What does an Applications Chemist do?

An applications chemist is a professional who applies chemistry principles to develop new products or improve existing ones. They modify formulations to meet FDA requirements, develop high-throughput assays for protein expression levels, and provide technical guidance for method feasibility assessments. Unique to their role, applications chemists also prepare articles for publication, contribute to technical papers, and establish quality system manuals for ISO 9000 implementation/certification.

Applications chemist responsibilities

Applications chemists play a crucial role in developing and optimizing chemical processes. They are responsible for creating high throughput assays for protein expression levels and preparing articles for publication. As experts in their field, they provide technical guidance and method feasibility assessments to promote sales of laboratory instrumentation. Additionally, applications chemists develop and demonstrate analytical methods using specialized instrumentation, ensuring adherence to company specifications. They also formulate and conduct scientific testing for product development. In the words of John Tomsho Ph.D., Director, Graduate Programs in Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacognosy at the University of the Sciences, "Chemistry is the backbone to most protocols for the material, medical, and biological sciences."

Here are examples of responsibilities from real applications chemist resumes:

• Manage personnel in testing and support of TOC software and hardware features.
• Test developmental compounds to ASTM standards and manage certification submissions.
• Follow USEPA RCRA, SW-846, UST and NPDES protocols.
• Perform asset valuation by HPLC/ UPLC and the preparation of final report.
• Assist in ISO base development of IQ-OQ-PQ procedures for installation of NIR sensors.
• Exhibit the viability for improvements to EPA and USP methodology using new Agilent GC columns phases and formats.
• Develop buffer compositions for HPLC base separation techniques for small molecules using size exclusion, ion-exchange and reverse phase columns.
• Perform LC/MS applications experiments in support of sales and marketing efforts on various instrument platforms including LTQ XL, LTQ-Orbitrap XL.
• Perform optical alignment, calibration and troubleshooting of HPLC detectors.
• Evaluate and compare GC capillary column performance of several manufacturers.
• Process laboratory data to ensure efficiency of plant operations and troubleshoot unexpect conditions to prevent an upset within the plant.
• Execute manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API's) on the kilogram scale.
• Perform scale up and optimization of chemical transformations utilize in the preparation of API's.
• Perform testing on gas chromatograph to verify PCB contamination levels.

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Applications chemist skills and personality traits

We calculated that 10 % of Applications Chemists are proficient in R , Analytical Methods , and Technical Support . They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills , Communication skills , and Math skills .

We break down the percentage of Applications Chemists that have these skills listed on their resume here:

• R , 10 % Used R, SSL, and SQL programming to identify and fix multiple processing and GUI problems with StarLIMS v9.
• Analytical Methods , 8 % Develop and demonstrate analytical methods using specialized GC columns and instrumentation for practical application in testing laboratories.
• Technical Support , 7 % Provided technical support to various departments.
• Method Development , 6 % Trained application chemists in method development and supervised the laboratory and technicians.
• Mass Spectrometers , 6 % Develop high throughput assays for the absolute quantization of protein expression levels on tandem mass spectrometers.
• Liquid Chromatography , 5 % Developed pharmaceutical testing methods, wrote applications notes, and created training seminars and marketing literature for liquid chromatography applications.

Common skills that an applications chemist uses to do their job include "r," "analytical methods," and "technical support." You can find details on the most important applications chemist responsibilities below.

Analytical skills. One of the key soft skills for an applications chemist to have is analytical skills. You can see how this relates to what applications chemists do because "chemists and materials scientists need to evaluate the results of experiments to ensure accuracy in their research." Additionally, an applications chemist resume shows how applications chemists use analytical skills: "analyzed results on ms excel and generated graphs and reports. "

Communication skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling applications chemist duties is communication skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "chemists and materials scientists must be able to convey information clearly in reports and presentations for both technical and nontechnical audiences." According to an applications chemist resume, here's how applications chemists can utilize communication skills in their job responsibilities: "conduct osha hazard communication and dot hazard materials training to all facility chemists. "

Math skills. This is an important skill for applications chemists to perform their duties. For an example of how applications chemist responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "chemists and materials scientists regularly use calculus, algebra, statistics, and other math for calculations." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an applications chemist: "collaborate with analytical chemist on method development of gcms for quantitative analysis of major fragrance molecules. ".

Organizational skills. For certain applications chemist responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "organizational skills." The day-to-day duties of an applications chemist rely on this skill, as "chemists and materials scientists must document processes carefully when conducting experiments, tracking outcomes, and analyzing results." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what applications chemists do: "well versed in implementing standard operating procedures, organizational policies, and analytical methodologies accurately and consistently. "

Problem-solving skills. A commonly-found skill in applications chemist job descriptions, "problem-solving skills" is essential to what applications chemists do. Applications chemist responsibilities rely on this skill because "chemists’ and materials scientists’ work involves posing questions during research and finding answers through results." You can also see how applications chemist duties rely on problem-solving skills in this resume example: "responded to technical service calls, supported key projects, technical service requests and resolved customer complaints. "

Time-management skills. Lastly, "time-management skills" is an important element of what an applications chemist does. