R&D Chemist

Company Description

Sika is a speciality chemicals company with a globally leading position in the development and production of systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing and protection in the building sector and industrial manufacturing. Sika has subsidiaries in 102 countries and produces innovative technologies for customers worldwide through more than 400 factories. In doing so, it plays a crucial role in enabling the transformation of the construction and transportation sectors towards greater environmental compatibility. With more than 34,000 employees, the company generated sales of CHF 11.76 billion in 2024.

Job Description

The Technology Centre at Redditch supports the development, improvement and lifecycle management of specialist construction-material technologies, including the Ucrete product range. The team works across R&D, Operations, Quality, Procurement and Product Management to turn scientific understanding into robust products, well-controlled changes and practical value for customers.

This role provides dedicated scientific and technological capability for the development, improvement and lifecycle maintenance of the Ucrete product range. You will combine formulation and materials expertise with disciplined product governance, safe laboratory practice and modern, data-led R&D. Your work will help convert experimental and product data into sound technical decisions, robust products and efficient, well-controlled product changes.

Qualifications

• A degree, or equivalent relevant experience, in chemistry, materials science, polymer science, chemical engineering or a closely related discipline.
• Practical industrial R&D experience in formulation, materials development, product development or product maintenance; experience of resin, cementitious, flooring or construction-material systems would be advantageous.
• Strong experimental skills, including safe laboratory working, test planning, troubleshooting, interpretation of results and clear technical reporting.
• The ability to work within product-creation, stage-gate, change-control, quality and compliance processes while building effective relationships across functions.
• Data literacy beyond routine spreadsheet use, with the ability to structure, clean, analyse and visualise technical data and the appetite to learn tools such as Power BI, Python, statistical software, AI or machine-learning platforms.
• Scientific curiosity, ownership and integrity, with the ability to communicate complex findings clearly, adapt quickly and progress work proactively.

Additional Information

What's In it for You?

• Lead development work from technical concept through formulation, testing, scale-up support and product introduction, responding to customer, market, performance and sustainability needs.
• Own assigned product-maintenance and lifecycle activities, including raw-material changes, reformulation, quality investigations and technical support, using clear risk assessment and validation plans.
• Help shape a modern data culture by creating reliable, reusable datasets and applying advanced analytics, visualisation, artificial intelligence and machine learning where they add genuine scientific and commercial value.

From day one, you will have the opportunity to strengthen your product and materials knowledge, experimental practice, project delivery and data capability. This includes developing your use of advanced Excel, Power BI, Python, statistical tools and responsibly governed AI or machine-learning approaches, supported by local development initiatives and the global Sika Business School offering.

You will be rewarded with a competitive salary and a strong package of benefits, including:

• 25 days holiday, rising to 28 days with service, plus bank holidays
• Core-hours working
• Company pension contribution of up to 10%
• Private healthcare for you, with the option to add family
• Group life cover at six times your annual salary and Global Income Protection
• Enhanced maternity and paternity pay
• Staff discount platform, Cycle to Work scheme, service awards and selected discounted Sika products

You will join a collaborative, cross-functional environment with access to colleagues across R&D, Operations, Quality, Procurement and Product Management. The role offers the scope to build strong internal networks, draw on wider Sika expertise and develop practical knowledge of product-creation, change-control and decision pathways.

This position can provide a platform for progression into broader specialist, project-leadership or R&D leadership roles, together with opportunities to develop across a global company and a variety of business areas.

We offer competitive salaries, aligned with local market benchmarks and the specific scope and responsibilities of each role. Compensation is determined based skills relevant to the position, education and/or training.  We are committed to fair and equitable pay practices in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.