Senior Chemist (Antiperspirant/Deodorant Formulation Development)

Revlon Corporate•Kenilworth, NJ

2d•$80,000 - $110,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Development Chemist is a hands-on technical leader on Revlon’s R&D Antiperspirant/Deodorant Formulation team. The role independently develops and commercializes innovative, stable, safe, compliant, and cost-effective antiperspirant and deodorant products in multiple forms. It translates product briefs and consumer needs into measurable technical targets, designs robust formulations and processes, and leads projects from concept through scale-up, product release, and first production. The chemist provides technical guidance to junior lab staff and partners with Marketing, Regulatory, Safety, Claims, Packaging, Quality, Manufacturing, Procurement, and external suppliers. This is an onsite role requiring full-time presence at Revlon’s Kenilworth, New Jersey office. Occasional travel to plants, suppliers, or external testing sites may be required as business needs dictate. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States without current or future visa support. The base pay range is $80,000–$110,000 per year. Employees and their families are eligible for medical, dental, and vision benefits. The company provides basic life insurance and short-term disability insurance, and offers other benefits including long-term disability, supplemental life insurance, flexible spending accounts, critical illness insurance, group legal, and identity theft protection. Employees may enroll in the 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan. Vacation is three weeks, prorated during the first year, and employees receive twelve paid holidays; vacation depends on role.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry or a related scientific discipline.
At least 5 years of relevant formulation and product-development experience in cosmetics, personal care, OTC, consumer products, or a closely related industry.
Demonstrated success independently developing and commercializing products from bench scale through manufacturing.
Strong command of cosmetic formulation science, ingredient functionality, and product/process interactions.
Working knowledge of U.S. OTC antiperspirant requirements and cosmetic regulatory, safety, claims, and quality considerations; ability to partner with subject-matter experts on global requirements.
Ability to design experiments, analyze quantitative and qualitative data, draw scientifically sound conclusions, and make practical recommendations.
Skill in root-cause analysis and structured troubleshooting of formulation issues involving stability, packaging, and scale-up.
Ability to prioritize and independently manage multiple complex projects in a fast-paced matrix environment.
Clear written and verbal communication skills, including ability to translate technical information for Marketing, Operations, and leadership audiences.
Ownership, scientific curiosity, accuracy, attention to detail, and sound technical judgment.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office and document-management or product-lifecycle systems.
Proficiency with standard laboratory equipment and methods, such as mixers/homogenizers, balances, pH meters, viscometers, penetrometers, or texture analyzers.
Ability to work safely in laboratory and manufacturing environments.
Legal authorization to work in the United States without current or future visa support.

Nice To Haves

Experience in the antiperspirant/deodorant category.
Direct antiperspirant/deodorant formulation experience.
Experience with OTC products, anhydrous systems, sticks, gels, or roll-ons.
Familiarity with SAP.

Responsibilities

Independently formulate, reformulate, and optimize antiperspirant and deodorant products, including anhydrous sticks, soft solids, clear gels, roll-ons, and emerging formats.
Translate product briefs, competitive benchmarks, trend insights, and consumer needs into formulation, sensory, efficacy, stability, cost, and manufacturing targets.
Apply knowledge of ingredient functionality, antiperspirant active systems, wax structure, emulsions, surfactants, and fragrance interactions to solve formulation challenges.
Design experiments, interpret data, and establish relationships among formulation variables, product performance, and process parameters.
Identify ingredients, technologies, and formulation approaches; develop prototypes and technical recommendations for the AP/Deo innovation pipeline.
Lead projects from feasibility through formulation, stability, package compatibility, safety, clinical and efficacy testing, pilot, product release, and first production.
Assess technical risk, communicate tradeoffs, and drive timely decisions while meeting project timing, quality, and cost objectives.
Support value improvement, raw-material continuity, regulatory-driven reformulation, and business-continuity programs while maintaining required product performance.
Develop stability and performance test plans; ensure samples are prepared, staged, evaluated, and documented; investigate out-of-specification results or adverse trends.
Interpret instrumental data, including variability, and connect results to formulation and process decisions.
Enter and approve formula, ingredient, and product information in organizational systems to support safety, regulatory, claims, artwork, and product-release workflows.
Represent R&D in cross-functional project meetings and communicate technical status, risks, decisions, and next steps to technical and non-technical audiences.
Build relationships with raw-material suppliers, contract manufacturers, testing laboratories, and other external partners to evaluate innovation opportunities.
Provide day-to-day technical coaching to associate chemists, technicians, or temporary staff, and review experimental plans and data for scientific rigor and completeness.
Contribute to laboratory methods, best practices, knowledge management, and continuous improvement initiatives.
Maintain a safe, organized, inclusive, and collaborative laboratory environment and follow departmental procedures.