R&D Scientist at DuPont in Pudong, Shanghai, China

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The Adhesives & Fluids business within DuPont Advanced Mobility primarily serves the automotive market. This role is responsible for the development of new adhesive products to support strategic business growth objectives in the Asia Pacific (AP) region. The incumbent conducts research to improve existing products or to develop new products, and is accountable for leading new product development and localization projects, as well as tracking and reporting project performance.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the development of new adhesive products for automotive applications in the AP region, translating unmet customer needs into robust technical solutions while balancing performance requirements, manufacturability, quality, and commercial objectives.
• Drive product scale-up trials and performance qualification activities for target customers, working closely with global and regional cross-functional teams.
• Lead performance qualification of products localized in China in response to customer requirements, collaborating with customers as well as regional and global stakeholders.
• Partner with the PSR team to ensure new products meet applicable regulatory, compliance, and stewardship requirements.
• Serve as a technical expert providing consultative support to internal and external customers, including product recommendations, application guidance, and on-site trial support for customer opportunities.
• Provide technical leadership and guidance to laboratory technologists, including development of experimental and testing plans, data analysis, and maintenance of accurate, complete, and up-to-date laboratory records.
• Document, summarize, and report project progress and results on a regular basis, ensuring appropriate technical documentation and protection of proprietary information.
• Engage with customers and value-chain influencers to understand industry technology trends and emerging application performance requirements; synthesize and communicate insights to internal teams; and proactively contribute strategic input to technology roadmaps and multi-generation product plans.
• Actively participate in professional societies, industry forums, and external technical networks to maintain awareness of relevant technical literature and to identify and introduce new technologies from the external community.
• Ensure compliance with Quality System standards and laboratory safety requirements, including adherence to guidelines for laboratory equipment, training procedures, and recordkeeping.
• Demonstrate strong project leadership, accountability, and customer centricity across all assigned responsibilities.

Qualifications:

• PhD in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Polymer Science, or a related discipline.
• Strong technical foundation in adhesives, including formulation science, dispersion of solids in liquids, and rheology.
• Hands-on experience in adhesive formulation development for industrial applications, preferably in the automotive industry, with an understanding of quality systems and regulatory compliance requirements.
• Experience applying design of experiments (DoE) and statistical methods, such as Six Sigma methodologies, to product development and problem solving.
• Demonstrated strong technical capability, particularly in analytical thinking and structured problem-solving.
• Proven ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams to develop, qualify, and commercialize new products and applications.
• Proactive and results-oriented mindset, with the ability to identify problems, propose solutions, and contribute constructively to product development and customer-related challenges.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively with individuals from diverse technical, educational, and cultural backgrounds.
• High learning agility, self-motivation, and ability to adapt in a dynamic environment.
• Effective verbal and written communication skills in both Chinese and English.
• Familiarity with project management tools is a plus.
• Ability to operate successfully in a fast-paced, customer-focused, global environment, with willingness and flexibility to travel for business as required.

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