Research Senior Principal Scientist, Chromatography

Overview Waters Corporation is pleased to announce an exciting opportunity for a Senior Principal Scientist within the Waters Global Research Organization. If you are a scientist driven to deliver differentiating innovations that advance human health and well-being, you would be interested in this position.

The Global Research Organization is a multi-disciplinary, highly innovative team tasked with initiating and developing novel, ground-breaking analytical instrumentation. As a Principal Scientist you will be a recognized technical authority, shaping the scientific direction of next-generation liquid chromatography (LC) systems, driving the fundamental understanding of separation science, and collaborating across engineering and chemistry to bring transformative solutions to market.

This role sits at the intersection of deep separation-science expertise and hands-on instrument development. In addition to your individual research contributions, you will serve as a Team Lead, directing and coordinating the efforts of a multidisciplinary research team. You will help define and prototype the next generation separation platforms and software solutions, advancing Waters' legacy as a global leader in analytical instruments, separations technologies, and software serving the life, materials, food, and environmental sciences for over 65 years.

Responsibilities Responsibilities Team  Leadership & Research Direction:
Act as Team Lead for a cross-disciplinary research group within the Global Research Organization. Plan, coordinate, and guide research efforts across chromatography instrument development, separation science, and column chemistry. Mentor team members and maintain a strong culture of scientific rigor and accountability.

Scientific Strategy &

Innovation: Serve as the primary scientific thought leader for chromatography research. Champion novel ideas and advise on ongoing R&D activities across liquid chromatography, column chemistry, and fluidic system architectures. Identify and champion emerging areas of separation science with transformative potential, and prioritize innovation opportunities based on market insights, strategic fit, and potential customer impact.

Instrument & Prototype Development:
Lead the design, construction, and evaluation of advanced separations prototypes. Collaborate closely with engineers to translate scientific concepts into hardware proofs-of-concept. Apply deep knowledge of fluidic dynamics, pressure management, detector integration, and gradient formation to improve system performance.

Chromatographic Fundamentals Research:
Conduct rigorous experimental and theoretical research into the fundamentals of separation science—including stationary-phase selectivity, mobile-phase optimization, band-broadening mechanisms, extra-column effects, and column-packing technologies. Generate actionable insights that drive instrument performance and scientific differentiation.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Customer Needs:
Build strong, trusted relationships across teams and functions, including scientific, engineering, software, product, marketing, and commercial stakeholders. Engage collaborators in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and healthcare industries to identify unmet customer needs and translate those insights into impactful technologies and solutions.

Customer & Application Insight:
Develop fluency in key application areas, biologics characterization, small-molecule pharmaceuticals, environmental and food safety analysis, to ensure that chromatographic innovations address real-world laboratory challenges. Act as a scientific resource for application scientists and customers on complex separation challenges.

IP Generation & Scientific Communication:
Provide…