Senior R&D Chemist — Fragrance Formula Innovator

Scentbird; New Jersey; On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive base compensation

Paid Time Off and Work From Home

Wellness Days

401k with Company Match

Medical, Dental, Vision, and Commuter

Flexible Spending Accounts

Complimentary Scentbird Membership

Creative and energetic work env

Job summary

Scentbird is building a formal R&D function and seeks a Senior R&D Chemist to own formula-based product innovation across Scentbird and Drift brands. You will set feasibility for new platforms, manage supplier relationships, and build the R&D infrastructure that is currently missing.

Reporting to the Senior Director of Technical Innovation & Engineering, you’ll drive feasibility gates with the Device Engineer and establish SOPs for future lab operations, shaping olfactive performance at scale.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Chemistry, Cosmetic Science, or related field.
• 7+ years of formulation/R&D experience in fragrance, home care, air care, personal care, or adjacent CPG.
• Direct experience managing fragrance house or formula-supplier relationships.
• Experience setting technical feasibility criteria for new product platforms, ideally including device-based systems.
• Strong track record partnering cross-functionally with engineering and product development.
• Comfortable building process where none currently exists.

Responsibilities

• Own formula R&D across all products, device-based and non-device
• Own product innovation for non-device platforms - technology and vendor discovery, capability evaluation
• Approve/reject technical feasibility on formula-only platforms
• Partner with the Device Engineer on device-based platforms as a joint feasibility gate
• Set technical requirements and capability parameters for new formula technologies before Product Development designs around them
• Own supplier relationships for new base formula technology (e.g. Firmenich, Cosmo), then hand off to Product Development for ongoing olfactive work
• Partner with Product Development on olfactive sign-off
• Own long-term effectiveness validation for functional products (e.g. cleaning efficacy)
• Review existing product portfolio to identify opportunities to improve olfactive performance through technology and formula enhancements
• Discover and evaluate new raw materials to improve olfactive performance
• Establish formal R&D processes and SOPs where none currently exist
• Source new suppliers and technologies that fit the brand portfolio
• Spec requirements for Scentbird's future dedicated R&D lab

Skills

Formulation R&D

Fragrance supplier mgmt

Technical feasibility

Cross-functional collaboration

Process building

Hands-on

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher in Chemistry, Cosmetic Science, or related field

Job description

Scentbird is building a formal R&D function and seeks a Senior R&D Chemist to own formula-based product innovation across Scentbird and Drift brands. You will set feasibility for new platforms, manage supplier relationships, and build the R&D infrastructure that is currently missing.

Reporting to the Senior Director of Technical Innovation & Engineering, you’ll drive feasibility gates with the Device Engineer and establish SOPs for future lab operations, shaping olfactive performance at scale.