Chemist (R&D)

Senior Lead Chemist

ITW Car Care is a division of Illinois Tool Works (ITW), specializing in automotive aftermarket products. The division offers a diverse portfolio of brands such as Rain-X wiper blades, visibility enhancing products, and water repellent treatments, including our 2-in-1 Glass Cleaner. Black Magic to support all your wheel and tire needs including Tire Wet.

Summary

The ideal candidate will bring a blend of technical and formulation expertise in aftermarket car care product development and strategy. Under the technical collaboration and/or direction of an R&D Leadership, the candidate will develop multiple projects in a fast-paced innovative environment. They are responsible for research, development, technical evaluation and testing of the formulations. This position requires a creative individual with a passion for technical learning and curiosity. The Senior Lead Chemist will spend approximately 50% of their daily activity working at the lab bench to create new products and solve complex technical problems to support the ITW Global Brand's business strategies.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Translates customer needs/consumer paint points into effective product designs and customer-driven innovation strategies by partnering with Marketing & Technical Service/Application Engineering.
• Identifies, plans, recommends and completes major technical programs leading to innovative applications or extensions of existing and new technologies that have significant impact on the organization.
• Collaborate with various raw material suppliers/cross functional teams to research, develop and create differentiated products and solutions using surfactants, silicone fluid and its derivatives, polymers, and solvents.
• Lead formula development & manage technical aspects of assigned projects within ITW's stage-gate process in conjunction with a project manager.
• Clearly identify project goals, product design requirements, technical approach, test strategy, and conduct laboratory evaluations, comparison testing and issue final comprehensive reports.
• Conduct patent searches to monitor competitive innovations and generate intellectual property in own area of development in the form of patents, formulation know-how, and trade secrets.
• Support the scale-up of formulations from lab scale to mid- and full-size manufacturing batches. Coordinate and work with internal departments on the technology transfer for scale-up, and commercialization, and determine the appropriate design and product specifications to maximize ease of manufacturing and customer applications. Knowledge of ISO practice/requirements for manufacturing scaleups will be added advantage.
• Provide short- and long-term support for current products to maintain ITW's reputation for quality and performance by qualifying alternative sources of raw materials and validating performance.
• Manage multiple projects/tasks independently and as part of a team and fully utilize analytical laboratory equipment.
• Understand, follow and stay abreast of important safety, health, environmental, quality and regulatory requirements affecting this industry.
• Minimal business travel required (<10%)
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or related discipline; Master's degree or higher preferred.
• 3–5 years of hands-on formulation and product development experience, preferably in consumer-packaged goods, automotive care, coatings, or related applied chemistry industries.

Additional qualifications to help you succeed in the role:

• Strong understanding of formulation chemistry, ideally including surfactants, silicones, polymers, solvents, or related functional systems.
• Experience in physical and chemical characterization of surfaces.
• Demonstrated ability to independently design and execute formulation experiments and interpret technical data.
• Experience with product performance testing, stability evaluation, and comparative benchmarking.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent projects in a dynamic, fast-paced R&D environment.
• Strong problem-solving skills with a structured, data-driven approach to technical decision-making.
• Effective collaborator with experience working in cross-functional, product development teams.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to clearly articulate technical results, insights, and recommendations to diverse stakeholders.
• High attention to detail, strong ownership mindset, and demonstrated ability to deliver consistent experimental execution.

ITW is an equal opportunity employer. We value our colleagues' unique perspectives, experiences and ideas and create workplaces where everyone can develop their careers and perform to their full potential.

As an equal employment opportunity employer, ITW is committed to equal employment opportunity and fair treatment for employees, beginning with the hiring process and continuing through all aspects of the employment relationship.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, age, disability, protected Veteran status or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws.