Job Title: Senior Formulation Chemist / Chemical Development Engineer
Salary: £47,000 – £59,000, depending on experience
Location: Bishop Auckland
Benefits
* Early finish every Friday.
* Ongoing training and professional development.
* Opportunity to lead new product development and formulation projects.
* Collaborative working environment with significant input into product development.
* Long-term career progression within an established manufacturing business.
The Company
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced chemistry professional to join an innovative and well-established manufacturing business specialising in advanced materials and surface technologies.
The business is looking for someone with a strong background in chemical formulation, laboratory testing and product development, particularly someone who has successfully taken formulations from small-scale laboratory batches through to larger-scale manufacturing.
This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced Chemist or Chemical Development Engineer who enjoys hands-on laboratory work but also wants to see their formulations developed into commercially manufactured products.
Job Description
As a Senior Formulation Chemist / Chemical Development Engineer, you will take responsibility for developing, testing, optimising and scaling up chemical formulations for new and existing products.
A key part of the role will involve taking formulations developed in the laboratory and successfully transferring them into larger production volumes, ensuring consistency, performance, quality and manufacturability.
Responsibilities will include:
* Developing and improving chemical formulations for new and existing products, with a focus on performance, stability and commercial viability.
* Designing and carrying out hands-on laboratory experiments, formulation trials and material testing.
* Taking formulations from small laboratory batches through pilot trials and into full-scale manufacturing.
* Identifying and resolving challenges associated with scaling up formulations, including mixing, viscosity, processing conditions and product consistency.
* Conducting physical, chemical and performance testing to validate formulations against required specifications.
* Analysing test results and adjusting formulations to improve product performance, durability and manufacturing efficiency.
* Working closely with production and engineering teams to successfully introduce new formulations into manufacturing.
* Investigating formulation issues, product defects and manufacturing challenges through structured testing and root cause analysis.
* Supporting raw material selection, supplier trials and the introduction of alternative materials.
Skills & Experience
To be considered, you will ideally have:
* A degree in Chemistry, Applied Chemistry, Polymer Chemistry, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering or a related scientific discipline.
* Approximately 5–10 years' experience in a hands-on formulation, R&D, chemical development or product development role.
* Strong practical experience developing and modifying chemical formulations within a laboratory environment.
* Proven experience conducting laboratory testing, analysing results and improving formulations based on product performance.
* Demonstrable experience scaling formulations from small laboratory batches into larger production volumes.
* A good understanding of how formulation properties and processing conditions can change during manufacturing scale-up.
* Experience working closely with production teams to troubleshoot formulation and manufacturing issues.
* Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to independently plan and deliver development projects.
Desirable Experience
Experience in any of the following areas would be particularly beneficial:
* Coatings, inks, paints, resins, adhesives, polymers, laminates or surface treatments.
* UV-curable coatings, radiation-cured inks or specialist chemical formulations.
* Rheology, viscosity, adhesion, curing behaviour and material compatibility.
* Pilot-scale trials, production validation and new product introduction.
* Testing material properties such as abrasion, scratch, chemical resistance, durability and adhesion.
* Design of Experiments (DoE), formulation optimisation and statistical analysis.
The Ideal Candidate
We are particularly interested in speaking with experienced chemists who have spent a significant part of their career developing formulations, testing products and solving practical challenges in the laboratory.
You will be someone who understands the chemistry behind a formulation but can also appreciate the challenges of manufacturing that product at scale.
Most importantly, you will have real hands-on experience taking a formulation from an initial laboratory batch through testing, development and ultimately into larger-scale production
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