Formulation Chemist

Intermountain Blending & Filling is looking for a Formulation Chemist to develop and improve personal care and home care formulas for IBF customers. The Formulation Chemist is the subject matter expert (SME) with regards to formulated products and their raw materials. The Formulation Chemist is responsible for developing liquids, emulsions, and powder formulas in the personal care, skin care, hair care, home care, cleaning, pet, spa, and laundry categories within customer and regional requirements. The Formulation Chemist may function as a working Chemist, with responsibilities to supervise more junior R&D staff.

What You'll Do:

• Formulate and facilitate the development of innovative products, line extensions, and product improvements in personal care and home care products
• Identify and maintain external partnerships to develop new technologies and conceptual ideas in personal care and home care
• Review current literature regarding formulations and regulatory aspects
• Provide technical support to manufacturing on new and existing products
• Manage scale-up from R&D lab batches to pilot validation runs with Process Engineering, owning each product’s efficacy and quality through the development phase and overseeing the transition to the Process Engineering team
• Assist QA (Quality Assurance)/QC (Quality Control) in development of test methods for raw materials and finished products
• Create specifications for raw materials and laboratory, scale-up, and production formulation batches
• Source chemical samples from suppliers and create evaluation samples for customers
• Evaluate costing, lead times, and minimum order quantities (MOQs) when sourcing potential new chemicals for formulations
• Understand customer requirements and formulate to desired marketing claims and ingredient restrictions
• Assist with production testing as needed, including validation runs
• Assist with evaluation of new product, packaging, and equipment needs
• Coordinate stability, microbiological, safety, and efficacy tests
• Maintain constant cross-functional communication with Legal, Research and Development (R&D), and customer Manufacturing teams
• Maintain laboratory order and cleanliness
• Maintain a clean and safe work environment
• Maintain laboratory equipment, managing preventive maintenance (PM) and calibrations
• Oversee consumables supply inventories and create requisitions to replenish as needed
• Train and supervise other R&D personnel (Chemists and Technicians) as a working Supervisor
• Provide information and reports to support regulatory/compliance related submissions
• Perform all other assigned tasks and requirements as needed

We're Looking For:

• B.S. degree in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering
• 3+ years of formulation and production experience
• 2+ years of experience in development of personal care products
• Society of Cosmetic Chemists (SCC) membership a plus
• Strong knowledge of formulations for personal care and home care products that can deliver a fragrance experience
• Knowledge of laundry products and their formulation
• Ability to work in a fast-paced laboratory environment, working safely with laboratory equipment, chemicals, and manufacturing raw materials, including fragrances
• Ability to gain familiarity with compounding equipment
• Laboratory background in analytical instrumentation with working knowledge in gas chromatography, rheometers, and FT-IR (Fourier Transform Infrared), a plus
• Strong knowledge of safety data sheets (SDS)
• Clear and direct written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to consult with Compounders, Quality team members, and IBF customers in a clear and helpful manner
• Ability to determine smell and color hues
• Frequently exposed to strong scents and raw chemicals
• Ability to occasionally bend, sit, squat, crawl, walk, and reach above shoulder level
• Ability to frequently read, comprehend, write, perform complex mathematic calculations, communicate orally, and reason and analyze
• Ability to write detailed INCI decks, batch cards, formulas, and technical reports
• Working knowledge of computers and all applicable software including Microsoft Office Suite
• Working knowledge of SAP or comparable ERP systems