Overview In this role you will advance Balchem's Animal Nutrition and Health portfolio by developing new formulations and guiding products from ideation through scale-up. You will collaborate with a multidisciplinary team to tackle challenging technical problems, generate robust data across lab and pilot plant stages, and contribute to patenting and external communications. Your work will drive breakthrough products and support commercialization, with opportunities to influence process improvements and regulatory readiness. This role combines hands-on formulation work, experimental design, and cross-functional collaboration to create value for customers and the company.
Responsibilities- Support lab and pilot plant activities including extrusion, granulation, and fluidized bed operations
- Apply formulation chemistry to create and improve products
- Generate innovative ideas to differentiate Balchem offerings and boost value
- Use design of experiments (DOE) to explore multivariate spaces
- Document projects clearly and thoroughly
- Develop deep knowledge of Balchem technologies (microencapsulation, spray-drying, agglomeration, end-use technologies)
- Act as project manager to anticipate challenges and keep projects on track
- Monitor patent literature and external tech developments
- Collaborate in a multi-disciplinary team to solve complex problems
- Communicate with Supply Chain and Commercial teams to ensure smooth business flow
- Represent Balchem in industry groups and trade associations
- Publish articles, file patents, and present at industry meetings as an external technical face
- Support product scale-up including travel to production sites
- Perform other duties as assigned
Key requirements- BS degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Polymer Science, Materials Science or Food Science with 4+ years of experience
- Proven safety champion in process-related environments
- Ability to ensure safe R&D work via hazard reviews, SOPs, and PPE
- Preferred: experience in specialty chemicals, food, nutraceutical, or pharmaceutical sectors
- Mastery of bench chemistry and material characterization techniques (DSC, rheology, microscopy, texture analysis)
- Detail-oriented and able to learn new protocols quickly
- Track record of technical execution and publications or patents
- Advanced analytical skills including DOE
- Proficiency in data management and analysis with relevant software
- Detail-focused
- Strong communication
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Formulation chemistry
- Microencapsulation
- Spray-drying
