Development Chemist/Engineer - Application Development

We have fun at work! What else to say? People are friendly and helpful and the managers are very understanding when you have a problem. Together we see new opportunities and ways forward.” - Pia, R&D Senior Laboratory Engineer

About the department

The Innovation organization is about 60 people based in Sweden, India and China and work towards global customers and markets. Our main application areas are Coatings & Resins and tailormade lubricants, and we explore opportunities in other areas like plastics, agriculture, energy and cleaning.

A major driver for our innovations is sustainability making that important in everything we do. To capture new scientific advances Perstorp is part of a wide range of external collaboration programs with Universities and institutes across Sweden and Europe.

Application Development is responsible for application development from the initial synthesis work needed, up to an evaluated and verified product in the relevant application area. In the department you will have 10 colleagues with a consolidated experience of more than 100 years of relevant Perstorp application knowledge of our specialty chemicals. We work in a well-equipped laboratory where we perform synthesis, prepare formulations and evaluate applications. For analysis and investigations we work in close collaboration with the Analytical Chemistry department. When it is time for scale up or process related questions we work in close collaboration with Chemical Process Development. To secure the intellectual properties of the new innovations we support our IP department. As our colleague you will mainly work in cross functional teams in projects driven by the Innovation organization project managers.

About the position

There is no “typical day” - they are all different and filled with experiments, syntheses, evaluations, discussions, meetings and reporting. The breaks include a nice coffee conversation, walking in the forest or taking a break in our mindfulness room. Safety is very important at this lab and safety is part of our natural behavior and this is something we are very proud of.

As a new colleague you will have a mentor that helps you find your way around. You will be introduced to different functions/colleagues within Innovation. From this you will be able to plan your own activities within the projects that you will be working on.

You mainly work in projects and as an integrated team member you can come with suggestions along the road. You are introduced to the project normally working together with a department colleague. Your first test results will tell you how to continue, hopefully you can stick to the plan, but sometimes the experiments indicate that you have to take another route to be able to reach the requested results. Determination combined with flexibility are key to find a solution when it looks dark. Usually the most successful solutions come through discussions with other team members and senior advisors.

Your main responsibilities will be to:

- Plan, perform, conclude, report and communicate development tasks based on set business criteria in the laboratory such as synthesis, initial analysis, product testing, application verification and validation.
- Perform general laboratory tasks to secure safety and quality standards are met
- Contribute to continuous improvement on how we work as well as maintenance and investments of the laboratory equipment and tools.
- Bring creative and sustainable ideas within and beyond today´s business


Who are you?

- Bachelor/Master/PhD in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering or similar.
- You have built practical laboratory experience.
- Experience in synthesis chemistry is a merit.
- Experience from an industrial R&D environment is a merit.
- Spoken and written English is required.


As a person you are positive, curious and can easily adopt to a changing environment. You enjoy both working in teams as well as individually. You can easily iterate between theory and practice. You can drive yourself and others towards defined goals. You are not afraid to learn from failures. You understand the value of efficient communication and networking as keys for success.

Additional information

The position is placed in Perstorp in the southern part of Sweden. This is a temporary position for 12 months. This position is open for applications until 15th of August.

For more information please contact: Anette Immelborn by phone: 0729-779637 or by email: anette.immelborn@perstorp.com

Among the innovation staff there is a strong sense of unity. We have a high spirit of Care, both for each other and the planet. There is a possibility to attend outdoor training activities during lunch time or outside working hours. Instead of short meetings in the office “walk & talks” have started to become a natural way of meeting. Health and wellbeing is high on the agenda.