About the Company

Advance American Labs (AAL) is the 40,000 sq ft research, development and manufacturing facility in Stonecrest, GA, just outside Atlanta, that supports McBride Research Labs' hair and skin care portfolio. Laboratory and manufacturing operations are co-located under one roof: the chemist who develops a formula can walk to the compounding floor and watch it run. The facility is planned to expand within the next year. AAL is an equal opportunity employer.

About the Job

The Formulation Chemist supports the innovation pipeline for hair and skin care products sold globally, and owns bench-to-batch execution for it: creating and refining formulas, running the stability and compatibility program, standardizing approved work into Master Formulas, and being on the production floor during scale-up and technology transfer to confirm that what worked at bench scale works at commercial scale.

The person who develops the formula is the same person who requests the raw material sample, writes the blending procedure, stands the first production batch and assembles the regulatory documentation. There is no bench-technician layer, no pilot plant and no process engineering function. The week splits roughly 60 to 75% bench, 10 to 15% production floor, 10 to 15% documentation and 5 to 10% meetings. Documentation and regulatory work are a recurring part of the job, not an occasional one.

This is a full-time, direct-hire position reporting to the R&D Supervisor, 100% on-site in Stonecrest with no remote or hybrid element. Standard day shift. Evening work is rare and tied to pilot timing, roughly once per quarter, and at least one Saturday training session per year is required. Travel is 2 to 3 times per year for supplier visits, contract manufacturers and industry events. Sponsorship is not available for this role.

Benefits

• Base salary of $65,000 to $70,000
• 5% annual bonus target
• Profit sharing
• Lab coat, safety glasses, gloves and steel-toe shoes provided

Daily Responsibilities

• Design, bench and iterate formulas against a defined brief covering cost, sensory, claims, regulatory and manufacturability
• Weigh and dispense your own bench materials; clean your own glassware and equipment
• Execute stability, compatibility, physical, chemical and performance testing; run and read your own stability pulls and act on the results
• Evaluate raw material and packaging component alternatives for compatibility; source raw material samples from vendors and work with Procurement to identify sourcing channels for large-scale ordering
• Standardize approved formulas into final Master Formulas: product specifications, blending procedures, raw material sources and test results
• Create, implement and review product procedures and specifications to industry and company standards; keep GMP and GLP documentation inspection-ready as it is created
• Partner with Compounding to execute production batches and own scale-up and technology transfer from R&D to Production; be on the floor for first-article and scale-up batches
• Investigate technical issues in the lab and in production through root-cause analysis, verify corrective actions and establish preventive actions with other departments
• Supply Regulatory with the documentation needed to build complete dossiers for each product and raw material; own safety substantiation for your formulas
• Participate in process and protocol improvement in the lab and manufacturing area to increase efficiency, safety and quality
• Participate in cross-departmental meetings with Sales, Marketing and Operations, translating technical constraints into commercial terms
• Track new technologies, raw materials and market trends and bring them into the pipeline; attend trainings and seminars

Requirements of the Role

• Bachelor's degree in chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering or a related physical science, or at least 10 years of verifiable relevant professional experience in lieu of a degree
• 3 to 5 years of relevant experience in the cosmetic industry formulating personal care products, preferably hair or skin care formulation and manufacturing
• Has taken at least two formulas from bench through production scale-up to commercial launch and can walk through one end to end
• Hands-on scale-up experience: understands what changes between a bench batch and a commercial batch (heat transfer, mixing geometry, shear, cool-down rate, hold time) and has stood on a floor for a batch that went wrong
• Raw material and supplier fluency, including having replaced an ingredient under cost, supply or regulatory pressure
• Working knowledge of GMP and GLP documentation practice
• Working knowledge of ERP systems and databases; proficient in Microsoft Office; able to maintain your own formula and test records (there is no formula management system or LIMS on site)
• Comfortable working without a dedicated lab technician, pilot plant, process engineer, technical writer or sample coordinator
• Resourceful: has done real work without the equipment, staff or budget they wanted, and can explain the workaround and what it cost
• Works independently and within a team; exhibits sound judgment, accountability, dependability and planning skills
• Strong written and oral communication, organization and time management skills
• Flexible to work different shifts, including occasional evenings tied to pilot timing, and to attend weekend trainings
• Standing and walking for 8- to 10-hour shifts; lifting up to 50 lbs; good hand-eye coordination for bench and equipment work
• Able to work around fragrances, essential oils, surfactants, solvents, heated processing and occasional hydroxides
• Able to follow GMP hygiene and grooming standards on the floor and in the lab (personal phone use is prohibited in both)
• Legally authorized to work in the United States without current or future sponsorship

Additional Qualifications

• Master's degree in chemistry or cosmetic science, or an SCC certificate program
• Textured hair care formulation experience
• 5 or more years formulating hair or skin care products commercially
• Experience at a site where R&D and manufacturing are co-located
• Experience under MoCRA-era requirements: safety substantiation files, adverse event handling, facility registration and product listing
• Prior experience at a contract manufacturer, private-label house or ingredient supplier application lab
• Claims substantiation and third-party test lab management
• Multi-region regulatory experience (EU CPNP and Product Information Files, Canada, UK)
• Knowledge of continuous improvement methods
• Proficiency in English