Principal Application Scientist

Join to apply for the Principal Application Scientist role at Synthomer in our technical centre in Akron, OH. This position involves direct customer engagement and the development of new applications and commercial products within the Formulated Adhesive segment.

• Lead application development with focus on hotmelt applications and associated markets such as hygiene, automotive, assembly, and other durable assembly markets.
• Have an understanding of the functional attributes of a wide range of polymers, adhesives and tackifier resins materials.
• Translate fundamental knowledge to the development of new applications and the identification of new market platforms.
• Understand customer and end‑user requirements and testing procedures to determine how Synthomer product offerings can enhance adhesive applications and performance.
• Provide customers with product recommendations and support, providing samples, technical and product details to facilitate evaluation of Synthomer products.
• Provide customers with an understanding of the Adhesive Solutions product portfolio via in‑depth training, conferences, trade shows, and customer site visits.
• Work closely with the marketing and sales team on prospect mining and identification of new accounts, including traveling with sales/marketing for joint customer visits requiring planning, preparation for calls and presentations.
• Maintain contact with existing and prospective customers, independently or together with the sales team, using all communication channels.
• Manage innovation project opportunity pipeline through Sales Force (SFDC).
• Collaborate with manufacturing and quality control departments to ensure product performance and reliability and drive new product development.
• Stay current on industry developments and advancements in technology related to the product line.
• Prepare technical presentations, brochures and supporting literature to enable customer engagement.
• Represent the company at industry events and other forums.

• Ideally PhD in Chemistry, Polymer Science, Material Science or Engineering or related field;
  Masters considered based on experience.
• Ideally 5 years experience in the adhesives or polymers industries.
• Demonstrated broad working knowledge in a range of polymer science skills including structure‑property relationships, polymer physics, characterization, mechanics of materials and polymer testing.
• Strong customer interface and communication skills in discovering customer needs and translating them into application specifications.
• Exhibit a high level of initiative and self‑motivation.
• Ability to translate customers unmet needs into differentiated new product or adoption of existing products in new applications.
• Skill in translating ideas and concepts into detailed technical work plans for execution by technician team.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills with customers and internal partners.
• Demonstrate strong leadership in project management, cross‑function team work and cross‑region collaboration.
• Excellent MS Office software experience, CRM and planning tools (e.g., C4C, Salesforce, Arkieva); SAP experience preferred.
• Valid driver’s license and ability to travel up to 20% of time to domestic and international locations under short notice.

• Knowledge of polyolefins used in hotmelt adhesives.
• Good understanding of adhesive markets including formulated adhesives, construction, and tape/label market.
• Ability to work in a team setting and with members from different technical backgrounds.
• Ability to integrate seemingly unrelated pieces of information.
• Working knowledge of Design of Experiment (DoE) and practical experience with statistical software such as JMP, Minitab, Design Expert.

Mid‑Senior level

Full‑time

Research, Analyst, and Information Technology

Chemical Manufacturing