R&D Chemist

Role details

Color & Additives - US & Canada | Kennesaw, GA

At Avient, our people power our performance. As a Research & Development Chemist, you will develop and support textile screen printing inks within Avient's Specialty Inks Materials Development Team. This hands-on role focuses primarily on water-based ink and coating technologies while also supporting plastisol product development, manufacturing, quality, and commercialization activities. The position works closely with cross-functional teams to deliver innovative products that meet customer and business needs.

What You'll Do

• Develop and optimize water-based textile screen printing inks and related coating technologies
• Conduct laboratory formulation, testing, and evaluation of new and existing products
• Support product maintenance, raw material qualification, and continuous improvement initiatives
• Collaborate with Manufacturing, Quality, Technical Service, Marketing, and Product Management on development projects
• Analyze technical data and communicate results through reports and presentations
• Support pilot trials, scale-up activities, and commercial product launches
• Engage with suppliers to evaluate new raw materials and emerging technologies
• Maintain accurate laboratory records and a safe working environment

What You Bring

• Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or related scientific discipline
• Minimum 2 years of formulation experience in water-based textile screen printing inks, water-based coatings, textile coatings, graphic arts coatings, or similar aqueous systems
• Experience conducting hands-on product development and laboratory testing
• Strong problem-solving, organizational, and communication skills
• Experience with textile screen printing applications (preferred)
• Experience with pigment dispersions, rheology modifiers, acrylics, polyurethane dispersions, or related coating technologies (preferred)
• Familiarity with plastisol inks (preferred)
• Knowledge of Design of Experiments (DOE), statistical analysis, or Minitab (preferred)
• Experience with analytical and physical testing equipment such as rheometers, FTIR, DSC, and color measurement systems (preferred)

Why Avient

• Visible impact across multiple sites and businesses
• Strong partnership with business and enterprise leadership
• Opportunity to lead change
• Growth-focused culture that values innovation, collaboration, and accountability

Physical Demands

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; and reach with hands and arms. The employee is frequently required to walk. The employee is occasionally required to stoop, kneel, crouch, crawl and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to lift and/or move up to 50 lbs. Specific vision abilities may require close vision, color vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus. Requires the use of safety equipment as dictated by the work area such as safety glasses and shoes, dust mask, hard hat, respirator, face shield, hearing protection, chemical suit, gloves, aprons, etc.

Work is inside and the typical noise level is loud. Regularly exposed to moving mechanical parts and fumes or airborne particles. The employee is frequently exposed to vibration. The employee is occasionally exposed to toxic or caustic chemicals and risk of electrical shock.

#CA-KV

Our purpose at Avient Corporation is to be an innovator of materials solutions that help our customers succeed, while enabling a sustainable world.

Innovation goes far beyond materials science; it’s powered by the passion, creativity, and diverse expertise of 9,000 professionals worldwide. Whether you’re a finance wizard, a tech enthusiast, an operational powerhouse, an HR changemaker, or a trailblazer in materials development, you’ll find your place at Avient.

Join our global team and help shape the future with sustainable solutions that transform possibilities into realities. Your unique perspective could be the key to our next breakthrough!

We believe that all of our global employees are leaders and that the six most important behaviors for driving our strategy and culture are the same no matter if an employee is a leader of self, a leader of others, or a leader of the business.

By playing to win, acting customer centric, driving innovation and profitable growth, collaborating seamlessly across Avient, and motivating and inspiring and developing others and yourself you will accelerate your ability to achieve Avient’s strategic goals, to meet our customer needs, and to accomplish your career goals.

At Avient, we believe a wide variety of thoughts, ideas and backgrounds gives us the creativity to be successful in a rapidly changing world. In support of this, we stress equality of opportunity for all qualified individuals in accordance with applicable laws. Decisions on hiring, promotion, development, compensation or advancement are based solely on a person’s qualifications, abilities, experience and performance.

Avient is an equal opportunity employer. We maintain a policy of non-discrimination in providing equal employment to all qualified employees and candidates regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, color, religion, national origin, disability, genetic information, protected veteran’s status, or other legally protected classification in accordance with applicable federal, state and local law. If you need an accommodation because of a disability to complete an online application, please contact the Avient HR Team by emailing, [email protected].