Chemical Engineer

Leidos; Wharton (TX); On-site; USD 58,000 - 105,000; Full time

Job summary

Leidos is seeking a chemical engineer to evaluate novel and legacy energetic materials at its New Jersey site. You will set up, operate, and optimize continuous flow reactors, crystallizers, separators, and related equipment, and perform product isolation with NMR, IR, Raman and UV/Vis spectroscopy.

The role includes data analysis, DOEs, SOPs, and equipment acquisition support, with emphasis on safety and clear reporting in a collaborative lab environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in chemical engineering or related field is required.
• Strong Excel and MS Office skills and data analysis ability.
• Experience with mass balances and reactor design; knowledge of DOEs.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; team player; US citizenship required.

Responsibilities

• Analyze data on synthesis of molecules for U.S. Army projects and execute research protocols.
• Interact with customers, vendors, and researchers to support projects.
• Test, troubleshoot, and maintain equipment for continuous processing.
• Create DOEs to optimize continuous processes and analyze results.
• Assist with equipment acquisition through market research and installation.
• Establish SOPs for safe operation of material testing.
• Collect, organize, and verify data; maintain detailed experiment logs.
• Prepare technical summaries, posters, and protocols for reviews and conferences.
• Present work at program reviews and conferences; ensure health and safety compliance.

Skills

Excel & MS Office

Laboratory procedures

Mass balances

Reactor design

DOEs

US citizenship

Education

Bachelor's degree in chemical engineering

Tools

Dynochem

Aspen

GC-MS

HPLC/UPLC

Job description

Leidos is looking for a chemical engineer to support the evaluation of novel and legacy energetic materials and formulations at its Picatinny, NJ location. Primary responsibilities to include setup, operation and optimization of continuous flow processes, such as continuous flow synthesis reactors, continuous crystallizers, continuous separators and other continuous flow equipment. The engineer will also be expected to perform product isolation and characterization work, such as filtration and operation of analytical tools including but not limited to NMR, IR, Raman and UV/Vis spectroscopy.

Primary Responsibilities

• Analyze data on the synthesis of molecules of interest to the U.S. Army, and execute research protocols in support of research, development, and production objectives.
• Interact with outside customers, vendors, and researchers to support contracted and subcontracted projects.
• Test, evaluate, troubleshoot, repair, maintain, install, and calibrate equipment for continuous processing.
• Create, evaluate and analyze DOEs for the optimization of continuous processes.
• Support acquisition of new equipment through market research, purchase, and installation.
• Establish standard operating procedures for the safe and effective operation of material testing.
• Collect, organize, and perform data analysis, and verify/correct data entry.
• Maintain clear and accurate logbooks, generate material balances; collect and record detailed observations about experiments.
• Assist with preparation of technical reports, summaries, posters, data presentation, and protocols.
• Present work being conducted at program reviews, conferences and other venues.
• Maintain compliance with established laboratory health and safety guidelines, as well as established methods/procedures.

Basic Qualifications

• Candidate must have completed a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering or related fields.
• Skills should include a foundational and theoretical understanding of general scientific principles.
• Candidate must be well organized and self-motivated.
• Candidate must have strong competencies with Excel and other Microsoft office tools
• Hands-on experience with laboratory experimental procedures.
• Experience with mass balances, chemical reactor design and selection, and DOEs.
• Effective written and verbal communication. Must be able to work in a team-based environment.
• US citizenship required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with other analytical methodologies, such as GC-MS and HPLC/UPLC preferred.
• Familiarity with crystallization processes is a bonus.
• Knowledge of reaction calorimetry and reaction characterization/quantification preferred.
• Experience with modeling software (i.e. Dynochem , Aspen) and its application to finding optimal parameters for chemical reactions and recrystallization a major plus.

If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo - because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 - and moving faster than anyone else dares.

Original Posting:

September 8, 2026

For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.

Pay Range:

Pay Range $57,850.00 - $104,575.00

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline onlyand not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.