R&D Lead

This role is for one of the Weekday's clients

Min Experience: 15+ years

Location: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
JobType: full-time

Must Haves:
•    Ph.D. in Chemistry, Surfactant Chemistry, or Biotechnology from a reputed institute.
•    10–15 years of progressive R&D leadership experience in formulation/biotech/surfactant industries.
•    Proven expertise in biobased product development across multiple application domains.
•    Strong people leadership managing 10-20member multidisciplinary scientific teams.
•    Deep knowledge of surfactants, analytical techniques, and/or  biotechnology.
•    Hands-on experience in lab-to-plant scale-up and commercialization processes.
•    Strong project planning, execution, documentation, and innovation management skills.
•    Familiarity with regulatory frameworks (DSIR, DST, PCB) and compliance protocols.

Good to Haves:

•    Exposure to premier institutes like IIT, IISc, ICT, or CSIR, coupled with strong research orientation, publications, or patents, demonstrating advanced scientific thinking and innovation-driven problem-solving capabilities.
•    Experience collaborating with marketing and application teams for troubleshooting, customer-centric product customization, and commercialization strategies, ensuring seamless alignment between R&D innovations and evolving market demands.
•    Strong communication, stakeholder management, and talent development skills, with ability to recruit, mentor, and inspire high-performing teams while fostering a culture of continuous learning, experimentation, and scientific excellence.

Targeted firms for the vacancy: Archroma, DyStar, BASF, CHT Group, RUDOLF Group, Pulcra Chemicals, Tanatex Chemicals, Bozzetto Group, Croda, Rossari Biotech, Solenis, Kemira, Ecolab (Nalco Water), Buckman, SNF, Nouryon, Omya, Minerals Technologies, Solvay , Unilever , P&G (You can look at Personal Care or Home care Product companies with Good R&D program)

Formulation development, Surfactant, Bioformulation

Textile Industry, B2B, R&D