Polymer Chemist / Pilot Plant Chemist - Mildenhall

We are seeking an experienced Polymer Chemist with considerable industry experience and relevant qualifications to join our clients manufacturing plant in Mildenhall Suffolk.

This is a permanent full-time position working four days per week from 09:00 to 17:00 Monday to Thursday (hours may be flexible to suit the successful candidate) and comes with a salary in the region of 45000 - 55000 per annum.

The Company

Our client has been operating for over 60 years and are an independent privately owned business who manufacture batch chemicals for blue chip companies globally. Their finished products are used for making anything from sealants adhesives dyes paint oil additives and many other products.

They employ just under 40 staff and have a respectful workplace with a traditional friendly and fair company culture. Each member of staff is well looked-after and can enjoy pay increase and progression opportunities in exchange for long-term commitment and great work ethic.

The Job

Working in the small technical team of two youll be reporting to the Technical Manager and will be replacing a long-standing member of staff who is due to retire at the end of 2025. We are keen to hire into this role relatively swiftly so there can be a reasonable hand over.

Duties within the role involve:

• Laboratory synthesis of new products
• Pilot plant manufacture of the same products operating pilot plant process equipment.
• Liaising with the QC team to ensure test methods are developed for new products and product quality is maintained during scale up.
• To keep good process records of all work.
• Work with Procurement to identify/qualify sources of new raw materials.
• Adhere to company polices and Health and Safety and Environmental regulations/guidelines.
• Movement of goods using a forklift truck and manual handling
• Facilitate process transfer ensuring successful product transition from lab to pilot plant and on to full scale manufacturing units.
  • The latter will involve drafting process documentation and the training and assessment of process operators making the new products you have scaled up.
• Liaise with external customers and help to host site visits from them during trial manufacture.
• Provide support to the operations team to maintain ongoing product manufacture and contribute to quality improvement projects.
• Process improvement including waste minimisation and enhancement of process efficiency.

Requirements

This role would suit somebody who doesnt want to be lab-bound and enjoys working in a commercial manufacturing environment and has experience of scaling up from lab to pilot plant and ideally into full-scale production. The company manufacture in reactors from 2000 litre capacity up to 20000 litres so experience of working on a large scale outside of a lab environment is essential.

• A degree or higher in chemistry materials or polymer science (essential)
• Hands on industrial experience in organic or polymer synthesis both in the lab and at pilot plant scale (essential) particularly in:

• free radical polymerisation in solutions and/or emulsions
• polyurethanes
• scale up of exothermic reactions
• semi-batch processing
• troubleshooting
• Knowledge in key confidentiality concepts.

• Knowledge regarding chemical hazards and how to properly handle and label chemicals and waste.
• Forklift Licence or the capacity to learn.
• Excellent clear and professional communication skills and a strong standard of written spelling and grammar
• Eligibility to live and work in the UK with no requirement for visa sponsorship
• Already living within or happy to relocate to be within a reasonably commutable distance from Mildenhall Suffolk
• An employment history that demonstrates longevity and commitment within previous roles

Please note that this role is physically demanding requiring a certain amount of manual handling and ability to carry/lift variety of items. The role is working in a manual industrial manufacturing plant with time split between lab-based working and plant-based working.

Other

This roles offers a 7% employer pension contribution and 4X salary death in service benefit.

The annual leave entitlement is based on 4 day working week starting holiday entitlement of 19 days per annum plus bank holidays (when they fall on a working day of the 4-day week). The entitlement increases at 5 and 10 years service.

The location of work is not accessible using public transport.

How to Apply

Please apply to Kate Howes through our website or alternatively you can email a copy of your CV to

We aim to respond with specific feedback to every applicant via email within 14 days. However as we are a small two-person independent agency if we are extremely busy this may take longer. If you would like feedback sooner then feel free to contact us via email and we will come back to you ASAP.

About Horizon

Horizon Search and Selection Ltd is owned and run by Gemma and Kate from our private offices in Bury St Edmunds. Weve been in business for 13 years but have a combined 30years recruitment experience between us. Were friendly recruitment folks and love what we do. Here we are acting as an employment agency on behalf of our client the employer. We act as the introducers so if you are successful you will be directly employed by our client. We never share your details with anyone (including our client) without your consent. Any questions Get in touch!

GDPR

Please note that all applications and enquiries are treated in the strictest of confidence. As part of our GDPR compliance your CV and contact details will not be held by us for longer than 30 days unless written consent to do so is requested and obtained. Your CV and contact details will never be shared by us with a 3^rdparty unless specific consent has been obtained to do so. For more information on our privacy policies and how we comply to the GDPR then please visit our website and click on our privacy policy at the bottom of the page.

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