Scientist at Cabot Corporation in Shanghai, Shanghai, China

Cabot Corporation (NYSE: CBT) is a leading global specialty chemicals and performance materials company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Our businesses deliver a broad range of products and solutions to customers in every corner of the globe, serving the transportation, infrastructure, environment and consumer industry sectors. We bring the power of innovative chemistry to solve customers' challenges today while preparing them to meet tomorrow’s needs. Our commitment to innovation is driven by a passion to advance our customers' businesses through our deep understanding of their applications and the global trends that impact their operations.

If you do not meet every requirement, or your experience is slightly different that what we have listed, we still encourage you to apply!

Job Description Summary

Independent researcher responsible for delivering and/or leading projects of moderate complexity related to plastic materials and application development. The role requires strong technical depth in polymer science and plastic processing, combined with the ability to apply data science, statistical methods, and machine learning to accelerate materials development, application evaluation, and technical problem solving. Employs thorough scientific approach, including understanding of literature, mechanistic thinking, hypothesis setting, experimentation, analysis, and reporting. Emphasis on research and synthesis of data into actionable information; planning and designing/ adapting methods; improving methodology. Provides guidance and training to more junior employees. May participate in select customer facing activities and interact with Sales/Marketing or product/process development groups, and/or external customers.

Job Requirements (Principal Responsibilities)

• Conducts independent research to understand and deliver solutions to important technical and commercial problems in applications, Cabot products, or process technology.
• Partners with technology management and other functions (e.g. marketing, manufacturing, etc.) to establish objectives and implement.
• Formulate hypotheses and design experimental plans using DOE, statistical analysis, and data‑driven methodologies.
• Plans, schedules, conducts, or and coordinates detailed phases of work for a part of a major project or total project of moderate scope to safely meet objectives and timeline.
• Conducts experiments/investigations that may involve applications, product or process design/development, testing and validation of materials. Improves, changes or adapts existing methods and techniques and may introduce new methods and techniques as appropriate.
• Generate, organize, and analyze experimental and process data using advanced statistical methods, data analytics, and machine‑learning models to establish new materials, process, and application learning. Design and conduct experiments, interpret results, draw conclusions, develop and test hypotheses, and provide data‑driven recommendations to guide development decisions.
• Prepares appropriate reports and presentations documenting work, results, and conclusions. Presents work to management, broad technical groups and/or business partners.
• Trains others in areas of expertise (characterization, materials, methods, processes, applications) and safety. Provide technical guidance and informal mentoring to junior team members supporting assigned projects.
• May participate in exchanges with product line/manufacturing or Sales and Tech Service/external partners/customers and/or contribute to technical documentation for external use. May participate in or present at technical conferences or tradeshows.
• May be responsible for the oversight of one or more junior members of the team who have been assigned to support their project(s), to plan activities, oversee work quality, address day-to-day questions related to the project(s) being supported; provides input to the individual's manager on performance, etc.
• Adheres to all intellectual property standards throughout area of responsibility. Stays current with relevant patent literature. Identifies opportunities to capture new IP and supports the preparation of patent applications.
• Ensures safe laboratory operations. Participates in scheduled safety meetings and completes safety training requirements. Creates awareness and develops technical documentation and tools to address safety topics. Contributes to investigations into safety matters through RCA and 5-whys. Leads in safety-focused activities such as PHAs and PSSRs.
• Strictly follows and complies with all SH&E procedures, standards and regulations and constantly strives for Excellence in the fields of sustainability and Safety, Health and preservation of the Environment.
• Supports efforts to implement and maintain the Responsible Care® Management System in line with the requirements of the RC14001® technical specification, as applicable to the site/region.

Competencies (Knowledge, Skills and Behaviors)

• Advanced knowledge and understanding in polymer science or materials science, with emphasis on plastics and applications. Formulation of hypotheses and ability to design appropriate and statistically sound experiments. Ability to execute in a manner that is aligned with IP and business strategies. Comfort with what is unknown and an eagerness to explore in pursuit of new ways to improve and create value. (e.g. can move forward using the 80/20 rule). Ability to synthesize and document experimental results in written reports to capture knowledge.

• Strong analytical thinking, problem‑solving skills, and comfort working with incomplete data.

• Technical problem analysis: ability to identify causes of and potential solutions to technical problems. Experimental design, modeling, data management, and analysis proficiency. Skillful data interpretation, to create knowledge.

• Working knowledge or hands‑on experience in machine learning, data science, or advanced data analytics applied to R&D or manufacturing problems is a plus.

• Knowledge in the critical aspects of project management.

• Effective English written and verbal technical communication skills.

• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively in cross‑functional teams.

Education/Experience

• PhD in Polymer Science, Materials Science, or related technical discipline, OR
• Master’s Degree in a related technical discipline and generally 4+ years of relevant R&D or application development experience
• Experience in applying data science, statistical analysis, or machine learning in an industrial or R&D environment is strongly preferred.

At Cabot, we bring the power of innovative chemistry and a spirit of partnership with our customers to advance solutions that will enable a sustainable future. Our strength in research and development is a major reason why we have been an industry leader for more than 135 years in products such as reinforcing and specialty carbons, battery materials, aerogel, fumed metal oxides, inkjet colorants, masterbatches and conductive compounds.

Our employees around the world are united by our shared purpose: Creating materials that improve daily life and enable a more sustainable future. Through our corporate strategy, “Creating for Tomorrow,” we are focused on our core strengths to lead in performance and sustainability – today and into the future.