Sr. Materials Chemist
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Nov 5, 2026. First seen by Alion on Nov 3, 2026. Glanbia scores A on the Alion truth index.
The Opportunity
Bring science to life in a role where your insights will help shape how nutrition products perform, process and scale. As Senior Materials Scientist you will use material characterization, ingredient functionality and experimental design to solve complex product and manufacturing challenges and help move innovation from concept through commercialization. This role reports to the R&D Technical Service Manager and provides technical leadership for the Material Science Lab.
Design and execute experiments that uncover what drives the processability, stability and performance of Ready-to-Mix, Ready-to-Drink and Ready-to-Eat products.
Apply rheology, dynamic vapor sorption (DVS), particle-size analysis and other material characterization techniques to complex food matrices.
Turn analytical data into clear recommendations that guide ingredient selection, formulation, processing, shelf-life and commercialization decisions.
Serve as a subject matter expert in food material science, ingredient functionality, structure-function relationships and physical stability.
Lead root-cause investigations involving product performance, manufacturing performance, shelf-life and stability challenges.
Partner with Food Process Engineering and cross-functional teams to establish validation protocols and technical requirements for materials, formulations and processes.
Evaluate emerging ingredients, technologies, processing approaches and analytical tools that can support innovation and product differentiation.
Mentor junior scientists, support strong experimental design and scientific rigor, and may supervise up to two direct reports.
The Skills you will bring to the team
Bachelor's or Master's degree in Food Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering or a related field.
Minimum of 7 years of relevant academic or industry experience; food or dietary supplement industry experience is preferred.
Strong knowledge of material characterization, ingredient functionality and structure-function relationships.
Hands-on experience with relevant analytical equipment such as rheometers, DVS, laser-diffraction particle-size analyzers and light microscopes.
Experience using statistical software such as JMP or an equivalent tool for experimental design and data analysis.
Strong critical-thinking and root-cause problem-solving skills with the ability to translate technical findings into practical recommendations.
Experience with powder characterization and processing, RTE rheology and/or lab management is beneficial.
Ability to mentor others, work effectively across functions and communicate technical recommendations with confidence.
Where and how you will work
The opportunity will be based in Downers Grove, Illinois. As a senior laboratory-based R&D role, the position will have hands-on responsibility for the Material Science Lab and its analytical equipment.
What we would like to offer you!
The opportunity to develop your career on a global stage, continuous learning through an on-demand learning platform, and a competitive compensation package including staff discounts, generous family leave policy, health & dental plan, competitive salary and 401K.
Compensation for roles at Glanbia varies depending on a wide range of factors including but not limited to the specific office location, role, skill set and level of experience. Glanbia provides a reasonable range of compensation for roles that may be hired in IL. This range may not be applicable to other locations. Factors that could be used to determine your actual salary may include your specific skills, years of experience and comparison to current employees already in this role. The typical candidate is hired below midpoint of the range. The annual salary for IL based employees for this role is $100k - $125,000k with an annual bonus.
About Glanbia
Glanbia is a better nutrition company with three divisions: Performance Nutrition, Health & Nutrition and Dairy Nutrition. Collectively and with our partners, we bring broad expertise in nutrition and work with global food and beverage companies while offering award-winning brands and ingredients around the world.
At Glanbia, we celebrate diversity because we know that our individual strengths make us stronger together. We welcome and encourage interest from a variety of candidates and give applications consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status.
At Glanbia, our culture celebrates individuality, knowing that together we are more.