Responsibilities

This posting is for a Scientist with a background in Optical Physics to work in the Electronic Displays Application Research Technology group of Eastman Chemical Company located in Kingsport, TN. The selected candidate will lead the development of novel materials for electronic displays applications. The selected candidate will work with a diverse team using market feedback to guide the design and development of new and improved materials.  The selected individual will work closely with applications scientists, chemists, and scale-up engineers in the development of new product concepts and the scale-up of new products from the laboratory, piloting and into commercial applications in collaboration with market/commercial teams.  Candidate should be able to communicate effectively and function in an innovative, fast-paced, multidisciplinary team environment. 

Key responsibilities:

-Understand fundamental optical properties of materials and build structure-properties relationships to guide development of novel materials.
-Understand and leverage polymer structure-process-property relationships pertaining to optical, thermal, and mechanical properties via polymer chemistries, polymer physics and polymer processing techniques.
-Fundamental understanding of optical measurement and simulation tools.
-Develop research plan and design experiments according to company’s timetable and translate into detailed technical work plans for safe and effective execution of process chemistry or applications development.
-Translate market needs and industry trends into multigenerational plans for optical polymer research.
-Propose a course of action based on data analysis.
-Work with subject matter experts in marketing, organic chemistry, polymer chemistry, and optical physics to correlate polymer properties to fitness-for-use requirements.
-Anticipate technical difficulties and develop creative solutions.
-Write patents, technical market support literature, technical presentations, and publications, including internal research for publication, and support/liaison for external research conducted in line with the organization’s research strategy.
-Prepare and present written and oral reports to communicate with production, marketing, sales, and related functions.
-Train and mentor research associates. 

Qualifications 

-A Ph.D. in Optical Physics, Polymer Chemistry, Polymer Physics, Materials Science or related field from an accredited college or university.
-Safe execution of all laboratory processes with demonstrated ability to effectively identify hazards associated with the chemistries being explored and take appropriate actions.
-Expertise in optics; fundamentals, measurements, application to polymeric systems.
-Experience in developing structure-property relationships, preferably in polymeric materials.
-Experience of theoretical analysis using MATLAB, Python or similar programs.
-Experience with experimental design, data analysis and statistical tools.
-Strong organizational and management skills (ability to prioritize while working on concurrent projects).
-Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to distill data and effectively present key messages across the technical enterprise, as well as various groups such as marketing, manufacturing, regulatory, QA/QC, supply chain, customer service, sales and external customers and suppliers.
-High level of initiative, with ability to work individually and in teams.