{"id":3684932,"url":"https://alion.io/job/synthomer-advanced-chemist","title":"Advanced Chemist","company":{"id":1903359,"name":"Synthomer","domain":"synthomer.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/synthomer","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workday","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":80,"open_postings":10,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.8,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":40,"computed_at":"2026-11-07T05:47:08Z"}},"role":"Science & Research","role_family":"Science & Research","seniority":"junior","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Harlow, United Kingdom"],"countries":["GB"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":2,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-11-03T14:35:02Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-11-03","last_verified_at":"2026-11-07T01:06:50Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":3,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":3},"description":"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.\nAt 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.\nAt 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.\nThis 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.\n\nWhat You'll Be Doing\nLead technical workstreams within R&D projects, delivering innovative polymer products, formulations and applications.\nDesign, conduct and interpret experimental programmes, applying strong scientific rigour to generate meaningful conclusions and recommendations.\nDevelop technical expertise within your specialist area while identifying opportunities to bring ideas and insights from adjacent technologies.\nPlan, organise and oversee laboratory, pilot plant and manufacturing trials to support product development, technology transfer and scale-up.\nSupport the successful launch of new products, providing troubleshooting and technical support during initial production runs.\nWork closely with manufacturing, commercial, regulatory and technical teams to deliver business objectives.\nAnalyse trends, identify root causes of technical challenges and develop practical, cost-effective solutions.\nProvide technical support to commercial and operational teams, helping translate scientific capability into business value.\nContribute to competitor benchmarking, technology monitoring and innovation initiatives.\nSupport technology transfers to external manufacturing partners where required.\nWhat We're Looking For\nPhD in Chemistry, Polymer Science or a related discipline, or a Degree with a minimum of 2 years' relevant industrial experience.\nStrong understanding of polymer chemistry and how material composition influences product performance and application properties.\nExperience in product development, formulation, process development or manufacturing scale-up within a chemical, materials or related environment.\nStrong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret complex datasets and turn findings into actionable recommendations.\nKnowledge of intellectual property principles, patents and regulatory considerations within product development environments.\nExperience contributing to safety improvements, writing SOPs and preparing risk assessments for new activities.\nA collaborative and proactive approach, with the confidence to engage stakeholders across R&D, operations, commercial and regulatory functions.\nStrong project management and organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and adapt to changing business needs.\nCommercial awareness and the ability to assess technical feasibility, risk and business value when developing solutions.\nA continuous improvement mindset, with a passion for innovation, learning and knowledge sharing.\n.\nLocation Harlow, Essex (4-5 days per week on-site)\nThis 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.\nGlobal Benefits Overview\nCompetitive, market-aligned compensation\n\nDiscretionary global bonus scheme\n\nDiscretionary Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) - for senior positions\n\nCompany car or car allowance - varies by region and role\n\nHealthcare - tailored to regional locations\n\nParental leave and family support - maternity, paternity, adoption (aligned with regional policies)\n\nWorking options - flexibility where it matters, based on role and business needs\n\nLearning & development opportunities - training, online platforms, buddy/mentorship programs, Internal Synthomer University with L&D offers\n\nWellbeing support - employee assistance program (EAP), mental health resources, wellbeing initiatives\n\nRetirement / pension contributions - plans vary by country\n\nCulture of Inclusion - where everyone can thrive\n\nPerformance culture, global reward & recognition programmes","description_format":"text","description_chars":5209,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":2,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"phd","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Parental leave","Retirement plans"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Plastics & Polymers","Chemical Manufacturing"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-11-03T14:35:02Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"GB","licensed_sponsor":true,"adverts_offering_sponsorship_24m":0,"sanctioned_now":false,"evidence":"Licensed UK visa sponsor (Senior or Specialist Worker, Graduate Trainee, Skilled Worker)","filings_12m":null,"filings_prev_12m":null,"green_card_filings_12m":null,"median_offered_wage_usd":null,"route":"Global Business Mobility: Senior or Specialist Worker; 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