Senior Process Chemist

FMC Corporation; Schaffhausen; On-site; CHF 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

FMC Agricultural Solutions in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, seeks a Senior Process Chemist to lead process innovations from NPI through commercial lifecycle. You will drive scale-up, optimize manufacturing, and support technology transfer while ensuring safety, sustainability, and cost competitiveness.

The role involves guiding lab teams, collaborating with R&D, Manufacturing, and Quality, and contributing to IP protection within FMC’s global operations. Fluency in English is required.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in chemistry (PhD preferred).
• 10+ years of industrial process chemistry experience.
• Strong knowledge of organic, physical-organic, and process chemistry with hands-on lab experience.
• Experience supporting technology transfer, NPI, and commercial manufacturing.
• Fluent in written and spoken English.

Responsibilities

• Lead process innovation, optimization, and scale-up initiatives to improve capacity, yield, safety, robustness, sustainability, quality and cost.
• Provide technical leadership during pilot campaigns, commissioning, start-up, validation, and manufacturing for new production introduction.
• Support IP protection by developing deep process understanding and differentiated manufacturing approaches.
• Collaborate with R&D, Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, Regulatory, and EHS teams to ensure successful product commercialization.
• Establish and maintain critical process knowledge, standards, and best practices across FMC’s manufacturing network.
• Mentor and develop colleagues, promoting technical excellence and knowledge sharing.

Skills

Process chemistry

Scale-up

Tech transfer

NPI

Project leadership

Education

Master's degree in chemistry

PhD in organic/ mechanistic or process chemistry

Job description

About us

At FMC Agricultural Solutions, we provide innovative crop protection solutions to growers around the world. With the commitment of approximately 6,500 employees, we are one of the six largest crop protection manufacturers globally. Opening in early 2027, FMC’s new site in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, will bring together Technical Center and R&D teams to create a global hub for technology, innovation, and collaboration, supported by new laboratories and expanded technical capabilities.

As we build this new organization, we are looking for a Senior Process Chemist to play a key role in shaping FMC’s future technical capabilities and business competitiveness. The Schaffhausen Technical Center will support FMC’s manufacturing network worldwide, connecting R&D with commercial manufacturing and providing expertise in technology transfer, scale-up, process optimization, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement. This is a unique opportunity to collaborate with experts across functions and geographies and to see your technical expertise make a tangible impact across FMC’s global operations.

Senior Process Chemist

You will join our Active Ingredient (AI) Technical Center as a Senior Process Chemist and play a key role in supporting active agrochemical ingredients and intermediates from New Product Introduction (NPI) through their commercial lifecycle. In this role, you will drive step-change process innovations that enhance manufacturing capacity, safety, process robustness, sustainability, and cost competitiveness for both newly launched and established products within FMC’s portfolio. The role also contributes to generic defense and intellectual property (IP) protection.

While primarily a technical leadership role, you may also provide functional guidance and day-to-day direction to laboratory technicians and less experienced Process Chemists. Hands-on laboratory work may be required on an as-needed basis to support critical experiments, and less experienced team members.

What you will do with us:

• Lead process innovation, optimization, and scale-up initiatives that improve manufacturing capacity, yield, safety, robustness, sustainability, product quality, and cost competitiveness for both newly launched and established products within FMC’s portfolio.
• Working alongside R&D, provide technical leadership and support during pilot campaigns, commissioning, start-up, validation, and commercial manufacturing for new production introduction.
• Support generic defence and intellectual property (IP) protection by developing deep process understanding, creating differentiated manufacturing approaches, and preserving critical process knowledge.
• Collaborate with R&D, Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, Regulatory, and EHS teams to ensure successful product commercialization and reliable manufacturing performance for implementation of step-change process innovations.
• Establish and maintain critical process knowledge, technical standards, and best practices to support long-term operational excellence across FMC’s global manufacturing network.
• Mentor and develop colleagues while promoting technical excellence, scientific rigor, and knowledge sharing across the organization.

Key Requirements

• Master’s degree in chemistry; PhD in organic, mechanistic or process chemistry preferred.
• 10+ years of industrial process chemistry experience, including process development, optimization, and scale-up of organic intermediates and chemical products within the agrochemical, pharmaceutical, fine chemical, or specialty chemicals industries.
• Strong understanding of organic, physical-organic, and process chemistry, with proven hands-on laboratory, scale-up, and manufacturing support experience.
• Deep knowledge of process safety, reactive chemistry, and analytical techniques relevant to process development.
• Demonstrated ability to solve complex technical challenges, analyze data, and translate scientific findings into practical manufacturing solutions.
• Proven experience supporting technology transfer, New Product Introduction (NPI), and commercial manufacturing in a cross-functional environment.
• Strong communication, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence across technical and operational functions.
• Fluent in written and spoken English.