Principal / Senior Principal Scientist - Spectroscopy

Principal / Senior Principal Scientist - Spectroscopy

Established in 1806 as a small soap and candle business in New York City, Colgate-Palmolive is now a truly global company with products sold in over 200 countries and territories under such internationally recognized brand names as Colgate, Palmolive, Softsoap, Irish Spring, Protex, Sorriso, Kolynos, elmex, Tom's of Maine, Sanex, Ajax, Axion, Soupline, Haci Sakir, Suavitel, PCA SKIN, EltaMD, Filorga and Hello as well as Hill's Science Diet and Hill's Prescription Diet. Colgate-Palmolive is a leading consumer products company that serves hundreds of millions of consumers worldwide with brands and products across four core businesses – Oral Care, Personal Care, Home Care and Pet Nutrition. We are committed to offering products that make lives healthier and more enjoyable, and programs that enrich communities around the world. Every day millions of people trust our products to care for themselves and the ones they love. Our goal is to use our technology to create products that will continue to improve the quality of life for our consumers wherever they live. A career at Colgate-Palmolive is an excellent opportunity if you seek a global experience, constant challenge, and development opportunities in an environment that respects work/life effectiveness.

Travel Required?: Travel - up to 10% of time Posting Start Date: 6/11/26 Hybrid No Relocation Assistance Offered Job Number #173393 - Piscataway, New Jersey, United States

Colgate-Palmolive Company is a global consumer products company operating in over 200 countries specializing in Oral Care, Personal Care, Home Care, Skin Care, and Pet Nutrition. Our products are trusted in more households than any other brand in the world, making us a household name! Join Colgate-Palmolive, a caring, innovative growth company reimagining a healthier future for people, their pets, and our planet. Guided by our core values—Caring, Inclusive, and Courageous—we foster a culture that inspires our people to achieve common goals. Together, let's build a brighter, healthier future for all.

As a Principal Scientist you will serve as a central technical resource supporting the entire global Colgate-Palmolive portfolio by developing and validating state-of-the-art analytical platforms to characterize complex product matrices. Operating within the global R&D organization, you will act as the technical arbiter of "Truth," ensuring that every chemical claim made by Marketing is backed by statistically rigorous, peer-reviewed-quality data. This role offers an exciting opportunity to spearhead Lab 4.0 digital transformations, run advanced competitive teardowns, and defend the company's intellectual property. Your primary objective will be to provide flawless analytical characterization that guarantees formulation parity, regulatory compliance, and consumer safety across all product categories.

Responsibilities

• Advanced Method Development: Designs and validates novel analytical protocols for active and critical inactive ingredients, stabilizers, and sensory molecules using high-resolution LC/GC MS and NMR technologies.
• Crisis Chemistry & Forensic Analysis: Leads proactive monitoring and "Rapid Response" forensics for trace contaminants, conducting root-cause analysis on stability failures or manufacturing deviations to ensure safety amid supply chain shifts.
• Deformulation & Competitive Intelligence: Conducts competitive product teardowns to break down rival formulations to their base molecules, utilizing non-targeted analysis (NTA) workflows to structurally identify unknown components, and evaluates optimized ingredients from new suppliers to ensure absolute formulation parity.
• Claim Substantiation & Legal Defense: Partners with Marketing and Legal teams to transform analytical results into "Visual Science" for claim validation, ensuring all methods meet AOAC, USP, or ISO standards to remain legally unassailable.
• Lab 4.0 & Digital Transformation: Evaluates high-throughput tools, oversees the implementation of MS Imaging platforms, and collaborates with Digital R&D to build automated data processing pipelines, feeding mass spec chemometric and big data into predictive Machine Learning models.
• Sustainable Packaging Interface: Develops standardized methodologies including ultra-trace extractables and leachables (E&L) screening to investigate chemical interactions between formulas and new sustainable or recycled packaging materials to ensure zero migration of impurities.

Required Qualifications

• PhD in Analytical, Organic, or Medicinal Chemistry
• 10 years of advanced laboratory experience.
• Expert-level knowledge of High-Resolution LC-MS and GC-MS for content quantification and structure elucidation.
• Technical proficiency in spectroscopic techniques including FTIR, Raman, and NMR as supporting tools for understanding molecular interactions within a formula.
• Proven experience working within a GxP (GLP/GMP) regulated environment with a strong understanding of data "Chain of Custody" protocols.

Preferred Qualifications

• Specialized experience in Microbiome Analytics, including metabolomics or analyzing bacterial metabolites in complex biological samples.
• Demonstrated background in "Green Chemistry" analytics, such as assessing the biodegradability of surfactants or the purity of post-consumer recycled packaging.
• Strong collaborative capacity to translate complex analytical big data into actionable business strategies for cross-functional stakeholders.
• Proven ability to support IP activities and patent filings by providing detailed molecular characterization data for new entities.

Compensation and Benefits

Salary Range $124,000.00 - $180,000.00 USD Pay is determined based on experience, qualifications, and location. Salaried employees may also be eligible for discretionary bonuses, profit-sharing, and long-term incentives for Executive-level roles. Benefits: Salaried employees enjoy a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, basic life insurance, paid parental leave, disability coverage, and participation in the 401(k) retirement plan with company matching contributions subject to eligibility requirements. Additional benefits include a minimum of 15 vacation/PTO days (hourly employees receive a minimum of 120 hours) and 13 paid holidays (vacation days are prorated based on the employee's hire date within the calendar year). Paid sick leave is adjusted based on role and location in accordance with local laws. Detailed information regarding paid sick leave entitlements will be provided to employees upon hiring and may be subject to adjustments based on changes in legislation or company policies.

Our Commitment to Inclusion

Our journey begins with our people—developing strong talent with diverse backgrounds and perspectives to best serve our consumers around the world and fostering an inclusive environment where everyone feels a true sense of belonging. We are dedicated to ensuring that each individual can be their authentic self, is treated with respect, and is empowered by leadership to contribute meaningfully to our business. Equal Opportunity Employer Colgate is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, marital status, veteran status (United States positions), or any other characteristic protected by law. Reasonable accommodation during the application process is available for persons with disabilities. Please complete this request form should you require accommodation.