Chemist - Fulltime

John Paul Mitchell Systems (“JPMS”) is recognized worldwide for developing and marketing innovative hair and skin care products since 1980. We’ve been serving the professional beauty industry with salon-quality hair care products, styling tools and professional hair color through our family of brands including Paul Mitchell, MITCH, Awapuhi Wild Ginger, Tea Tree, Paul Mitchell Tools, Neuro, The Demi, Paul Mitchell the Color, Blonde, and Color XG.
We were the first professional hair care company to take a stand against animal testing and continue our strong commitment to giving back, supporting a wide range of philanthropic causes both domestically and internationally. Sustainability has always been a priority, and we are committed to making our company operations climate neutral to preserve the beauty of the world around us.

You are a skilled and enthusiastic, high-performing professional who is passionate about hair care and wants to positively contribute to the growth of our iconic brand as well as to our people first culture.

We are seeking a Hair Color Chemist to join our R&D color team, supporting the formulation, optimization, and evaluation of high-performance professional hair color products. This is a hands-on bench role for a scientist who brings technical depth in color chemistry, genuine curiosity for formulation, and the discipline to execute with rigor in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment.

You will work closely with the Principal Hair Color Chemist to develop shade palettes, optimize formulas, execute performance and stability testing, and support manufacturing scale-up. The right candidate is a specialist who understands oxidative systems, developer chemistry, and alkalizing agents, and who approaches every formula with scientific rigor and an uncompromising eye for quality.

This role works fully onsite in our Santa Clarita lab. It requires up to 10% travel.

Formulate and optimize professional hair color products — permanent, demi/semi-permanent, lighteners, and developers — from bench development through scale-up support
Develop shade palettes, tones, and coverage levels based on project briefs, stylist feedback, and competitive benchmarks
Prepare and manage lab batches, maintaining accurate formulas, records, and version control throughout the development process
Plan and execute performance, stability, and compatibility testing; analyze results and recommend formula improvements based on data
Evaluate and select raw materials within established platforms, balancing safety, regulatory, cost, and performance requirements; Partner with Marketing, Education, Regulatory, Quality, Operations, and Manufacturing to support product delivery against performance, claims, cost, and timeline objectives
Support manufacturing scale-up by documenting critical process parameters and providing on-call technical guidance during production
Provide technical support for regulatory submissions, safety assessments, claims substantiation, and internal product inquiries
Support stylist and salon testing programs, capturing consumer and stylist feedback and translating it into actionable formulation improvements
Contribute to product usage instructions, education materials, and application best practices from a formulation standpoint
Ensure compliance with cosmetic regulations, company standards, and laboratory safety procedures
continuously deepen expertise in hair fiber science and color chemistry
Solid understanding of cosmetic chemistry fundamentals: polymers, conditioning systems, emulsions, rheology modifiers, and surfactants
Experience transferring formulas from lab scale to manufacturing, with an understanding of critical process parameters
Working knowledge of global cosmetic regulations (US and EU)
Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously with strong attention to detail and follow-through
comfortable working closely with senior chemists and cross-functional partners
Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Cosmetic Science, Chemical Engineering, or related field required

3+ years of hands-on laboratory formulation experience in hair color, hair care or color cosmetics

experience with oxidative dye systems, semi-permanent dyes, alkalizing agents, bleaching chemistry, developers, and tone control technologies
Experience in professional salon brands or with salon-channel products
Experience supporting global launches or working across multi-market regulatory frameworks
Familiarity with the professional salon market and awareness of consumer and stylist needs and expectations
Exposure to color cosmetics or adjacent beauty categories
experience with oxidative dye systems, semi-permanent dyes, alkalizing agents, bleaching chemistry, developers, and tone control technologies

On-site, full-time at the California R&D facility (Los Angeles, CA)
Up to 10% travel for Contract Manufacturer visits, salon validation, or innovation support
Discretionary Bonus Plan: This position is also eligible for participation in the company discretionary bonus plan, based on personal performance and company results.
In addition to base salary, JPMS offers a competitive benefits package to eligible employees, including medical, dental, vision, life, accident, critical illness, and disability insurance, retirement savings plans and company match, paid family leave, education-related programs, paid holidays, discretionary vacation time, and more.