Senior Associate, Chemistry and Formulation

Lifestyle Brands (the LSB) is a growing house of like-minded brands under the SC Johnson umbrella including Method®, Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day®, Babyganics® and Ecover®. Headquartered in San Francisco with additional operations in Chicago and throughout Europe, the LSB is home to 650 employees. Together we act as a force for bold, transformative growth with a focus on delivering positive impact for people and the planet. If you’re into pioneering the future and doing good while doing business, come join us.

The LSB is part of SC Johnson, a family-owned company and leading manufacturer of household cleaning, home storage, air care, pest control and shoe care products, as well as professional products. Originally founded in 1886 and headquartered in Wisconsin, U.S.A., SC Johnson and the Lifestyle Brands division are at work for a better world.

Location: Malle, Belgium

Contract type: Full time

People Leader: Formulation Manager

Function: R&D

Please note this role is based on-site (full time). We will not be able to offer international relocation for this role.

What's in it for you?

• A competitive salary and benefits
• A generous travel allowance if you cycle
• Flexible working hours
• Free snacks and fresh fruit
• 20 vacation days + 12 ADV days - PRO RATED
• Hospitalization insurance and group insurance
• Volunteer days
• Free cleaning products to make your house SHINE!

Reporting to the Formulation Manager, this is a Sr. Associate R&D role. In this role, you will support 3 teams in our R&D group: Formulation, Long Term Innovation and Data Management for Home and Fabric care categories. This position is based at our lab in Malle, Belgium.

It is important that you have a background in Chemistry or other Life Sciences, hands-on formulation experience and demonstrated proficiency in a lab setting. Just as importantly, you should have superior communication and teamwork skills, ability to prioritize effectively in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment and exhibit a passion for environmentally sustainable products and creative problem solving.

Your responsibilities:

• Work independently in the lab, being technically curios and showcase initiative. Being precise and collecting/documenting data with good records.
• Work with the Formulator, Long Term innovation contact and the Formulator manager to understand the new technologies, build plans for screening green technologies, conduct initial assessments on the new technologies and evaluate if they fit into our products, developing new formulations and line extensions using green chemistry tools that meet our consumer and technical objectives
• Conduct related performance and stability studies to ensure products deliver on quality, and target product experience
• Support the Scientific Services manager in data entry and management, utilizing SAP/PLM/ PIE systems to set up raw materials and formulas as well as product specifications, documentation and enable global collaboration
• Communicate effectively with your manager, the formulator, long term innovation, Scientific Services in project settings and provide timely updates to team on progress, developments, risks and opportunities.

Experience you'll bring:

• MSc in Chemistry or Life Sciences with 2+ years of lab experience (or PhD with 1+ year)
• Proven ability to work independently and collaboratively to deliver results
• Strong communication and feedback skills. Fluent in both English and Dutch (written and spoken)
• A proactive, positive attitude with high energy and enthusiasm
• Quick learner ready to contribute from day one
• Solid MS Office skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Knowledge of statistics
• Experience in cleaning product formulation (desirable)
• Familiarity with SAP and PLM systems (desirable)
• Knowledge of Design of Experiments (DOE) (desirable)

About us:

We are the people behind method + Ecover. We’ve always done things differently – we’re fearless thinkers, mad scientists and adventurous designers who believe that making soap leads to brave ideas, bold inventions and beautiful bubbles. We started small but we have big plans to make the world a cleaner, greener, more colourful place. We invite everyone to join us as we pioneer a