Pvc Formulation Scientist

**PVC Formulation Scientist / Materials Scientist**

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Department: Research & Development*
**Location: Kitchener / Palmerston, ON**

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Company Description*
Trusscore is a material science company focused on developing sustainable building materials.

We're starting a journey to change the way people build buildings and the environmental footprint left behind when they do. Already an established innovative building materials manufacturing company, Trusscore is now preparing to take things to the next level by focusing on R&D and bringing innovative material science to our formulations—making our products functional and beautiful.

As one of the leading polymer panel manufacturers in North America, we are dedicated to environmental sustainability and make it a focus of our manufacturing process. We succeed by manufacturing and delivering the best in high-value, zero-waste, quality products in an ever-evolving marketplace. By integrating innovative material science into products to meet new demands we will leave traditional alternatives behind.

Building on a winning track record of 300% revenue growth over the past 5 years, we need the right talent to take the next big steps.

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Mission*
Our mission is to build a materials science company for sustainable building materials. As part of a highly skilled multi-disciplinary R&D team, you will help to invent new material formulations for Trusscore products that advance the-state-of-the-art in the built environment.

You are responsible for designing, developing, and introducing new PVC formulations that lead to breakthroughs in fire performance, sustainability, expand colour offerings, and bolster supply chain resiliency. This role requires an individual with a strong technical acumen. It will stretch your aptitude in thermoplastic formulating, characterization, and processing, as well as sustainability, intellectual property development, new product introduction, and project management. Your success is defined in terms of the quality and timeliness of driving projects to significant milestones and ultimately, production readiness.

Join our mission and be a part of a team that is re-imagining sustainable building materials innovations and bringing them to the physical world.

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Responsibilities*
- Collaborate cross-functionally with R&D, Product Management, Quality, and Manufacturing to define material and product requirements throughout the product lifecycle
- Plan, guide and perform experiments across lab and production scales to develop materials; evaluate them against the material and product requirements, with the eventual goal of qualifying new materials for manufacturing
- Utilize and maintain Trusscore’s analytical lab equipment (e.g., torque rheometer, lab mixer, strip extruder, others) and leverage other instrumental techniques to characterize formulations; develop and maintain test procedures and train other team members on their use as required
- Use your knowledge of physical, mechanical and thermal properties to characterize raw, in-process, and finished good, and competitive materials in order to expand understanding of structure-property-performance relationships
- Serve as the champion that drives the hypotheses and overall execution of production-scale trials of new materials with extrusion process specialists and manufacturing; generate trial reports to evaluate outcomes against hypotheses
- Attend trade shows and conferences to scout for new material innovations and develop relationships with suppliers
- Occasionally travel to train with material/equipment suppliers and support new product introductions at various Trusscore factories
- Summarize experimental strategies, data analysis, lessons learned and next steps through written reports and presentations for communication with peers and senior management
- Drive other projects as needed by senior management or as business needs change

**Qualifications**
- Post-secondary degree in materials science, chemical engineering, nanotechnology, chemistry or related field; technical graduate degree considered a plus
- 3+ years of experience formulating thermoplastic (preferably PVC) compounds; comprehension of the chemistry behind polymer compound stabilization
- Skilled at operating and maintaining equipment and interpreting characterizations of rheological, mechanical and thermal polymer properties; knowledge of polymer structure-properties relationships
- Strong skills in the scientific method and use of design of experiments for data-driven research
- Experience working with thermoplastic processing techniques like extrusion, injection press or blow molding a plus
- Research experience in flame retardant or smoke suppressant materials, fire resistance of building materials, or thermally stable polymeric materials a plus
- Research experience in bio-based additives for thermoplastics, biomass-alternatives to petroleum-derived polymers, and/or assessing environmental impact of materials a plus