Senior Chemist — Formulation & Innovation Leader

Mattel; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 97,000 - 104,000; Full time

Job summary

Mattel invites a Senior Chemist to partner with Design and Product Development to create chemical features that balance performance, aesthetics, cost, and safety. You’ll translate creative objectives into viable solutions and guide technology selection for production.

You will collaborate across Design, Product Development, Quality, Regulatory, Manufacturing, and suppliers, leading complex formulation efforts from concept through scale-up and supporting rigorous testing and documentation.

Qualifications

• BA/BS in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or related physical science.
• Typically 3–5 years of relevant experience in chemistry, formulation, materials development, or consumer product development.
• Strong knowledge of chemistry principles, formulation practices, raw materials, and material interactions.
• Demonstrated ability to independently develop and troubleshoot moderately complex to complex formulations and evaluate technical alternatives.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including root-cause analysis and experimental design.
• Experience translating creative or product requirements into technical specifications and solutions.
• Ability to manage multiple projects with limited day-to-day direction and communicate effectively with technical and non-technical audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate and influence across cross-functional, supplier, and global manufacturing teams.
• Experience with formulated consumer products and manufacturing scale-up preferred.
• Working knowledge of chemical safety, regulatory requirements, restricted-substance management, and technical documentation preferred.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Design and Product Development early in concept development to identify appropriate chemical and material solutions.
• Independently develop, formulate, evaluate, and optimize chemical features, including inks, cosmetics, play compounds, and other formulated products, against performance, aesthetic, cost, manufacturability, safety, and regulatory requirements.
• Evaluate tradeoffs and recommend chemical technologies and material solutions to cross-functional partners.
• Lead chemical-feature development from concept through production, defining technical requirements, testing needs, milestones, and technical risks.
• Lead troubleshooting and root-cause analysis of complex formulation, processing, performance, and production issues.
• Work with suppliers and manufacturing partners to evaluate and qualify materials and technologies and support formulation transfer and scale-up.
• Develop and maintain formula specifications, mixing procedures, ingredient information, Bills of Substance, and other documentation required for global execution.
• Partner with Quality and Regulatory to define testing, evaluate results, and ensure applicable safety and regulatory requirements are met.
• Manage multiple projects concurrently, independently prioritizing work to meet development milestones.
• Provide technical guidance to junior team members and evaluate new technologies that can improve product performance, consumer experience, cost, or development efficiency.

Skills

Chemistry knowledge

Formulation practices

Materials science

Analytical skills

Problem-solving

Cross-functional collaboration

Independent troubleshooting

Communicating with technical audiences

Project management

Leadership

Education

BA/BS in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or related physical science

Job description

Mattel invites a Senior Chemist to partner with Design and Product Development to create chemical features that balance performance, aesthetics, cost, and safety. You’ll translate creative objectives into viable solutions and guide technology selection for production.

You will collaborate across Design, Product Development, Quality, Regulatory, Manufacturing, and suppliers, leading complex formulation efforts from concept through scale-up and supporting rigorous testing and documentation.