Senior Research Scientist

Indorama Ventures: Indovinya•The Woodlands, TX

About The Position

Senior Research Scientist with a strong background in Personal Care ingredients, application development, and customer engagement. Experienced in partnering with strategic customers, identifying market opportunities, and delivering science-based solutions that drive business growth and competitive advantage. Proven ability to lead complex development projects, foster cross-functional collaboration, and bridge customer needs with R&D capabilities. Expertise in formulation science, technical marketing support, customer engagement, and innovation pipeline development across global and regional markets. Highly autonomous and proactive professional with a strong entrepreneurial mindset and proven ability to identify market opportunities, build strategic partnerships, and convert customer needs into innovation and business growth initiatives.

Requirements

B.S. in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Material Science, Biochemistry, or Polymer Chemistry/Engineering strongly preferred plus 10 years’ experience, or
M.S. in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Material Science, Biochemistry, or Polymer Chemistry/Engineering strongly preferred plus 6 years’ experience, or
Ph. D. in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Material Science, Biochemistry, or Polymer Chemistry/Engineering with 4 years of industrial experience.
1-5 years’ experience (more 5 years’ experience preferred) in:
R&D laboratory preferred,
Surfactants knowledge in laboratory or application uses strongly preferred,
Market applications specific knowledge required in areas such Personal Care,or home & personal care for scientists in market segment areas Personal Care and Color Cosmetics formulation, including prototype development, formulation optimization, and troubleshooting.
Excellent organizational and communications skills
Strong knowledge of formulation science, application testing, and experimental design.
Experience in translating customer and market needs into innovative formulations and technical solutions.
Computer literacy w/ databases, word processing, spreadsheets
Demonstrated presentation skills required
English with Bilingual Portuguese or Spanish strongly preferred

Nice To Haves

Technical Leadership
Customer Technical Support
Strategic Customer Engagement
Business Development
Entrepreneurial Mindset
Ownership & Accountability
Autonomy & Self-Leadership

Responsibilities

Serve as a technical expert and trusted advisor for strategic customers within the Personal Care market.
Drive technical engagement with key accounts, providing scientific expertise, formulation support, and solution-oriented recommendations.
Establish and maintain strong technical relationships with customers, research institutions, consultants, and industry stakeholders.
Deliver technical presentations, workshops, and training sessions at customer meetings, industry conferences, and trade shows.
Lead and support medium- and high-complexity innovation projects, from concept development through commercialization.
Execute product and application development strategies aligned with business objectives, customer needs, and market trends.
Evaluate experimental products through physicochemical characterization, performance assessment, and application testing.
Identify new business opportunities and contribute to innovation pipeline development and growth initiatives.
Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including R&D, Regulatory, Marketing, Supply Chain, and Commercial functions, to ensure successful project execution.
Generate technical insights and market intelligence to support strategic decision-making and customer engagement.
Set up and execute laboratories to meet both internal and external customer expectations.
Developing methods to analyze samples or the applications testing to prove claims.
Maintain an awareness of the literature and other sources of information to remain current with developments in the area of functional products of interest to the Corporation.
Keep neat and orderly notebooks containing a record of all work performed. Maintain other records as necessary to support patent applications for innovative products.
Maintain orderly laboratory space
Follow all safety and training requirements
Full knowledge of Indorama internal systems including PMOX (the project management system)
Ability to manage and prioritize multiple projects effectively meet deadlines
Manage and optimize all processes under your supervision, taking into consideration Quality, Legality and Food Safety (if applicable) and client needs on Indorama’s products and services.
Guarantee all documentation under your responsibility updated and available for consulting
Interact with R&D team to improve the lab, lab methods, etc.
Able to manage a small team to solve these problems.
Ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, including R&D, Marketing, Regulatory, Supply Chain, and Commercial functions.