R&D Chemist Jobs
R&D Chemist jobs are open across pharmaceuticals, specialty chemicals, consumer products, and materials science, from entry-level to principal scientist and research director, with specializations in synthetic chemistry, formulation development, and analytical methods. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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INTRODUCTION
At Avient, our people power our performance. As a Research & Development Chemist, you will develop and support textile screen printing inks within Avient's Specialty Inks Materials Development Team. This hands-on role focuses primarily on water-based ink and coating technologies while also supporting plastisol product development, manufacturing, quality, and commercialization activities. The position works closely with cross-functional teams to deliver innovative products that meet customer and business needs.
ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Develop and optimize water-based textile screen printing inks and related coating technologies
- Conduct laboratory formulation, testing, and evaluation of new and existing products
- Support product maintenance, raw material qualification, and continuous improvement initiatives
- Collaborate with Manufacturing, Quality, Technical Service, Marketing, and Product Management on development projects
- Analyze technical data and communicate results through reports and presentations
- Support pilot trials, scale-up activities, and commercial product launches
- Engage with suppliers to evaluate new raw materials and emerging technologies
- Maintain accurate laboratory records and a safe working environment
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or related scientific discipline
- Minimum 2 years of formulation experience in water-based textile screen printing inks, water-based coatings, textile coatings, graphic arts coatings, or similar aqueous systems
- Experience conducting hands-on product development and laboratory testing
- Strong problem-solving, organizational, and communication skills
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience with textile screen printing applications
- Experience with pigment dispersions, rheology modifiers, acrylics, polyurethane dispersions, or related coating technologies
- Familiarity with plastisol inks
- Knowledge of Design of Experiments (DOE), statistical analysis, or Minitab
- Experience with analytical and physical testing equipment such as rheometers, FTIR, DSC, and color measurement systems
WHY AVIENT
- Visible impact across multiple sites and businesses
- Strong partnership with business and enterprise leadership
- Opportunity to lead change
- Growth-focused culture that values innovation, collaboration, and accountability
PHYSICAL DEMANDS
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; and reach with hands and arms. The employee is frequently required to walk. The employee is occasionally required to stoop, kneel, crouch, crawl and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to lift and/or move up to 50 lbs. Specific vision abilities may require close vision, color vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus. Requires the use of safety equipment as dictated by the work area such as safety glasses and shoes, dust mask, hard hat, respirator, face shield, hearing protection, chemical suit, gloves, aprons, etc. Work is inside and the typical noise level is loud. Regularly exposed to moving mechanical parts and fumes or airborne particles. The employee is frequently exposed to vibration. The employee is occasionally exposed to toxic or caustic chemicals and risk of electrical shock.
CA-KV
Our purpose at Avient Corporation is to be an innovator of materials solutions that help our customers succeed, while enabling a sustainable world.
Innovation goes far beyond materials science; it’s powered by the passion, creativity, and diverse expertise of 9,000 professionals worldwide. Whether you’re a finance wizard, a tech enthusiast, an operational powerhouse, an HR changemaker, or a trailblazer in materials development, you’ll find your place at Avient.
Join our global team and help shape the future with sustainable solutions that transform possibilities into realities. Your unique perspective could be the key to our next breakthrough!
We believe that all of our global employees are leaders and that the six most important behaviors for driving our strategy and culture are the same no matter if an employee is a leader of self, a leader of others, or a leader of the business.
By playing to win, acting customer centric, driving innovation and profitable growth, collaborating seamlessly across Avient, and motivating and inspiring and developing others and yourself you will accelerate your ability to achieve Avient’s strategic goals, to meet our customer needs, and to accomplish your career goals.
At Avient, we believe a wide variety of thoughts, ideas and backgrounds gives us the creativity to be successful in a rapidly changing world. In support of this, we stress equality of opportunity for all qualified individuals in accordance with applicable laws. Decisions on hiring, promotion, development, compensation or advancement are based solely on a person’s qualifications, abilities, experience and performance.
