SCIENTIST III — ORGANIC CHEMISTRY / FATTY ACID SYNTHESIS & PROCESS DEVELOPMENT

Location: Rockford, IL
Compensation: $50.00/hour
Function: R&D / Organic Chemistry / Process Development
Project: Fatty Acid Synthesis
Number of Openings: 2
Direct Reports: 0
Shift: Day
Relocation: Not approved
Employment Type: Contract / Project-Based

POSITION SUMMARY

The Scientist III will play a critical role in the Fatty Acid Synthesis and Process Development project, developing, optimizing, scaling, and documenting synthetic and purification processes for priority lipid and fatty-acid-related raw materials used to support cell-culture media production.

The Scientist III will apply advanced expertise in organic synthesis, bio-organic chemistry, lipid chemistry, purification, process development, and analytical characterization to establish robust and reproducible processes that meet internal raw-material specifications and are suitable for scale-up and transfer to manufacturing operations.

The ideal candidate will hold a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, Bio-Organic Chemistry, or a closely related discipline and have strong hands-on experience with organic synthesis. Experience in bioanalytical characterization and analytical interpretation is highly desirable.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design, plan, and independently execute laboratory experiments for the synthesis and process development of fatty acids, glycerides, phospholipids, and related lipid molecules.

• Develop and optimize synthetic routes for priority materials, with emphasis on yield, purity, reproducibility, scalability, safety, and raw-material availability.

• Perform multi-step organic synthesis and reaction optimization to address challenging synthetic targets and process-development needs.

• Develop and optimize purification strategies using normal-phase and reverse-phase chromatography, preparative HPLC, flash chromatography, crystallization, extraction, precipitation, and other appropriate techniques.

• Characterize starting materials, intermediates, impurities, and final products using HPLC, LC-MS/MS or MS, NMR, FT-IR, UV/VIS, ELSD/CAD, and other applicable analytical techniques.

• Interpret analytical data to monitor reactions, confirm identity, assess purity, investigate impurities, and troubleshoot process issues.

• Investigate impurity profiles and troubleshoot synthesis, purification, stability, and recovery issues that could prevent materials from meeting internal specifications.

• Conduct feasibility studies using lower-purity or alternate-source starting materials and establish process conditions necessary to achieve target product quality.

• Support scale-up from laboratory development to gram and hundreds-of-gram quantities.

• Develop processes suitable for transfer from R&D to Rockford manufacturing operations.

• Partner with Analytical Development to establish or refine analytical methods for purity, identity, and process-development decision-making.

• Prepare materials for internal evaluation, packaging/formulation activities, process validation, and manufacturing transfer as required.

• Prepare experimental protocols, development reports, batch/process instructions, technical summaries, and documentation supporting testing, validation, and production.

• Maintain complete and accurate laboratory records, including experimental conditions, calculations, raw data, observations, deviations, results, and conclusions.

• Work cross-functionally with R&D, Analytical Development, Operations, Quality, Procurement/Sourcing, and Project Management teams.

• Communicate technical results, project status, technical risks, recommendations, and mitigation strategies to project stakeholders.

• Follow departmental quality systems, chemical hygiene requirements, EHS procedures, and safe laboratory practices.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, Bio-Organic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Chemical Sciences, or a closely related scientific discipline.

• Strong hands-on experience with organic synthesis, including multi-step synthesis and reaction optimization.

• Demonstrated ability to independently plan and execute synthetic chemistry experiments.

• Experience developing and optimizing purification processes for complex organic molecules.

• Hands-on experience with preparative purification techniques, including chromatography and related methods.

• Strong ability to interpret HPLC, LC-MS/MS or MS, NMR, and FT-IR data.

• Experience using analytical data for reaction monitoring, identity confirmation, purity assessment, and impurity troubleshooting.

• Ability to independently troubleshoot synthetic and purification challenges and design experiments to resolve technical problems.

• Experience documenting laboratory work in a manner appropriate for process development, technical transfer, and quality-controlled environments.

• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively within a cross-functional R&D environment.

• Strong written, verbal, technical, and data-presentation skills.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Industrial experience in lipid chemistry, fatty-acid chemistry, bio-organic chemistry, glycerides, phospholipids, surfactants, or related molecules.

• Experience synthesizing or purifying phosphatidylcholines, diacylglycerols, or structurally related lipid molecules.

• Bioanalytical experience involving characterization of organic or lipid-based compounds.

• Hands-on experience with Biotage Isolera, Biotage Selekt, or comparable flash/preparative chromatography systems.

• Experience with CAD or ELSD detection for lipid and non-chromophoric compounds.

• Experience scaling synthetic chemistry processes from small-scale feasibility studies to gram or hundreds-of-gram quantities.

• Experience with reagent/raw-material product development, process validation, change control, or transfer of R&D processes to manufacturing.

• Working knowledge of raw-material specifications, supplier qualification, and technical evaluation of alternate-source materials.

• Experience working in regulated, quality-controlled, or GMP-related laboratory environments.

EDUCATION

Required:
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, Bio-Organic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Chemical Sciences, or a closely related scientific discipline.

Additional consideration:
Candidates with an M.S. or Bachelor's degree may be considered when accompanied by substantial, directly relevant industrial synthetic chemistry experience.

Core educational requirement:
Ph.D.-level expertise in Organic Chemistry, Bio-Organic Chemistry, or a related discipline, with demonstrated hands-on organic synthesis experience.

CORE TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES

• Organic Synthesis

• Multi-Step Synthesis

• Reaction Optimization

• Bio-Organic Chemistry

• Lipid & Fatty-Acid Chemistry

• Process Development

• Scale-Up Chemistry

• Purification & Chromatography

• Preparative HPLC

• Flash Chromatography

• HPLC

• LC-MS/MS / Mass Spectrometry

• NMR

• FT-IR

• ELSD / CAD

• Impurity Investigation

• Analytical Data Interpretation

• Technical Documentation

• Process Transfer

• Cross-Functional R&D Collaboration

SUCCESS MEASURES

• Project development milestones are completed according to the established project plan.

• Target materials consistently meet required identity, purity, and quality specifications.

• Developed processes demonstrate acceptable yield, reproducibility, scalability, and operational practicality.

• Technical risks, deviations, and process challenges are identified early and investigated using sound scientific methodology.

• Clear mitigation strategies and technical recommendations are communicated to project stakeholders.

• Complete and accurate development documentation supports successful transfer to Operations and subsequent qualification or validation activities.

WORK SCHEDULE & LOCATION

Work Location: Rockford, Illinois
Shift: Day shift
Relocation: Not approved
Travel: Not specified
Direct Reports: None

COMPENSATION

$50.00 per hour

This position is intended for an experienced Scientist III capable of independently executing organic synthesis and process-development activities while contributing to a cross-functional R&D program.

Note: Final internal job profile, career band, employment type, contract duration, requisition-specific requirements, and compensation structure should be reviewed and aligned with HR/Beeline prior to posting.

Pay Details: $50.00 per hour

Benefit offerings available for our associates include medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short-term disability, additional voluntary benefits, EAP program, commuter benefits and a 401K plan. Our benefit offerings provide employees the flexibility to choose the type of coverage that meets their individual needs. In addition, our associates may be eligible for paid leave including Paid Sick Leave or any other paid leave required by Federal, State, or local law, as well as Holiday pay where applicable.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled

Military connected talent encouraged to apply

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The Company will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in accordance with federal, state, and local laws and/or security clearance requirements, including, as applicable:

• The California Fair Chance Act
• Los Angeles City Fair Chance Ordinance
• Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers
• San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance

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