A fascinating research role within a stimulating and innovative R&D environment

AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals (SC) provides a wide range of high quality and sustainable ingredients that are integral to numerous key industrial processes worldwide. Thus we serve high profile customers in sectors including paints, detergents, foods, plastics, cosmetics, construction, pulp and paper, pharmaceuticals, electronics, agro and oilfield applications. And it means that our ingredients are used to make possible a remarkable variety of life's essentials and familiar pleasures – everything from ice cream and asphalt to soup and soap.

SC’s Industrial Chemicals (IC) business unit (BU) incorporates a leading Salt producing business with production based on advanced vacuum technology. With plants in the Netherlands, Denmark and Spain, IC Salt provides the wideset possible portfolio of high-quality salt products for a wide range of industrial and commercial customers. 

IC Salt operates a dedicated RD&I capability at its global and well-resourced site in Deventer, the Netherlands. Here, focused project teams perform forward thinking market and technology driven process- and product improvement projects to meet current and future customer needs. 

Within this context, your mission in this role is to play a key role in this challenging R&D environment: to develop know-how, new process innovations and/or applications for the vacuum salt industry in order to drive business growth.

Is this a challenge that matches your skills and ambitions as a creative, assertive and result-oriented researcher with a background in Chemical Engineering? Can you suggest and explore new ideas and initiate R&D projects yourself? Do you have project management skills and experience, and the ability to lead project teams when required? Above all, do you have what it takes to make a real difference within our multicultural and multinational business environment? 
If you offer all this and more, we invite you to apply for the position of Researcher Salt.

The role and its responsibilities

This is an active and multi-facing role involved with all research and development activities related to vacuum salt production processes, mostly in close collaboration with salt plant technologists. You will sometimes act as a team member in projects, and sometimes as project leader.

Together with other disciplines, you evaluate experimental and plant data by heat and mass balance modeling. You then draw major conclusions that drive further experimental work as well as plant operation strategies, reporting this to stakeholders across the organization.

In performing these tasks you seek the optimization of existing production processes, the development of new production processes, and quality improvements. Where possible you proactively drive the independing initiation and implementation of projects. You also contribute to the drafting of patents and to Safety programs at Deventer.

At all times you seek to build and maintain expertise by establishing a broad scientific network of plant technologists, universities, research institutes and company R&D groups.

You report hierarchically and functionally to the RD&I Salt Manager.

Candidate profile

To apply for this position you must possess all the following attributes:

• Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering/Process Engineering with a PhD in Chemical Engineering an advantage;
• Ideally you have relevant professional experience and knowledge and/or experience of (industrial) crystallization;
• Good methodological skills in computer modeling (Aspen, gPROMS, Matlab) are an advantage;
• Able to lead (technical) projects and take part in the planning, organization and execution of projects, often in close cooperation with local plant technologists;
• Flexible, resilient and able to undertake short business trips within the Netherlands and to Spain;
• Strong communication and teamworking skills including fluent written and verbal English, with Dutch/Spanish language skills an advantage.

AkzoNobel offers a competitive salary.

AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals

Industries worldwide rely on our essential chemistry in the manufacture of everyday products such as paper, plastics, building materials, and personal care items. Building on the dedication of our employees and our shared commitment to safety, sustainability, and open innovation, we have established a world-class business and built strong partnerships with our customers. We operate in over 80 countries around the world and our portfolio of industry leading brands includes Eka, Dissolvine, Trigonox, and Berol.