Avient is an equal opportunity employer. We maintain a policy of non-discrimination in providing equal employment to all qualified employees and candidates regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, color, religion, national origin, disability, genetic information, protected veteran’s status, or other legally protected classification in accordance with applicable federal, state and local law. If you need an accommodation because of a disability to complete an online application, please contact the Avient HR Team by emailing, ApplicationAccommodation@Avient.com.
INTRODUCTION
At Avient, our people power our performance. As a Research & Development Chemist, you will develop and support textile screen printing inks within Avient's Specialty Inks Materials Development Team. This hands-on role focuses primarily on water-based ink and coating technologies while also supporting plastisol product development, manufacturing, quality, and commercialization activities. The position works closely with cross-functional teams to deliver innovative products that meet customer and business needs.
ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Develop and optimize water-based textile screen printing inks and related coating technologies
- Conduct laboratory formulation, testing, and evaluation of new and existing products
- Support product maintenance, raw material qualification, and continuous improvement initiatives
- Collaborate with Manufacturing, Quality, Technical Service, Marketing, and Product Management on development projects
- Analyze technical data and communicate results through reports and presentations
- Support pilot trials, scale-up activities, and commercial product launches
- Engage with suppliers to evaluate new raw materials and emerging technologies
- Maintain accurate laboratory records and a safe working environment
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or related scientific discipline
- Minimum 2 years of formulation experience in water-based textile screen printing inks, water-based coatings, textile coatings, graphic arts coatings, or similar aqueous systems
- Experience conducting hands-on product development and laboratory testing
- Strong problem-solving, organizational, and communication skills
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience with textile screen printing applications
- Experience with pigment dispersions, rheology modifiers, acrylics, polyurethane dispersions, or related coating technologies
- Familiarity with plastisol inks
- Knowledge of Design of Experiments (DOE), statistical analysis, or Minitab
- Experience with analytical and physical testing equipment such as rheometers, FTIR, DSC, and color measurement systems
WHY AVIENT
- Visible impact across multiple sites and businesses
- Strong partnership with business and enterprise leadership
- Opportunity to lead change
- Growth-focused culture that values innovation, collaboration, and accountability
PHYSICAL DEMANDS
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; and reach with hands and arms. The employee is frequently required to walk. The employee is occasionally required to stoop, kneel, crouch, crawl and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to lift and/or move up to 50 lbs. Specific vision abilities may require close vision, color vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus. Requires the use of safety equipment as dictated by the work area such as safety glasses and shoes, dust mask, hard hat, respirator, face shield, hearing protection, chemical suit, gloves, aprons, etc. Work is inside and the typical noise level is loud. Regularly exposed to moving mechanical parts and fumes or airborne particles. The employee is frequently exposed to vibration. The employee is occasionally exposed to toxic or caustic chemicals and risk of electrical shock.
CA-KV
Our purpose at Avient Corporation is to be an innovator of materials solutions that help our customers succeed, while enabling a sustainable world.
Innovation goes far beyond materials science; it’s powered by the passion, creativity, and diverse expertise of 9,000 professionals worldwide. Whether you’re a finance wizard, a tech enthusiast, an operational powerhouse, an HR changemaker, or a trailblazer in materials development, you’ll find your place at Avient.
Join our global team and help shape the future with sustainable solutions that transform possibilities into realities. Your unique perspective could be the key to our next breakthrough!
We believe that all of our global employees are leaders and that the six most important behaviors for driving our strategy and culture are the same no matter if an employee is a leader of self, a leader of others, or a leader of the business.
By playing to win, acting customer centric, driving innovation and profitable growth, collaborating seamlessly across Avient, and motivating and inspiring and developing others and yourself you will accelerate your ability to achieve Avient’s strategic goals, to meet our customer needs, and to accomplish your career goals.
At Avient, we believe a wide variety of thoughts, ideas and backgrounds gives us the creativity to be successful in a rapidly changing world. In support of this, we stress equality of opportunity for all qualified individuals in accordance with applicable laws. Decisions on hiring, promotion, development, compensation or advancement are based solely on a person’s qualifications, abilities, experience and performance.
Avient is an equal opportunity employer. We maintain a policy of non-discrimination in providing equal employment to all qualified employees and candidates regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, color, religion, national origin, disability, genetic information, protected veteran’s status, or other legally protected classification in accordance with applicable federal, state and local law. If you need an accommodation because of a disability to complete an online application, please contact the Avient HR Team by emailing, ApplicationAccommodation@Avient.com.
