Automation Chemist – Formulation Development

About Syngenta & our R&D Centre at Jealotts Hill

Syngenta is leading science-based agtech company; dedicated to bringing plant potential to life. Each of our 28,000 employees in more than 90 countries work together to solve one of humanity’s most pressing challenges: growing more food with fewer resources. A diverse workforce and an inclusive workplace environment are enablers of our ambition to be the most collaborative and trusted team in agriculture.

Our employees reflect the diversity of our customers, the markets where we operate and the communities which we serve. No matter what your position, you will have a vital role in safely feeding the world and taking care of our planet. Join us and help shape the future of agriculture

Our Jealotts Hill R&D site hosts a vibrant multi-disciplinary scientific community of around 800 people.  Located between Maidenhead and Bracknell it offers a spacious and green campus environment with comprehensive sports facilities, catering facilities & social clubs. We are proud of our community and how we work together to deliver.

Role Purpose

• Provide formulation automation capability and Operational Design to support a portfolio of formulation development and global supply projects from within the automation team.
• To develop hands-on experience running the various experiments, propose, plan and conduct innovative automated work programmes required by our global network of customers.
• Work creatively to solve problems, discover possibilities and optimise automated experimental tasks.

Accountabilities

• Run, schedule and optimise automated experiments, work with the team leader to coordinate the day-to-day operations of the robots and ongoing operational design of experiments and workflows to meet needs.
• Work and proactively communicate directly with Key Users and experiment owners and other internal functions to co-ordinate delivery of project outputs and present project updates.
• To provide technical problem-solving support for automated experiments.          

Critical success factors & key challenges

• Delivery of outputs for multiple projects through efficient time management and good planning.
• Work independently or as part of a team, able to collaborate both with scientific and commercially minded stakeholders
• Able to problem solve and demonstrate flexibility and adaptability to respond to dynamic situations, experiment results or changes in planned activities

Critical Knowledge/Experience

• Degree in Chemistry or closely related subject
• Knowledge of formulation chemistry
• Relevant work experience and track record in a similar or related role, ideally including some formal qualification or training
• Self-motivated with strong organisational skills, an ability to adapt to changing demands and a desire to improve processes

Desirable Experience

• Interest in automation and desire to develop own skills within automation
• Continuous improvement or project management knowledge/experience

Syngenta will offer

• Competitive salary and benefits scheme including bonus, healthcare & generous pension
• 31.5 days annual holiday
• Flexible working hours
• A commitment to innovation
• Leading edge technology
• Good onsite facilities including a staff restaurant, a gym and fitness classes
• Great opportunities for personal and career development
• Interaction with external researchers and opportunities to represent Syngenta in research networks, collaborations and conferences.
• Vibrant R&D focused workforce with wide and varied social communities to join

We embrace and encourage diversity, and this is what drives our innovation and lets us outperform the market. https://www.syngenta.com/careers/working-syngenta/diversity-and-inclusion

At Syngenta, we are passionate about sustainably feeding the world and providing growers with the best solutions to do this. Syngenta is committed to developing new products and exploring how formulation technologies can deliver benefits to both growers and society. This is an exciting area of R&D requiring high levels of innovation & collaboration.

To support our ambitions, following internal development of current staff, we are seeking an energised and motivated scientist who is driven and excited by automation for efficient delivery of formulation data used to support new and existing projects.