Polymer & materials engineer careers

Polymer and materials engineers turn polymer science into products, formulating compounds, dialing in processing, qualifying materials, and solving failures across rubber, plastics, composites, coatings, and adhesives. Here is what the role pays, the skills employers ask for, and where the work is, computed live from every open listing we track.

8,272Open roles tracked

$104KMedian salary

The field spans several adjacent roles: formulation chemists design the recipe, process engineers scale it onto production equipment, R&D scientists push new chemistry, quality and applications engineers keep it performing in the field. Most polymer engineers move fluidly between these as they grow, which is why the skill set rewards both hands-on lab work and systems thinking.

Degree level shapes the entry point more than the ceiling. A BS or MS gets you onto the bench fast; a PhD opens research-led roles and tends to track higher on pay. But years of hands-on formulation or processing intuition, the kind that is hard to learn from a textbook, is what employers consistently pay a premium for.

Salary by career level

The middle half of posted pay: 25th to 75th percentile.

Director+ $177K–$255K

Staff/Principal $156K–$199K

Senior $120K–$160K

Manager $116K–$167K

Mid-level $94K–$130K

Entry level $56K–$108K

Postdoc $65K–$97K

Intern/Co-op $50K–$76K

Most-requested skills

SEM 2%

SPC 2%

DOE 2%

FTIR 2%

DSC 1%

failure analysis 1%

mechanical testing 1%

XRD 1%

Where polymer engineers work

Aerospace 15%

Chemicals 12%

General manufacturing 10%

Energy 9%

Semiconductor 8%

Automotive 8%

Medical devices 7%

Packaging 7%

Material specializations

Thermoplastics 22%

Coatings/films 20%

Composites 15%

Electronic materials 15%

Adhesives/sealants 8%

Thermosets 7%

Elastomers/rubber 7%

Biomaterials 2%

Salary by career level

Most-requested skills

Where polymer engineers work

Material specializations

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