R&D Scientist IIs

Merck•Milwaukee, WI

17h•$93,597 - $113,597

About The Position

Work Your Magic with us! Start your next chapter and join MilliporeSigma. Ready to explore, break barriers, and discover more? We know you’ve got big plans – so do we! Our colleagues across the globe love innovating with science and technology to enrich people’s lives with our solutions in Healthcare, Life Science, and Electronics. Together, we dream big and are passionate about caring for our rich mix of people, customers, patients, and planet. That's why we are always looking for curious minds that see themselves imagining the unimaginable with us. Position: R&D Scientist IIs Employer: Sigma-Aldrich Co, LLC 400 Summit Drive Burlington, Massachusetts 01803 Job Site: 6000 N Teutonia Ave Milwaukee, WI, 53209 Travel Requirement: Travel required for conferences and sales support. 5% domestic; 5% international.

Requirements

Employer requires candidate to have a PhD in Chemistry, Materials Science, Polymer Chemistry, or a closely related scientific field and two (2) years of work experience in an R&D Chemist role or closely related occupation
Candidate must also have the following: Demonstrated ability in polymer chemistry evidenced by one (1) publication in a peer reviewed scientific journal
Demonstrated ability in polymer synthesis using various polymerization techniques including but not limited to: Chain growth (Ring opening, ROMP), Radical (RAFT, NMP) and Step growth polymerization gained through two (2) years of work experience
Demonstrated knowledge of polymer characterizations using instruments such as GPC, MALLS, MALDI, and Rheometer gained through one (1) year of work experience. All years of experience may be gained concurrently

Responsibilities

Use scientific knowledge of polymer science to strategically identify new technologies and create new capabilities for different businesses, such as academia, pharma, and industry by proving novel polymeric products or a total solution in gene delivery, drug delivery, bioprinting, and packaging applications
Take lead independently coming up with a full detailed technical plan with new ideas for novel polymers in drug delivery, gene delivery, tissue engineering, 3D bio-printing and biodegradable packaging. The employee in this role will diversify our product portfolio by focusing on newer areas as compared to our typical portfolios
Spend time identifying and synthesizing potential monomers and small molecules (example: chain transfer agent, new catalysts for fast polymerization) for our customers and for inhouse use
Run polymerization reaction on a regular basis to screen the scope of new polymer development by following different well-known techniques: ring opening, polycondensation, RAFT, ROMP, NMP etc.
Scale up the existing synthesis procedure from gram to kilogram scale while following safety procedures by implementing hazard evaluation and engineering control using skills and knowledge in polymer science
Perform process characterization techniques necessary (NMR, ATR-IR, CHN, DSC, XRD) during both small and scale up synthesis
Contribute to the development of minimum product specifications by designing a plan for experiments using internal (analytical and QC department) resources only
Focus on developing additional product specifications for new and existing products, with a potential need to use external resources (sending samples to external labs in academia or industries)
Contribute to transferring technology for manufacturing by breaking down complex chemistry in Master Production Record (MPR) document for the in-house produced products
Work to clear high value back-ordered products by running the synthesis, purification, and characterization when needed. Also assisting in setup required for scale-up and pro-actively guiding production scientists to solve any issues during the bulk batch synthesis
Test polymer samples by using various instruments (GPC, MALLS, microplate reader, GC etc.) to expedite new product development and maintain the necessary instruments for the whole Material Science R&D team. Scientist needs to spend a good amount time measuring the specific refractive index increment (dn/dc) by using OptiLab instrument (dRI detector) for the new and existing natural polymer portfolio
Be ready to develop any new QC methods and techniques at the R&D level and transfer it to QC to expedite new product clearance and tackle the bottleneck in the clearing process
Support internal collaborations by generating application data for new and existing products using the help of the drug delivery team
Share technical insight on new products so that other team members can use the product to make a kit for drug delivery, apply it as a potential bio-ink, etc. Synthesize novel polymers for other team members so that they can use these polymers for their application needs. Contribute to solving technical challenges and providing solutions for other team members in R&D using skills and knowledge in polymers
Act as a quality liaison for R&D by managing ISO audits, assigning safety procedures and training policies etc.
Support product management by sharing technical insight, helping to understand the unique features of newly developed products and visiting customers in different opportunities
Contribute to the diversification of the Material Science R&D portfolio by exploring new areas and collaborating externally, even outside of academia, small startups, pharma, or industry