Chemist - QED TECHNOLOGIES INTERNATIONAL LLC

Job Description: Chemist

Job Summary:

This role entails responsibilities both as an individual contributor on projects as well as owning and driving deliverables within the QED Technologies team. Specific responsibilities of this position include functioning as the technical lead for the research, advanced development and manufacturing of magnetorheological (MR) fluids for figuring a variety of optical elements and materials in QED Technologies’ machines. Additional responsibilities include overall MR fluid project management, process development and customer support.

The role of chemist will require advanced problem-solving capabilities applied to a variety of chemical and material related problems, focusing on both near-term product development approaches and longer-term innovation pipeline development.

Planning and executing experiments, designing appropriate testing in collaboration with applications engineers, data analysis and preparing data packages will be required.

Suitable candidates must be strong in one or more of the following areas: colloid and surface science, material science, polishing/abrasive technology, rheology, tribology, analytical chemistry, inorganic chemistry, chemical engineering, electrochemistry, or other aspects of particle and/or formulation science. Experience with particle technology in other fields is highly desired. The successful candidate must be able to effectively collaborate with experts in other disciplines such as optics, physics, machine design and software to provide high performance MR fluids.

Essential Responsibilities

Product/Process Development & Design (80%)

• Develop new or improved MR fluids and associated manufacturing processes.
• Develop and execute test plans to assess fluid performance and life across all QED machine platforms.
• Work with beta customers to obtain initial performance feedback.
• Identify and assess new raw material suppliers.

Product Stewardship & Customer Support (20%)

• Lead validation efforts for new lots of material from existing suppliers.
• Perform risk assessments and support supply chain management of raw material suppliers.
• Develop corrective action plans for issues with released MR fluids. Investigate root cause of customer issues with respect to, but not limited to: removal rate and uniformity stability, fluid life, and defectivity.
• Create manufacturing plans and process controls plans for new and existing manufacturing cells.
• Serve as a customer interface to learn customers’ critical technical needs for new and existing MR fluid applications.
• Develop and release SDS documents and evaluate standards to ensure regulatory compliance

Requirements

• PhD degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Material Science or relevant science field, or MS with extensive relevant experience
• Product research and development experience in some aspect of particle technology (formulation, dispersion, synthesis, characterization). Candidates with demonstrated track record in commercialization of new products in a relevant field will be given advanced consideration.
• Experience presenting to and collaborating with customers and/or suppliers
• Demonstrated ability to quickly come up to speed on new technology areas
• Demonstrated ability of working and collaborating with experts in other disciplines such as optics, physics, machine design and software to provide high performance MR fluids.
• Demonstrated ability in documenting knowledge
• Responsible for supporting MRF fluid IP development and protection
• Limited travel requirements

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of colloid science, polishing/abrasive technology, and formulations

• Experience managing project teams to ensure high performance in a dynamic work environment including multiple stakeholders for effective project prioritization.

• Statistical knowledge and background related to SPC/SQC

Behavioral:

• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Ability to meet deadlines by creatively solving problems
• Strong sense of ownership in job responsibilities
• Significant contributor in team-oriented environment

Computer:

• Basic PC skills in a Microsoft Windows environment