What are the responsibilities and job description for the Sr. Surface Treatment Chemist position at Quaker Houghton?
This role focuses on formulation changes, raw-material substitutions, cost-optimization, and simple new-product development, ensuring product performance, quality, and manufacturability. The chemist will work closely with R&D, manufacturing, procurement, and technical service teams to maintain product robustness and accelerate development timelines.
Responsibilities:
Work in a laboratory and administrative office setting, w/ some travel as required.
Ensure a safety mindset throughout designated area of responsibility.
While performing the duties of this job the employee may be exposed to fumes or airborne particles and toxic or caustic chemicals. The employee is occasionally exposed to work near moving mechanical parts. The associate must be able to safely work in a variety of potentially hazardous situations. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.
While performing the duties of this job the employee is regularly required to carefully, and precisely manipulate samples, apparatus, and sensitive instruments. The employee is frequently required to stand and reach with hands and arms. The employee is occasionally required to walk sit and talk or hear. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds, or no more than local or country regulations allow. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and ability to adjust focus.
Responsibilities:
- Formulation Adjustments — Modify existing formulations to improve performance, reduce cost, or address supply-chain changes.
- Raw Material Qualification — Evaluate alternative suppliers, test new raw materials, and ensure compatibility with existing products.
- Simple Product Development — Develop incremental or derivative products based on customer needs or market gaps.
- Lab Testing & Validation — Conduct performance testing, stability studies, and application evaluations.
- Documentation — Maintain formulation records, test reports, and SOPs in compliance with internal quality systems.
- Scale-Up Support — Assist manufacturing teams during pilot runs and production scale-ups.
- Troubleshooting — Investigate formulation issues, quality deviations, or customer complaints.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration — Work with procurement, operations, and technical service to ensure smooth implementation of formulation changes.
- Continuous Improvement — Identify opportunities to streamline formulations, reduce complexity, or improve sustainability.
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or related field.
- 2–7 years of experience in formulation, product development, or applied chemistry.
- Formulation changes and optimization
- Raw-material evaluation and substitution
- Application testing and performance validation
- Strong understanding of chemical interactions, stability, and compatibility.
- Ability to manage multiple projects and deliver results on time.
Work in a laboratory and administrative office setting, w/ some travel as required.
Ensure a safety mindset throughout designated area of responsibility.
While performing the duties of this job the employee may be exposed to fumes or airborne particles and toxic or caustic chemicals. The employee is occasionally exposed to work near moving mechanical parts. The associate must be able to safely work in a variety of potentially hazardous situations. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.
While performing the duties of this job the employee is regularly required to carefully, and precisely manipulate samples, apparatus, and sensitive instruments. The employee is frequently required to stand and reach with hands and arms. The employee is occasionally required to walk sit and talk or hear. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds, or no more than local or country regulations allow. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and ability to adjust focus.