R&D; Team Leader – Agrochemical API / Active Ingredient Synthesis

Location: Bengaluru, India

Key Requirements

- Direct, hands-on experience synthesizing or scaling up agrochemical active ingredients (technical-grade herbicides, insecticides, or fungicides) not adjacent categories like pharma APIs, natural-product derivatives, hydrocolloids, or discovery/medicinal chemistry. This is the single most important filter; candidates without it will not be considered regardless of PhD pedigree or publication record.
- Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry with 3+ years post-PhD industrial experience in agrochemical R&D; , OR M.Sc. in Chemistry with 8+ years industrial experience in agrochemical process development. (Academic postdocs, research associate positions, and CRO/discovery-chemistry stints do not count toward the experience requirement.)
- At least one full agrochemical molecule taken through lab to pilot to commercial scale-up , with the candidate able to name the molecule class (e.g., organophosphate, pyrethroid, triazole, sulfonylurea) and describe the actual process challenges encountered at each scale.
- Working knowledge of Route of Synthesis (ROS) evaluation, non-infringing process design, and cost-of-goods analysis for commercial actives, this is a commercial R&D; role, not a pure discovery role.

Responsibilities:





- Lead and mentor a small team of scientists while remaining hands-on at the bench.
- Own process development, optimization, validation, and scale-up of agrochemical actives from lab to pilot plant.
- Conduct technology transfer to manufacturing/contract sites, and support commercialization end-to-end.
- Perform impurity profiling, reaction mechanism troubleshooting, and purification (distillation, crystallization, chromatography) specific to technical-grade active ingredients.
- Evaluate and design non-infringing synthesis routes with awareness of existing agrochemical patents.
- Use NMR, MS, HPLC, GC, SciFinder, and Reaxys for structure confirmation, impurity ID, and route search.
- Prepare development reports, cost analyses, and ROS documentation for internal and customer review.
- Coordinate with manufacturing, analytical, procurement, and EHS teams to execute projects safely and on schedule.

Why Join Us?
- A chance to join a well-funded, quick-growing company in its early stages, offering unparalleled growth opportunities.
- Work in an environment driven by innovation, agility, and high-impact problem-solving.
- Collaborate with a team of highly passionate individuals building a category-defining company.
- Perfect for someone looking to build a long-term career while learning directly from experienced founders and operators.

📌 R&D Team Leader – Agrochemical API (Bengaluru)
🏢 Seven
📍 Bengaluru