Advanced Chemist - Polymers

Synthomer is a leading supplier of high-performance, highly specialised polymers and ingredients that play vital roles in key sectors such as coatings, construction, adhesives, and health and protection – growing markets that serve billions of end users worldwide. Headquartered in London, UK and publicly listed there since 1971, we employ c.3,500 employees across our 5 innovation centres of excellence and more than 28 manufacturing sites across Europe, North America and Asia. Around 20% of our sales volumes are from new and patent protected products.

At our innovation centres of excellence in the UK, Germany, China, Malaysia and Ohio, USA we collaborate closely with our customers to develop new products and enhance existing ones tailored to their needs, with an increasing range of sustainability benefits. Since 2021, we have been proud holders of the London Stock Exchange Green Economy Mark, which recognises green technology businesses making a significant contribution to a more sustainable, low-carbon economy.

At Synthomer, innovation is at the heart of everything we do. We're looking for an Advanced Chemist - Polymers to join our R&D team and play a key role in developing new products, advancing technologies, and delivering solutions that make a real impact across global markets.

This is an exciting opportunity for a curious, hands-on scientist who enjoys solving complex technical challenges, working across multidisciplinary teams, and taking projects from concept through to commercial manufacture.

What You'll Be Doing

• Lead technical workstreams within R&D projects, delivering innovative polymer products, formulations and applications.
• Design, conduct and interpret experimental programmes, applying strong scientific rigour to generate meaningful conclusions and recommendations.
• Develop technical expertise within your specialist area while identifying opportunities to bring ideas and insights from adjacent technologies.
• Plan, organise and oversee laboratory, pilot plant and manufacturing trials to support product development, technology transfer and scale-up.
• Support the successful launch of new products, providing troubleshooting and technical support during initial production runs.
• Work closely with manufacturing, commercial, regulatory and technical teams to deliver business objectives.
• Analyse trends, identify root causes of technical challenges and develop practical, cost-effective solutions.
• Provide technical support to commercial and operational teams, helping translate scientific capability into business value.
• Contribute to competitor benchmarking, technology monitoring and innovation initiatives.
• Support technology transfers to external manufacturing partners where required.

What We're Looking For

• PhD in Chemistry, Polymer Science or a related discipline, or a Degree with a minimum of 2 years' relevant industrial experience.
• Strong understanding of polymer chemistry and how material composition influences product performance and application properties.
• Experience in product development, formulation, process development or manufacturing scale-up within a chemical, materials or related environment.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret complex datasets and turn findings into actionable recommendations.
• Knowledge of intellectual property principles, patents and regulatory considerations within product development environments.
• Experience contributing to safety improvements, writing SOPs and preparing risk assessments for new activities.
• A collaborative and proactive approach, with the confidence to engage stakeholders across R&D, operations, commercial and regulatory functions.
• Strong project management and organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and adapt to changing business needs.
• Commercial awareness and the ability to assess technical feasibility, risk and business value when developing solutions.
• A continuous improvement mindset, with a passion for innovation, learning and knowledge sharing.

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Location Harlow, Essex (4-5 days per week on-site)

This is a highly practical, laboratory-based role requiring regular hands-on experimentation, testing and collaboration with colleagues across R&D and manufacturing. As such, regular on-site presence at our Harlow facility is essential.

🌍 Global Benefits Overview

• 💰 Competitive, market-aligned compensation

• 🎯 Discretionary global bonus scheme

• 📈 Discretionary Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) – for senior positions

• 🚗 Company car or car allowance – varies by region and role

• 🩺 Healthcare – tailored to regional locations

• 👶 Parental leave and family support – maternity, paternity, adoption (aligned with regional policies)

• 🏡 Working options – flexibility where it matters, based on role and business needs

• 📚 Learning & development opportunities – training, online platforms, buddy/mentorship programs, Internal Synthomer University with L&D offers

• 💙 Wellbeing support – employee assistance program (EAP), mental health resources, wellbeing initiatives

• 🌱 Retirement / pension contributions – plans vary by country

• 🤝 Culture of Inclusion – where everyone can thrive

• 🏆 Performance culture, global reward & recognition programmes