Junior Chemist

Job Description:

About Us:

ITW Car Care is a division of Illinois Tool Works (ITW), specializing in automotive aftermarket products. The division offers a diverse portfolio of brands such as Rain-X wiper blades, visibility enhancing products, and water repellent treatments, including our 2-in-1 Glass Cleaner. Black Magic to support all your wheel and tire needs including Tire Wet.

Summary:

The ideal candidate will bring a blend of technical and formulation expertise in aftermarket car care product development and strategy. Under the technical collaboration and/or direction of an R&D manager, the candidate will develop multiple projects in a fast-paced innovative environment. They are responsible for research, development, technical evaluation and stability testing of the formulations. This position requires a creative individual with a passion for technical learning and curiosity. The R&D Formulation Chemist will spend a minimum of 50% of their daily activity working at the lab bench to create new products and solve complex technical problems to support the ITW Global Brand’s business strategies.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Translates customer needs into effective product designs and customer-driven innovation strategies.
• Develop and optimize formulations that deliver differentiated performance, stability, and consumer-relevant benefits aligned with brand strategy.
• Collaborate with various raw material suppliers to research and create differentiated formulas and coatings.
• Design and execute formulation experiments, including performance testing, stability studies, and comparative benchmarking against competitive products.
• Partner with Brand, Application, Packaging and Process Engineering team to translate technical capabilities into validated product benefits, claims, and consumer-facing messaging.
• Lead formula development and work closely with R&D Project Manager to deliver projects on-time via the new product introduction process.
• Innovate with polymers, silicone oil and its derivatives, surfactants, and solvents in adhesives and coatings to fulfill unmet customer/application needs for developing differentiated products and solutions. Knowledge of ISO practice/requirements for manufacturing scaleups will be added advantage.
• Clearly identify project goals, product design requirements, technical approach, test strategy, and conduct laboratory evaluations, comparison testing and issue final comprehensive reports.
• Experience in inorganic and polymer surface modifications; knowledge of rubber surface coatings is preferred, including both coating formulation and low-pressure, low-volume air-assisted spray coating/atomization
• Conduct patent searches to monitor competitive innovations and generate intellectual property in own area of development in the form of patents, formulation know-how, and trade secrets.
• Support the scale-up of formulations from lab scale to mid- and full-size manufacturing batches. Coordinate and work with internal departments on the technology transfer for scale-up, and commercialization, and determine the appropriate design and product specifications to maximize ease of manufacturing and customer applications.
• Provide short- and long-term support for current products to maintain ITW’s reputation for quality and performance by qualifying alternative sources of raw materials and validating performance.
• Manage multiple projects/tasks independently and as part of a team and fully utilize analytical laboratory equipment.
• Work hands-on in the laboratory, when necessary, and manage the daily activities of a research lab technician(s).
• Understand and stay abreast of important safety and regulatory requirements affecting this industry.
• Adhere to all safety, health, environmental, and quality policies and procedures.
• Minimal business travel required (< 10%)
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master’s degree, or higher, in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering (completed or verified prior to start)
• Minimum five (5) years’ of hands-on formulation and product development experience, preferably in consumer-packaged goods, automotive care, coatings, or related applied chemistry industries.
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Additional qualifications to help you succeed in the role

• Experience in inorganic and polymer surface modifications; knowledge of rubber surface coatings desired.
• Experience in physical/chemical characterization of surfaces. Knowledge of surface wetting / non-wetting phenomena, knowledge of silicone chemistry a plus.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks in a fast-paced innovative environment.
• Ability to work independently and as a contributing team member.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and logical approach to solving scientific problems.
• Detail oriented, flexible, innovative and self-motivated.
• Must demonstrate ability to perform tasks correctly and consistently.
• Willing to collaborate and work in cross-functional teams to advance ideas and projects.
• Strong communication, interpersonal and organizational skills are essential with the ability to clearly present ideas to a cross-functional team and manufacturing partners.