Research Chemist

Stepan Company•Winnetka, IL

4d•$86,000 - $133,400•Onsite

About The Position

The Research Chemist in the Polymer Group at Stepan will be responsible for working collaboratively in a team environment to drive both short and long-term strategic projects to completion. The Research Chemist will conduct polymer synthesis, chemical analysis, formulation studies of new products and applications testing. In addition, the Research Chemist will develop initial business cases (e.g. white papers) for long-term initiatives to help populate the strategic project portfolio while collaborating between various functional groups to enable the project’s success.

Requirements

Strong thermodynamic understanding and application to both new laboratory experiments and plant processes
Experience integrating artificial intelligence, machine learning, predictive modeling, and autonomous research tools into scientific workflows to enhance innovation, decision-making, and research productivity.
Strong organizational, writing, people, and communication skills.
Good understanding of analytical capabilities related to organic molecules, including NMR, FTIR, GPC, TGA, etc.
Understanding of structure-property relationships of polymers

Responsibilities

Organic and polymer synthesis, including kinetic and process-related experiments
Polyurethane foam formulating and physical property testing
Conduct analytical testing relevant to polyol projects, including NMR, FTIR, GPC, and other wet chemistry analytical methods
Scale-up and process development for new polyol processes
Pilot-scale development of new polyurethane foams
Contributes to and actively participates in safety/waste programs and steadfastly adheres to safety policies/standards.
Conceives of projects and ideas to contribute to company growth
Interdepartmental collaboration on requests and technical projects
Communicate project results to both internal and external customers