HEAD - RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT (R&D;)

Location: Ambernath, Maharashtra

Employment: Full-Time, Permanent

Industry: Specialty Chemicals / Chemical Manufacturing

Experience: 1015 years minimum relevant experience

Role Objective

Lead the development, formulation, evaluation and commercialization of specialty chemicals and polymers across textile, detergent, oil & gas and emerging application areas. Combine strong scientific judgment with hands-on laboratory work, team leadership and close coordination with customers and manufacturing.

Key Responsibilities – Innovation & Product Development

- Lead the R&D; roadmap, prioritize development projects and deliver commercially viable specialty chemical and polymer solutions.
- Design, formulate and optimize products for performance, stability, cost effectiveness and customer-specific requirements.
- Remain hands-on with laboratory experiments, chemical reactions, formulation trials, analytical interpretation and technical troubleshooting.
- Drive new product development from concept and bench trials to pilot batches, plant scale-up, validation and commercial launch.
- Plan application testing, including fabric performance where relevant, and establish appropriate test methods and acceptance criteria.
- Conduct shelf-life, compatibility, stability and performance studies; recommend improvements based on documented findings.
- Evaluate alternative raw materials and process routes to improve performance, sourcing flexibility and manufacturing economics.

Customer & Cross-Functional Collaboration

- Work with customers, Sales and Technical Service teams to translate market requirements into actionable development projects.
- Partner with Production, QC, QA, Procurement and Regulatory teams to ensure robust scale-up, specifications and product transfer.
- Support customer trials, complaint investigations and technical presentations with practical, evidence-based recommendations.

Leadership,



Systems & Governance

- Build, mentor and evaluate a capable R&D; team; assign priorities, review experiments and encourage accountable execution.
- Maintain complete laboratory notebooks, development reports, formulations, trial data, technical specifications and project trackers.
- Implement GLP, good documentation practices, protected chemical handling and applicable SDS, QMS and regulatory requirements.
- Monitor project timelines, budgets, equipment utilization, development milestones and technology opportunities.

Qualifications & Experience

- Minimum 10–15 years of relevant experience in specialty chemicals, formulation chemistry, polymers or chemical manufacturing, including team leadership.
- M.Sc. Chemistry / Polymer Chemistry, B.E./B.Tech. Chemical Engineering or a relevant postgraduate qualification; M.Tech. or Ph.D. preferred.
- Demonstrated track record of new product development, lab-to-plant scale-up and successful customer or commercial implementation.
- Experience in textile, detergent and/or oilfield chemical applications preferred; exposure to multiple segments is an advantage.

Core Competencies

- Strong formulation and reaction chemistry, polymer knowledge, laboratory techniques and structured problem-solving.
- Ability to balance technical performance, customer expectations, manufacturing feasibility and cost.
- Clear technical reporting, stakeholder communication, project management and confident team leadership.
- Working knowledge of laboratory safety, testing protocols, GLP/GDP, QMS and MS Office tools.

Success Measures

- Timely delivery of development milestones and commercialized products.
- Product performance, scale-up success, customer technical satisfaction and measurable formulation improvements.

Candidate Profile

A proactive, detail-oriented and results-driven technical leader with strong ownership, a hands-on approach and the ability to build effective collaboration across laboratory, manufacturing and customer-facing functions.

📌 HEAD Research & Development (R&D) (Ambernath)
🏢 Fineotex Chemical
📍 Ambernath