Senior Scientist - Performance/Analytical Testing

Founded over 35 years ago, First Quality is a family-owned company that has grown from a small business in McElhattan, Pennsylvania into a group of companies, employing over 5,000 team members, while maintaining our family values and entrepreneurial spirit. With corporate offices in New York and Pennsylvania and 8 manufacturing campuses across the U.S. and Canada, the companies within the First Quality group produce high-quality personal care and household products for large retailers and healthcare organizations. Our personal care and household product portfolio includes baby diapers, wipes, feminine pads, paper towels, bath tissue, adult incontinence products, laundry detergents, fabric finishers, and dishwash solutions. In addition, we manufacture certain raw materials and components used in the manufacturing of these products, including flexible print and packaging solutions.

Guided by our values of humility, unity, and integrity, we leverage advanced technology and innovation to drive growth and create new opportunities. At First Quality, you’ll find a collaborative environment focused on continuous learning, professional development, and our mission to Make Things Better®.

We are seeking a Sr. Scientist – Performance/Analytical Testing for our First Quality Home Care Products LLC facility located in Trumbull, CT. The Sr. Scientist – Performance/Analytical Testing provides technical support to the R&D team by generating scientific data that informs formulation development and performance evaluation. This role ensures results meet customer brief requirements for cleaning performance while complying with physical and analytically measured specifications.

As part of a team of scientists and technicians, this role shares responsibility for scheduling and executing internal cleaning performance testing, as well as laboratory and analytical testing across all First Quality product and formulation formats. The Sr. Scientist manages existing test methods and develops new internal cleaning performance and analytical methods that deliver accurate, consistent results aligned with customer specifications. The role also oversees demonstrations for internal and external customer visits.

This position partners with third-party laboratories selected by First Quality customers to align internal methodologies with external evaluation techniques for cleaning performance. This collaboration supports the R&D formulation screening process, helping identify the best-performing formulation at the target cost structure before submission for final third-party testing.

Primary responsibilities include:

• Understand the principles and challenges of formulating Home Care products, including SDL (single-dose laundry detergents), HDL (liquid laundry detergents), FSL (liquid fabric softeners), FSS (fabric softener sheets), ADW (auto dishwasher detergent), HDW (hand dishwashing detergents), SB (scent boosters), and others.

• Lead development of laboratory methods that predict consumer purchase intent and liking for key attributes across Home Care products.

• Lead development of demonstrations for internal and external customer visits.

• Schedule cleaning performance testing for samples and formulations submitted by R&D team members.

• Organize sample preparation for consumer insights testing, including in-home-use testing (IHUT) and consumer liking testing (CLT).

• Approve and/or generate internal cleaning performance reports for all tested samples across categories and formats.

• Understand the principles and requirements of Home Care product stability testing protocols.

• Maintain and schedule preventive maintenance for all analytical instruments and laboratory equipment.

• Design and manage an electronic tracker for tested samples, linked to internal testing reports and R&D samples sent for external testing, including benchmark samples.

• Stay current with home care industry test methods, ASTM methods, and standard laboratory methods used in the R&D lab.

• Provide the Product Development Technical Communication Manager with technical information, documents, and reports as requested.

• Understand analytical/instrumental testing principles to support starting-formulation reverse-engineering.

• Stay current on market trends, innovation, new ingredients, and consumer testing methods to support business needs.

• Perform other duties and assignments as necessary.

The ideal candidate should possess the following:

• Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a related field.

• 5–10 years of experience in methods development and technical writing.

• Experience working cross-functionally with Regulatory, Sales & Marketing, and Legal teams.

• Ability to motivate and lead by example.

• Strong knowledge of business unit products.

• Demonstrated ability to deliver results efficiently and proficiently.

• Proven track record in team and cross-functional project management.

• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Ability to manage multiple documents/reports and extract technical information from publications.

• Proficient in Microsoft Office, with strong Excel skills.

• Demonstrated proficiency in SAP.

• Strong statistical analysis skills.

• Travel as needed to support 3rd party lab audits, manufacturing site meetings; Approximately 15%

What We Offer You

We believe that by continuously improving the quality of our benefits, we can help to raise the quality of life for our team members and their families. At First Quality you will receive:

• Competitive base salary and bonus opportunities

• Paid time off (three-week minimum)

• Medical, dental and vision starting day one

• 401(k) with employer match

• Paid parental leave

• Child and family care assistance (dependent care FSA with employer match up to $2500)

• Bundle of joy benefit (years’ worth of free diapers to all team members with a new baby)

• Tuition assistance

• Wellness program with savings of up to $4,000 per year on insurance premiums

• ...and more!