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Find R&D Chemist JobsR&D Chemist Job Market
Who's Hiring
Top Industries Hiring
- Chemicals & Materials
- Science & Research
- Consulting & Professional Services
What Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in R&D chemist jobs.
- Bachelor's or master's degree in chemistry, chemical engineering, or a closely related field
- Hands-on experience with analytical instrumentation including HPLC, GC-MS, and NMR
- Proficiency in laboratory data analysis and documentation in electronic lab notebooks
- Experience designing and executing experiments and interpreting results independently
- Knowledge of GMP, GLP, or ISO laboratory quality and compliance standards
- Strong written communication skills for technical reports, SOPs, and patent disclosures
Tips for Your R&D Chemist Job Search
Tailor your resume to lab techniques
List the exact instrumentation you've operated, such as NMR, HPLC, GC-MS, or XRD, in a dedicated skills section. Hiring managers scan for specific equipment and software names before reading anything else on an r&d chemist resume.
Quantify your research contributions clearly
Replace phrases like 'assisted with synthesis' with specific outcomes: yield improvements, cycle-time reductions, or formulations that advanced to pilot scale. Reviewers for r&d chemist roles want to see what your work produced, not just what you did.
Apply early to roles that fit
Migrate Mate lists r&d chemist openings from across the United States in one place, so you can find roles that match and apply directly to each listing.
Target postings by research stage
Filter openings by whether they emphasize discovery, process development, or scale-up. Your resume and cover letter should mirror the stage language in the posting, since an early-discovery team and a scale-up team look for different depth in an r&d chemist candidate.
Prepare for a technical presentation round
Many r&d chemist interviews include a 15 to 30 minute chalk-talk or slide presentation on a past project. Practice explaining your experimental design choices and what you would do differently, not just the results, since that is what interviewers probe hardest.
Negotiate start date around project timelines
R&D teams often hire to fill a gap in an active project. Asking about the current research phase during your offer conversation lets you propose a start date that signals awareness of their workflow and gives you a stronger footing in the negotiation.
R&D Chemist Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions
Which companies are hiring the most r&d chemists?
The most active employers for r&d chemists right now are MAPEI Corporation, Sherwin-Williams, and Element Solutions, and the most openings are in Ohio, Texas, and Connecticut, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. Pharmaceutical manufacturers, specialty chemical companies, and consumer goods firms consistently account for the largest share of open roles.
How many r&d chemist jobs are remote?
About 9% of r&d chemist openings are fully remote or hybrid as of November 2026, reflecting the hands-on nature of most laboratory work. Computational chemistry, cheminformatics, regulatory writing, and data analysis roles within r&d are the sub-areas most likely to offer remote or hybrid arrangements.
How do you become a r&d chemist?
Start by earning a bachelor's degree in chemistry or a related field, then build hands-on lab skills through undergraduate research, co-ops, or internships. A master's or doctoral degree opens roles in discovery research and principal-level positions. Most employers expect demonstrated experience with core analytical techniques and familiarity with GMP or GLP environments before hiring.
How do you get hired as a r&d chemist with little or no experience?
Focus on roles labeled associate chemist or research associate, which are designed for candidates early in their careers. Highlight any undergraduate research projects, independent study work, or coursework-based lab experience with specific techniques. Contract and temp-to-hire positions at specialty chemical or pharmaceutical companies are a common entry path that often converts to full-time roles after a short assignment.
What does the r&d chemist interview process look like?
Most r&d chemist hiring processes begin with a recruiter screen followed by a technical phone interview with the hiring manager or a senior scientist. A second round typically includes a panel interview with cross-functional team members and a technical presentation or problem-solving exercise based on a past project. Some employers add a half-day lab visit or whiteboard session before extending an offer.
Where can I find and apply to r&d chemist jobs?
You can find and apply to r&d chemist jobs on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings from employers across the United States. Search the listings to find roles that match your background, then apply directly to each one that fits.
See All 48 R&D Chemist Jobs
Find roles that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
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