Senior Scientist, Coatings

You have a choice of where you want to work

Ahlstrom is uniquely positioned as the **global leader**in a broad range of** sustainable and technically advanced specialty materials.**

Building further on our strong positioning offers an exciting opportunity to capture additional value from growing markets by combining our knowledge, innovation power and longstanding customer relationships.

Megatrends such as higher air and water quality requirements, restrictions on use of harmful chemicals, increasing health awareness, energy, and material efficiency as well as plastic to paper substitution and e-commerce in packing will create growth opportunities for us.

Acting on these opportunities and contributing more to a better world is the right thing for us.

Are you with us?

**About the opportunity**:
Ahlstrom Innovation organization consists of a combination of resources sitting in the business and in Group Innovation team, consisting of a team of highly skilled R&D experts located in our two global R&D centers in France. The mission of Group Innovation is to support Ahlstrom’s mission to expand the role of fiber-based solutions for a sustainable everyday life.

We are looking for a **Senior Scientist, Coatings** to lead R&D activities for Surface Treatment and strengthen raw materials expertise in this field.

The position is part of the Group Innovation team reporting to the Head of Fiber Expertise and Pilots Facilities and is located in our R&D center in Pont-Evêque (38), France (Lyon area).

**Your key missions** will include:
**Lead R&D activities for surface treatment**
- Lead R&D activities in the areas of coating & surface sizing, including raw materials, formulations,
pilot and industrial processes.
- Plan & implement pilot and industrial trials to support the development of new products, the assessment of innovative coating processes, and the upscaling of new products/businesses.
- Lead external collaboration and participate in workshops, seminars, and other events.
- Document processes and train operational employees.
- Identify, prioritize, and lead investments programs.

**Support plants for troubleshooting**
- Leverage your expertise in surface treatment on group-wide level to support plants for operational and innovation issues, including on-site interventions.
- Be an active promoter of the team expertise, capabilities and facilities.
- Make robust reports and conduct technical presentations.

**Strengthen raw materials expertise for surface treatment**
- Generate robust technical data for the raw materials used in surface treatment to optimize the quality and cost of formulations.
- Contribute to group-wide initiative to optimize recipes.
- Leverage digitalization tools to disseminate the data generated.

We are looking for a self-driven and proactive individual with 5 to 8 years’ experience in coatings formulation & processes, preferably in industrial research.

**Profile**:

- Master’s degree or PhD in Material Science, Polymer Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering with materials focus.
- At least basic knowledge in paper or other “soft” materials like têxtile, plastic films.
- Solid leadership, communication, collaboration, and interpersonal skills.
- Project management skills.
- Fluent English, French is a plus.

To be successful in this role, you therefore need to be:

- a strong networker who can collaborate effectively with diverse teams and stakeholders across a global matrix organization,
- a process-oriented person, hands-on and analytical, with out-of-the-box thinking abilities.

This position may require some travels to Ahlstrom plants to provide technical support on site.

Ahlstrom is a global leader in combining fibers into sustainable specialty materials. Join our journey to create a more sustainable world with products and solutions that Purify and Protect, with Every Fiber, for a Sustainable World. Our three divisions, Filtration and Life Sciences, Food and Consumer Packaging, and Protective Materials, address global trends with safe and sustainable solutions.
We are deeply committed to building and maintaining safe and inclusive environment and culture, where everyone feels valued and respected. At Ahlstrom, we all have equal opportunities to belong and reach our full potential.