 the firm was shortlisted for The Earthshot Prize in the Revive our Oceans category.

Who Gets Priority When MiAlgae Recruits?

As a condition of the UK grant, eligible Grangemouth workers will be given priority during recruitment, including a job interview guarantee.

Who counts as eligible is not defined in the UK government's December 2025 release. It sits alongside the joint training guarantee from the UK and Scottish governments, which supports Grangemouth workers into new high-skilled jobs.

The plant was the first new project at Grangemouth since the refinery closure. It was also the first investment allocation from the Grangemouth Investment Taskforce, with new jobs on the site due to start from the year after the December 2025 announcement.

As a condition of the grant funding, eligible Grangemouth workers will be given priority during recruitment, including a job interview guarantee, according to the UK government announcement.

Which Roles Has MiAlgae Described on Its Careers Page?

There are no current vacancies on MiAlgae's careers page, so there is nothing to apply for today. Two role descriptions are on the MiAlgae careers site, and they show what the company looks for.

Production Operator. The role covers manufacturing equipment set-up and operation, clean-in-place (CIP), sterilisation-in-place (SIP), and operation of sterilisation equipment and bioreactors. It is shift-based work, following standardised methods and meeting time-sensitive production deadlines. The listed requirements include:

• HND level education (or equivalent practical experience) in a relevant scientific, technical, engineering, manufacturing, or related discipline.
• Minimum 2 years’ experience in an industrial production or manufacturing environment.
• Practical experience with production processes such as fermentation, CIP, SIP, pasteurisation, filtration, centrifugation, or similar operations.
• Experience working safely to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) within a regulated production or manufacturing environment.
• Experience working within the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, chemical, biotechnology, or similar industries, plus experience operating a forklift truck with a valid FLT licence, and a full, clean driving licence, which are listed under both requirements and desirable.
• Good problem-solving skills, with the ability to understand and respond to basic scientific, engineering, process, or equipment-related problems.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a shift team.
• Experience operating production equipment such as bioreactors, fermentation systems, filtration or centrifugation equipment, also listed as desirable.
• Strong organisational and time management skills, with the ability to maintain accurate records and meet time-sensitive production deadlines.
• Familiarity with GLP, GMP, or other regulated production environments, also listed as desirable, and an interest in biotechnology, sustainable manufacturing, and MiAlgae’s mission.

R&D Technician. This role supports the identification, screening, and development of promising microbial strains towards commercial-scale production, including gas chromatography to assess fermentations. It asks for an undergraduate, MSC, or equivalent industrial experience in biology, biochemistry, biotechnology, or a related discipline, along with excellent communication and collaboration skills with experience working effectively within teams, the ability to maintain detailed scientific documentation and the ability to communicate technical information clearly to a broad audience. The company is also open to other backgrounds, provided you are good with your hands, organised, interested in its mission and eager to learn.

These are two descriptions on one page, not a full list of the roles the plant will need.

What Do the Benefits Look Like, and How Do You Get in Touch?

Both roles come with the same package of wellness perks, a competitive salary plus bonus, 32 days of holidays and a 5% company pension contribution on qualifying earnings. No salary figure is printed on the careers page.

An application pack can be downloaded from the careers page, and MiAlgae invites people to get in touch at careers@mialgae.com.

MiAlgae calls itself a passionate and inclusive team producing biotech for good solutions. It has a workforce of 60 before the planned growth.

Can Former Refinery Workers Move Into These Jobs?

Of the 272 former Petroineos refinery workers made redundant after the site closed in April 2025, 131 have secured employment through the Grangemouth skills intervention, in figures from Economy Secretary Stephen Flynn in a letter to the Economy, Tourism and Energy Committee. The scheme is delivered by Forth Valley College with support from Unite the Union and Skills Development Scotland.

In December 2025, 296 workers had received one-to-one support and 269 were taking part in or had completed training under the training guarantee.

Chemical industries are among the backgrounds listed for the Production Operator role, and the job involves following SOPs, risk assessments, permit-to-work requirements, and site health and safety procedures. Refinery work is not among the production processes the role names, which are fermentation, CIP, SIP, pasteurisation, filtration, centrifugation, or similar operations.

What Other Training Has Grangemouth Funded?

A separate course targets Grangemouth residents who face additional barriers to employment. The Pathways to Employment programme, which started in February 2026, is delivered jointly by Forth Valley College and Falkirk Council, backed by £90,000 from the Grangemouth Just Transition Fund.

• Who it is for. It includes young people who have recently left school.
• How big it is. Around 24 participants from the Grangemouth area will take part in two training cohorts, one for young people and school leavers and one for older residents who are unemployed.
• What it covers. Participants get ten weeks of intensive training that builds practical and technical skills alongside employability support, aimed at renewable energy, digital technology, engineering, construction, transport and logistics.

Those completing the course are supported to progress into further education, employability programmes or direct employment opportunities.

How Does MiAlgae Fit Into the Wider Grangemouth Rebuild?

Alongside the MiAlgae grant, the Scottish Government allocated £6.23 million to Celtic Renewables for pre-construction work on a bio-refinery, with up to 149 roles to be created in Grangemouth by 2030. The £8.5 million Scottish Government package is expected to support up to 460 roles directly and across the supply chain in Scotland.

The UK government's MiAlgae grant forms part of the £14.5 million the Chancellor announced at Budget to help transform Grangemouth into a low-carbon tech hub, on top of £200 million pledged from the National Wealth Fund. The Grangemouth Investment Taskforce had received around 140 enquiries by December 2025.

Stephen Flynn said he could not give a detailed timeline for each of the Project Willow-related projects, citing commercial sensitivities. Project Willow is a joint Scottish Government and UK Government feasibility study exploring low-carbon industrial futures for the Grangemouth refinery site.

What This Means for Job Seekers, and What Should You Do Next?

The honest reading is that this is a hiring plan, not a hiring drive. There are no current vacancies on MiAlgae's careers page, and the almost 100 jobs are spread over the next two years. What makes it worth acting on is the priority rule for eligible Grangemouth workers.

It is also a different kind of plant from the one that closed. The Production Operator work covers bioreactors, growth media and food safety and quality standards, so a refinery CV needs translating rather than copying, the same skills-translation problem that offshore wind roles pose for workers without GWO certification. Here is what we would do:

• Register interest now. MiAlgae invites people to get in touch at careers@mialgae.com, and if that leads to an interview, read up on how to prepare for a job interview first.
• Know the priority rule. The UK grant gives eligible Grangemouth workers priority, including a job interview guarantee, though the release does not define who is eligible.
• Check the licences. The Production Operator role asks for a valid FLT licence and a full, clean driving licence.
• Watch the other projects. Celtic Renewables' planned bio-refinery is another process plant in the pipeline for Grangemouth.

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People Also Asked

Q: How many jobs will MiAlgae create in Grangemouth?

A: The expansion will create almost 100 jobs over the next two years, and the company forecasts a workforce of about 156 by the end of 2028, while the UK government expects around 130 direct full-time jobs at Grangemouth over the next 5 years.

Q: Is MiAlgae hiring right now?

A: Not at the moment. There are no current vacancies on MiAlgae's careers page, though it has a careers email address for people who want to get in touch.

Q: Do Grangemouth workers get priority for MiAlgae jobs?

A: Eligible Grangemouth workers will be given priority during recruitment, including a job interview guarantee, as a condition of the UK grant. Who counts as eligible is not defined in the December 2025 release.

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