Senior Research Scientist

Interested in joining a winning team? A team whose employees share in the ownership of the business and are empowered to make a difference?

Job title

Senior Research Scientist

Location        

Aurora, Illinois

Closing date

INEOS is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, specialty chemicals and oil products. Its production network spans 171 manufacturing facilities in 24 countries throughout the world.

INEOS Nitriles is the world’s largest supplier of Acrylonitrile and Acetonitrile and the industry leader in technology, including Acrylonitrile Catalyst.

The Senior Research Scientist position, supervised by Head of R&D, is a technical expert and member of a multidisciplinary technical team that is tasked with the discovery and development of commercial catalyst technology for acrylonitrile manufacturers globally including INEOS and external customers and licensees of the technology.  The primary responsibility of the position is to function as a technical innovator and independent research SPA (Single Person Accountable) who delivers.  The incumbent is a PhD chemist with 5-10 years relevant original research experience, with demonstrated technical and scientific delivery.

The Total Quality Management System shall be incorporated into all job activities.  All job activities should be executed in a safe and efficient manner consistent with the INEOS 20 Principles.

• Safety, Health and Environment (SHE)
  • Demonstrate safety leadership by mentoring technical staff and peers to adhere to best safety practices in all laboratory and pilot plant and work activities.
  • Conduct all laboratory and operations of laboratory equipment in accordance with the appropriate written and approved Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and Task Hazard Assessments (THA).
  • Write, modify and update SOPs and THAs as required.
  • Maintain a safe working environment including adhering to all SHE, regulatory, and compliance and training requirements including:
    • Management of change (MOC)
    • Handling and disposal of hazardous waste
    • Lockout-Tag out (LOTO)
    • Site safety and security requirements
  • Actively practice, teach and demonstrate the 20 Principles of Behavioural and Process Safety.
• Research Program Management and Technical Leadership
  • Function as the SPA (Single Person Accountable) and technical leader for assigned research program activities, resource utilization, and deliverables.
  • The incumbent will provide:
    • Active leadership and coordination of all laboratory and pilot plant catalyst design, preparation and screening activities, including safety assessments.
    • Active leadership of fundamental catalyst materials understanding and its application in novel material exploration and commercial scale ups.
    • Management of Intellectual Property (IP) monitoring and analysis as well as the competitor intelligence activities relevant to catalyst and inorganic functional materials applications.
    • Specifically, initiate, plan, conduct and lead original research on one or more research and development projects that provide technology options of recognized value to the business.  These include:
      • Discovery, development, scale-up and commercial demonstration of improved catalysts for acrylonitrile production
      • Fundamental and applied research on surface and solid-state mechanisms of selective oxidation catalysis that provide useful information for creating improved catalyst and/or process technologies for acrylonitrile
      • Providing ideas, guidance and recommendations on new technology projects and options of potential value to the business.
• Documentation and Intellectual Property
  • Maintain accurate records of experimental findings in paper notebook and electronic laboratory data management platform.
  • Summarize and communicate results of independent research to technical, management and commercial staff.
  • Monitor and maintain a current awareness of the technical, scientific, and patent literature in a catalysis and related technical fields.
  • Document research finding in regular written updates, presentations and comprehensive technical reports.
  • Conceive and develop patentable inventions of value to business. 
  • Prepare written invention disclosures based on original research and ideas.  Work directly with Patent and Licensing in the drafting of patent applications and in the prosecution of patent filings.
• Engineering, Manufacturing and Commercial Collaborations
  • Work collaboratively with pilot plant engineers and technicians, plant manufacturing engineers and technician, and commercial and business teams as required to deliver research program objectives.
• Non-routine and Professional Development
  • Be proactive in the development of professional skills and capabilities through training courses and scientific conference participation.
  • Write scientific articles for peer reviewed journals as approved by management.
  • Contribute to and/or make technical presentations and scientific conferences as approved by management.
  • Actively support and participate in professional societies.  Take on leadership roles as appropriate.
  • Take responsibility for one or more team-supporting safety function as required.

• PhD in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering
• 5-10 years combined academic and industrial research experience in functional inorganic material, preferably in catalysis for organic chemistry; Outstanding publication and inventorship record.

Technical Skills

• Track record of conducting independent research and technology delivery
• Proven laboratory skills
• Practical experience leveraging large language models (LLM) and machine learning (ML) in research projects, spanning literature review, experimental design, data analysis, and predictive modeling preferred.
• Hands-on experience with modern laboratory and/or pilot plant automation workflows for inorganic material preparation, characterization and advanced research data management platforms preferred.

Behavioral Skills

• Bold and innovative thinker, willing to propose and test “out of the box” ideas, embrace failure as a learning opportunity and deliver results within a dynamic, cross-functional team environment; a “will do, can do” attitude
• Excellent communication and organizational skills
• Excel in working on a multidisciplinary team, enabling effective collaboration and management of allocated research resources.
• Performance bias, action oriented
• Commitment to continuous improvement and professional growth

#LI-DNI

Our culture is one of honesty and integrity with an emphasis on safety, health and environmental performance.  On our team, people are acknowledged for embracing new practices that help create real value for customers.