Technical Service & Development Scientist

At Dow, we believe in putting people first and we’re passionate about delivering integrity, respect and safety to our customers, our employees and the planet.  

Our people are at the heart of our solutions. They reflect the communities we live in and the world where we do business. Their diversity is our strength. We’re a community of relentless problem solvers that offers the daily opportunity to contribute with your perspective, transform industries and shape the future. Our purpose is simple - to deliver a sustainable future for the world through science and collaboration. If you’re looking for a challenge and meaningful role, you’re in the right place. 

The NA Technical Service and Development (TS&D) group has an exciting opportunity for a Packaging & Specialty Plastics TS&D Scientist located in Freeport, TX. TS&D group supports over 5 Billion lb/yr and 150+ customers. Markets served are Industrial & Consumer Packaging (I&CP), Infrastructure, Consumer and Transportation (ICT), Food and specialty packaging (F&SP), Hygiene and Medical (H&M), and Rigid Packaging. The purpose of this job is to provide customer technical service and development at core accounts and support existing business and development efforts in the Flexible Packaging market segment.

TS&D scientists provide the critical link between customers and Dow’s technical expertise from troubleshooting, to supporting processing of existing products at customers, to defining new product applications and modifying existing products to meet new customer needs.

Primary Responsibilities: 

• Works closely and collaborates with peers to learn Polyethylene technology, applications, and product portfolio within Flexible Packaging. He/She should identify the current gaps in the market and offer Dow solutions.
• Participate in ADTs (Application Development Team) and work with the ATL and Fellows to actively contribute to the growth strategy for target application segments within the Flexible Packaging market
• Active engagement with value chain partners like OEMs, BO, converters to define the unmet needs for new application development.
• Drive innovation from conceptualization to validation via partnering with R&D, Process, Commercial and TS&D colleagues
• Ensures product quality and performance standards meet customer needs through continuous evaluation of product.  Handles customer specification requests, and accesses QA/QC data and information.
• Covers immediate action/troubleshooting at customers in close cooperation with sales, research and manufacturing activities, including sampling, identifying problem source (at customers or at Dow) and reporting.
• Leads, participates in and follows application and product development activities. Leads implementation at core customers in cooperation with other TS&D colleagues and in alignment with the business strategy.
• Provides technical customer service in cooperation with Sales based on identified business needs and in agreement sales/marketing and TS&D Leadership.
• Tracks competitive technology and identifies new products/opportunities in the market. Initiates sample/performance ensures broad technical knowledge of competition, including competitive literature.

In this role, the employee must actively engage in idea creation, new opportunities shaping, and strong cross functional collaboration to drive new application development. The employee should stay current with relevant market dynamics and technology trends to inform segment growth strategy. In addition to this he/she should work closely with customers to ensure existing products are running smoothly and to position new products and technologies.  This includes possessing the interpersonal skills and organizational intuition to successfully interface at multiple levels and functions within the customer’s organization.  This also includes travel to production trials and business meetings in partnership with a sales account executive.  Finally, this also requires excellent communication with stakeholders in sales, marketing, and the research functions.

In addition to customer interactions, the employee will work on multiple application development projects including elements of polymer processing, mold design, sustainability, additive technology, and material replacement. The results of these projects will then be documented in reports, communicated to internal business teams and at professional conferences in presentations, inventions will documented and patented, and new products will be scaled up in conjunction with resear