Research & Development Team Lead

The Research & Development (R&D) Team Lead role combines scientific leadership with hands-on laboratory work to drive the development and scale-up of processes for agrochemical active ingredients. The position leads and mentors a team of scientists while supporting projects from laboratory development through pilot-plant scale-up and technology transfer.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a team of scientists while remaining hands-on in laboratory work and driving project execution
• Lead process development, optimisation, validation, and scale-up from the laboratory to the pilot plant for agrochemical active ingredients
• Support technology transfer and develop cost-effective, commercially viable, non-infringing manufacturing processes
• Evaluate reaction mechanisms, process impurities, impurity profiles, and appropriate purification techniques
• Interpret analytical data and conduct literature searches to support process development and project decisions
• Prepare technical documentation, cost analyses, Route of Synthesis evaluations, and development reports
• Collaborate with manufacturing, analytical, procurement, Environment, Health & Safety, and other cross-functional teams to support successful project execution
• Ensure compliance with laboratory safety practices, intellectual property confidentiality, and organisational quality standards
  
  

Requirements

• Proven ability to lead and mentor scientists while remaining actively involved in laboratory work
• Strong expertise in process development, optimisation, validation, technology transfer, and scale-up for agrochemical active ingredients
• Deep understanding of reaction mechanisms, impurity profiling, and purification techniques, including distillation, crystallisation, and chromatography
• Ability to interpret analytical results using NMR, Mass Spectrometry, HPLC, and GC, and conduct literature searches using SciFinder and Reaxys
• Experience in technical documentation, cost analysis, Route of Synthesis evaluation, and collaboration with cross-functional teams
  
  

About the company

A company in the speciality chemicals industry providing research and development, process development, manufacturing, and sourcing services. The organisation supports customers across sectors including agrochemicals through technical expertise and scalable chemical manufacturing solutions.