Polymer and Synthetic Chemist

Location: Lafayette, CO, Colorado, U. SSummary Chemistry is the invisible layer of all critical industries, and the old supply chain is being weaponized. We don't refine petroleum. We create the molecules that matter most — from the atom up. As a Polymer and Synthetic Chemist, you sit across our verticals rather than inside one. Three of our mining and metals product lines are a single phenolic condensation stopped at different points, and the product specification is a molecular weight distribution rather than a structure. Our energetics program needs binder and formulation work for polymer-bonded explosives and solid rocket motor applications. Those are the same cure chemistry and the same characterization stack, and we would rather hire for the overlap than split it across two half-roles. This role reports to the Director of Synthetic Chemistry. THE KIND OF PEOPLE THIS WORK DEMANDSOur mission demands more than great science. It requires a particular kind of team — visionary builders, hustlers, scientists, operators. Together, we carry both the technical depth to make the chemistry work and the commercial instinct to make the business thrive. People are our engine. Collaboration is our multiplier.02 WHAT YOU'LL DESIGN AND BUILDOwn the phloroglucinol-formaldehyde condensation shared by three product lines: stopped at a solubleoligomer for one and carried to a crosslinked bead for two others, to a narrow and reproducible molecular weight distribution Run the calorimetry and thermal characterization program on a cure that is easy to start and hard to stop, on a strongly activated ring, and set operating conditions from that data rather than from the first batch that happened to work Develop binder systems for polymer bonded explosives and solid rocket motor applications: HTPB andenergetic binder chemistry, cure kinetics, filler loading and rheology, pot life, and mechanical properties of the cured composite Build the characterization methods the specification rests on, including GPC/SEC, DSC, TGA, rheometry, swelling and extractables, and defend them when a customer asks how the number was produced Develop bead and resin morphology where the product is a solid support: suspension polymerization, particle size distribution, porosity and surface area control Screen candidate derivatives on the triacetic acid lactone and phloroglucinol platforms alongside the metals bench, and take surge campaigns across verticals when a program needs a second pair of hands at the bench03 WHAT YOU BRING WITH YOUYou are a synthetic chemist who went into polymers rather than a formulator who picked up some chemistry. You are at ease owning a product whose specification is a distribution, and you know how much of that distribution is set by the first twenty minutes of the cure. You likely have: A PhD in polymer chemistry, organic chemistry, materials science or chemical engineering with 2 or more years beyond it, or a BS/MS with 6 or more years of industrial polymer development Step-growth polymerization and molecular weight control, with phenolic, formaldehyde or epoxy resin systems particularly welcome Hands-on synthetic organic chemistry, not formulation alone Polymer characterization you run yourself: GPC/SEC, thermal analysis, rheology Experience taking a resin or binder from a laboratory batch to a reproducible specification across multiple campaigns Comfort working in a hazardous laboratory environment and treating exotherm control as a design decisionSTRONG PLUSHTPB, polyurethane or energetic binder systems, and solid rocket motor propellant or PBX formulation Crosslinked bead and resin synthesis, suspension or emulsion polymerization, porosity control Reaction calorimetry on exothermic cures and runaway characterization Ion exchange or chelating resin manufacture and functionalization Working inside an ITAR environment, or holding a security clearance Statistical design of experiments applied to a formulation spaceWHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE AFTER 3 MONTHSCalorimetry and thermal characterization of the phenolic cure are complete, with a documented safe operating envelope that the three product lines sharing the reaction and the reactor can work insideAFTER 6–12 MONTHSThe condensate is delivered at two stop points with a reproducible molecular weight distribution across three consecutive batches. A binder formulation path is defined for the energetics program, with the characterization methods that will qualify it.