Staff Scientist - Peracetic Acid; PAA Formulation

Solenis is a leading global provider of water and hygiene solutions. The company's product portfolio includes a broad array of water treatment chemistries, process aids, functional additives, cleaners, disinfectants, and state-of-the-art monitoring, control and delivery systems. These technologies are used by customers to improve operational efficiencies, enhance product quality, protect plant assets, minimize environmental impact, and create cleaner and safer environments.

Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, the company has 78 manufacturing facilities strategically located around the globe and employs a team of over ~23000 professionals in >160 countries across six continents. Solenis is a 2025 Best Managed Company Gold Standard honoree.

For additional information about Solenis, please visit (Use the "Apply for this Job" box below). follow us on social media.

Perks of working with us!

• Competitive health + wellness benefit plan

• Continuous professional development with many opportunities for growth!

• Recharge with 15 days of paid time off

• Competitive Salary and Bonuses

• 401k Plan

Position Summary

The Staff Scientist - Peracetic Acid (PAA) Formulation & Optimization is a senior technical contributor responsible for the development, optimization, and commercialization support of peracetic acid-based formulations across multiple end-use applications. This role focuses on innovation, improving formulation performance, stability, safety, cost, and regulatory compliance while supporting scale-up, manufacturing, and customer implementation.

The position requires deep expertise in oxidative chemistry, formulation science, and applied problem-solving, with close collaboration across R&D, Regulatory, EHS, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Commercial teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead formulation design, optimization, and troubleshooting of peracetic acid and other direct food contact products, including sanitizers, disinfectants, antimicrobial process aids, and specialty oxidizing formulations

• Optimize PAA formulations for performance, manufacturability, stability, shelf life, material compatibility, and controlled reactivity

• Evaluate raw materials (acids, peroxides, stabilizers, chelants, surfactants) for performance, cost, supply robustness, and regulatory acceptability

• Design and execute laboratory experiments to assess kinetics, equilibrium, degradation pathways, and performance under real-world use conditions

• Provide expert guidance on formulation limits driven by chemistry, physics, equipment, and safety constraints

• Support pilot- and plant-scale trials, including technology transfer to manufacturing.

• Troubleshoot manufacturing issues related to PAA generation, stability, heat release, compatibility, and dosing accuracy

• Partner with Process Technology and Operations to define safe operating windows, equipment requirements, and process controls

• Support customer trials, field evaluations, and issue resolution for PAA-based systems

• Collaborate with EHS and Regulatory teams to ensure formulations meet global regulatory, labeling, transport, and safety requirements

• Support hazard evaluations, thermal stability assessments, and safe handling guidance for PAA and related oxidizers

• Drive formulation improvements to reduce cost, improve supply resilience, and enable value-engineering opportunities

• Support cost modeling, raw material qualification, and alternate supplier evaluations

• Act as a subject-matter expert in peracetic acid chemistry across R&D and commercial teams

Qualifications

• MS or PhD in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a related scientific discipline

• Minimum 7-10 years of industrial experience in formulation chemistry, with significant hands-on experience in peracetic acid or peroxide-based systems

• Strong understanding of oxidation chemistry, reaction kinetics, stability mechanisms, and formulation interactions

• Experience supporting scale-up, manufacturing, and commercialization of chemical formulations

• Demonstrated ability to solve complex, real-world formulation and process challenges

• Experience with PAA systems in food & beverage or industrial processing

• Familiarity with antimicrobial regulatory frameworks (e.g., EPA, FDA, USDA, biocides)

• Exper…