Sr. Staff Scientist, Specialty Additives

Ashland Specialty Ingredients, GP

Are you the kind of person that is always thinking, sketching, seeking, and adjusting? Who needs to understand how things work and then figure out how they can work better? Are you a passionate, tenacious, solver who loves to work with others who share your drive? Are you positive, constructive, and ingenious?

Are you always solving?

Then we'd like to meet you and bet you'd like to meet us.

Ashland has an exciting opportunity for a Sr. Staff Scientist to join our Specialty Additives business at our Wilmington, DE location. This position will report to R&D Director for Specialty Additives Wilmington lab.

This role is pivotal in developing and commercializing advanced additives for coatings applications, including architectural, industrial, and specialty markets. The ideal candidate will have deep technical expertise in polymer chemistry, surface science, and formulation science, especially in water-borne architectural and industrial coatings, along with a strong track record of innovation and cross-functional collaboration.

The responsibilities of the position include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Lead and execute R&D projects focused on the development of novel coating additives (e.g., rheology modifiers, dispersants, defoamers, wetting agents, etc.).
• Drive innovation projects through stage-gate process toward successful commercialization
• Design and conduct experiments to evaluate additive performance in various coating systems
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including product development, marketing, regulatory, and manufacturing to translate lab-scale innovations into commercial products.
• Maintain awareness of industry trends, emerging technologies, and competitive landscape to inform strategic direction.
• Author technical reports, patent disclosures, and scientific publications.
• Represent the company at industry conferences, customer meetings, and technical forums.
• Actively contribute to the organizational goals by taking initiative, executing on goals and focusing on performance and safety
• Improve the organization capacity and capabilities through building collaborative relationships, optimizing diverse talent and utilizing positive communications and influence with others

In order to be qualified for this role, you must possess the following:

• Ph.D. in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or related field; M.S. with extensive experience may be considered.
• 5-10 years of relevant experience in coatings, additives, or related specialty chemicals.
• Strong understanding of coating formulation and application, especially in water-borne architectural and industrial coatings, ideally with strong knowledge of rheology modifiers, surfactants, dispersants, and other coating additives.
• Track record of successful innovation toward commercialization
• Excellent communication, leadership, and project management skills.
• Demonstrated responsible and ethical behavior at all times
• The ability to help the company drive greater value through understanding the business, making complex decisions and creating the new and different

In more than 100 countries, the people of Ashland LLC. (NYSE: ASH) provide the specialty chemicals, technologies and insights to help customers create new and improved products for today and sustainable solutions for tomorrow. Our chemistry is at work every day in a wide variety of markets and applications, including architectural coatings, automotive, construction, energy, personal care and pharmaceutical. Visit to see the innovations we offer.

At Ashland our vision is to be a leading, global specialty chemicals company whose inspired and engaged employees add value to all we touch. In fact our people, employees, customers and vendors define who we are. They are the driving force behind everything we do.

Not only do we value our customers but we value our employees, and we work to offer them a dynamic and challenging environment. We hold ourselves to high standards at Ashland, and we value integrity and honesty.

Ashland has a history of attracting the best people and keeping them. The reasons are simple: industry competitive salary and benefits, pay-for-performance incentive plans and a diverse work environment where employees feel challenged and valued. People come to Ashland and stay. As a growing Fortune 500 specialty chemicals company, we offer opportunities for development and advancement throughout our global organization. Our values define who we are and what we care about as a company. If you are looking for a relationship with a company instead of simply a job, this may be a great fit.

Ashland is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer Minorities/Women/Veterans/Disabled/Gender Identity/Sexual Orientation.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability. NOTE: We do not accept resumes from external staffing agencies or independent recruiters for any of our openings unless we have a signed recruiting agreement in place to fill a specific position.