Senior R&D Scientist I

Covestro•Pittsburgh, PA

About The Position

This position is for a competent operating professional, capable of technical leadership within Covestro, a world-leading supplier of high-tech polymer materials. The role primarily supports automotive headliner and filtration applications, requiring broad insight into polyurethane chemistry to also support additional specialty applications and offer product quality recommendations. The position holder will organize and conduct laboratory experiments and scale-up evaluations to develop new products and solve non-routine technical problems. Covestro is a company that refines chemical material solutions with game-changing products, guided by its purpose to make the world a brighter place and focusing fully on the circular economy. The company encourages pushing boundaries and values diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Material Science, Engineering or related discipline with 4+ years’ experience
OR Master’s degree in Chemistry, Material Science, Engineering or related discipline with 2+years’ experience
OR PhD degree in Chemistry, Material Science, Engineering or related discipline with 1+ years’ experience
Strong organizational and planning skills in order to plan and schedule assignments as part of overall project.
Demonstrated creativity in order to recommend and implement solutions to meet business objectives.
Excellent interpersonal, negotiation and communication skills.
Demonstrated analytical skills in order to identify and resolve problems in all aspects of new product development and commercialization
Ability to think independently in order to support products with a diverse base in the Specialties market.
Experience in formulating polyurethane systems for automotive and diversified applications.

Nice To Haves

Experience with polyurethane formulation
Experience working directly with customers as a technical expert

Responsibilities

Lead medium-sized projects (ie, more financially impactful to Covestro) that require procedural development.
Direction of others, and mentorship of team members.
Execute complex assignments when given broadly defined policies and objectives.
Design tests, processes and develop new technical approaches.
Create formulations that pass small-scale screening tests and then sees these candidates through to customer implementation.
Address complex challenges and make direct decisions.
Lead the planning and implementation of machine trials by verifying the formulations, processing conditions and other parameters, then recording observations such as chemical / foam mix quality and flow, cure rate, appearances.
Influence project direction by providing recommendations based on technical expertise and knowledge of business strategy.
North American lead for automotive headliner platform, collaborating with global team to drive localization efforts.
North American technical point of contact for filtration market.
Coordinate with Technical Service and Product Planning and Supply to introduce new specialty systems.
Monitor new customer product data to assess manufacturing compatibility and assist with customer trouble-shooting efforts.
Build a strong relationship with technical counterparts at assigned customers.
Ensure an appropriate level of communicating results to keep both the customer team and the internal Covestro team informed of work progress and status.
Assist with evaluations of potential products, process improvements, raw materials, potential hazards or equipment by conducting lab bench-work.
Build relationships with key vendors to keep informed about new products that may help meet our goals.
Read relevant technical reports and articles, review patents and discuss new ideas with customers.
Potentially involved in industry trade associations.
Report results in statistical manner to Application Development and business management, identifying deviant results and alternative protocols to identify problems or provide solutions.
Provide recommendations on product quality assessments.
Higher level of involvement in safety improvement or multi-group resource activities (reviews, training, new employee onboarding, etc.)