Job Description

Founded in 1920, Eastman is a global specialty materials company that produces a broad range of products found in items people use every day. With the purpose of enhancing the quality of life in a material way, Eastman works with customers to deliver innovative products and solutions while maintaining a commitment to safety and sustainability. The company’s innovation-driven growth model takes advantage of world-class technology platforms, deep customer engagement, and differentiated application development to grow its leading positions in attractive end markets such as transportation, building and construction, and consumables. As a globally inclusive company, Eastman employs approximately 14,000 people around the world and serves customers in more than 100 countries. The company had 2024 revenue of approximately $9.4 billion and is headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, USA. For more information, visit 

Responsibilities

**Please note – This posting is for recent or upcoming PhD graduates to join our team in 2026. PhD graduation date must be in 2025 or anticipated graduation in 2026**

Eastman Chemical Company is seeking a recent 2025 or upcoming 2026 PhD graduate Polymer Chemist/Scientist with a computational focus to join the Technology organization in Kingsport, Tennessee. As a member of a high-performing team, this individual will be responsible for developing innovative and sustainable solutions for new and existing processes and products. The selected candidate will work closely with a team of scientists, engineers and technicians at the lab, pilot and/or commercial scale to meet market demands.

Job Duties/Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with partner functions, such as applications R&D, manufacturing, marketing and business partners to understand customer needs and provide commercially viable technical solutions.
• Work in a fast-paced, results-oriented team environment to reduce application fitness-for-use criteria to fundamental polymer characteristics leading to design, preparation, and assessment of novel polymer compositions & architectures.
• Apply data and physics-based simulation methods for polymer structure-property-function relationship development to enable high throughput screening of polymer materials.
• Develop research plans and design computational protocols to guide and support experimental scientists in new product, application, or process development by rapidly predicting critical performance criteria.
• Communicate computational results to technical and non-technical audiences in a way that supports effective decision-making.
• Anticipate technical difficulties and develop creative solutions.
• Write patents, technical presentations, and publications, including internal research for publication, and provide support/liaison for external research conducted in line with the organization’s research strategy.
• Prepare and present written and oral reports to communicate with production, marketing, sales, and related functions.
• Work in and lead multidisciplinary teams to execute technical projects.

Qualifications

• Required Degree: Ph.D. in Chemistry, Polymer Science, Polymer Chemistry, Macromolecular Science, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, or related field.
• Track record of safely collaborating with laboratory-based scientists and demonstrated ability to effectively identify hazards and take appropriate actions.
• Demonstrated practical knowledge of synthetic polymer simulation using a variety of classical, quantum, or data-based techniques.
• Effective working knowledge of structure - property relationships and polymer characterization techniques.
• General working knowledge of applications, processing methods, formulations and additives for engineering plastics, films, coatings and adhesives.
• Demonstrated creativity and desire to solve challenging and complex problems
• Passion for understanding the fundamental aspects of complex chemistries and processes.
• Ability to lead and contribute as a member of multidisciplinary teams
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to distill data and effectively present key messages across the technical enterprise, as well as various groups such as marketing, manufacturing, regulatory, QA/QC, supply chain, customer service, sales and external customers and suppliers.
• Strong organizational/time management skills and ability to prioritize.

Eastman Chemical Company is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, pregnancy, veteran status or any other protected classes as designated by law.

Eastman is committed to creating a highly engaged workforce, where everyone can contribute to their fullest potential each day.

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