Senior Polymer Research Engineer — Materials Science

Placements24; Gqeberha; On-site; ZAR 1,100,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Research incentives

Health benefits

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Placements24 seeks an innovative Research Chemical Engineer specializing in Polymer Science to join its advanced R&D team in Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha). The role focuses on discovering and developing novel polymer materials and processes for commercial applications.

You'll work in state-of-the-art laboratories, collaborating with scientists and engineers to translate fundamental research into scalable products.

Qualifications

• PhD or master's in Chemical Engineering with polymer focus.
• At least 5 years post-graduate polymer research experience.
• Hands-on experience with polymerization techniques and materials characterization.
• Strong knowledge of polymer rheology, thermodynamics, and mechanical properties.
• Proven ability to manage research projects and publish findings.
• Exceptional scientific writing and presentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Conduct fundamental and applied polymer synthesis, characterization, and processing research.
• Develop and optimize new polymer formulations and manufacturing techniques.
• Utilize analytical techniques to characterize polymer properties (GPC/DSC/NMR).
• Design experiments to study structure–property relationships in polymers.
• Collaborate with product development and engineering teams to scale up materials.
• Author technical reports, research papers, and patent applications.

Skills

Polymer synthesis

Polymer characterization

Scientific writing

Presentation skills

Education

PhD or Master’s in Chemical Engineering (Polymer Science / Materials Science)

Tools

GPC

DSC

TGA

NMR

Job description

Placements24 seeks an innovative Research Chemical Engineer specializing in Polymer Science to join its advanced R&D team in Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha). The role focuses on discovering and developing novel polymer materials and processes for commercial applications.

You'll work in state-of-the-art laboratories, collaborating with scientists and engineers to translate fundamental research into scalable products.