Senior Scientist

Senior Scientist

At Nouryon, our global team of Changemakers takes positive action every day, to reach higher collectively and individually. We create innovative and sustainable solutions for our customers to answer society’s needs – today and in the future.

We are looking for team members who bring ideas forward, champion others and work together to do better. Does that sound like you?

This Scientist/Senior Scientist role is a high‑impact technical position within the Product Chemistry group at the Bridgewater Innovation Center. The successful candidate will serve as a subject‑matter expert in polymer design, synthesis, and structure–property relationships, independently driving complex research programs that support new product development and process improvement across multiple application areas.

The role requires exceptional scientific depth, strong experimental intuition, and the ability to independently manage the technical execution of multi‑step, multi‑variable projects. The Scientist/Senior Scientist will be responsible for designing new materials, synthetic strategies, solving complex chemistry and scale‑up challenges, generating intellectual property, and delivering high‑quality solutions and technical results with minimal supervision.

• Independently conceive, design, and execute research programs focused on novel polymer and surfactant structures that address customer and market needs.
• Develop and optimise polymer structures and synthetic routes, including feasibility assessment, design, and scale‑up considerations.
• Serve as a technical expert during technology transfer, identifying potential scale‑up risks and proposing chemistry‑based solutions.
• Provide hands‑on support to manufacturing during start‑up of new products, including troubleshooting process deviations.
• Generate intellectual property through invention disclosures and patent applications.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams (applications, marketing, regulatory, analytical, operations) as the primary technical chemistry expert on projects assigned.
• Maintain rigorous laboratory documentation and uphold best‑in‑class safety and 5S practices.
• Deliver clear, concise technical reports and presentations to stakeholders.
• Manage both short‑term tactical experiments and long‑term strategic technical programmes with minimal supervision.
• Travel as needed (~10%)

• Master’s degree in Chemistry
• Preferred:
  PhD in Chemistry

7‑15 years of industrial experience

• Expert level knowledge in polymer design, synthesis, and characterization, with the ability to independently conceive, plan and execute complex experimental programmes.
• Strong command of structure–property relationships and their translation into performance.
• Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot sophisticated chemistry and process issues, including scale‑up and technology transfer challenges.
• Proven track record of technical accomplishments (patents, publications, or commercialised technologies).
• Ability to independently prioritise and manage multiple technical work streams in alignment with direct manager.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills, with the ability to interpret complex datasets and draw accurate and actionable conclusions.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills for documenting work, presenting findings, and collaborating with cross‑functional partners.

• Experience with polysaccharides, siloxanes, or silicon‑based polymer chemistry.
• Experience supporting pilot‑plant or manufacturing operations.
• Familiarity with structured project execution frameworks (e.g., Stage‑Gate) from a technical contributor perspective.
• Experience in surfactants and specialty chemicals.

• Advanced organic and polymer synthesis, including multi‑step routes and design of novel polymer architectures.
• Proficiency with analytical techniques such as NMR, IR, GC, GPC, LC, MS, microscopy, and classical wet chemistry.
• Ability to develop or adapt analytical methods to characterise new materials, in collaboration with the analytical department.
• Strong scientific writing skills for technical reports, patent disclosures, and data summaries.

This is a permanent, onsite position on a full‑time basis, reporting to the Section Manager – Product Chemistry and based in Bridgewater, NJ.

We kindly ask internal candidates to apply with their Nouryon email via Success Factors.

Nouryon is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.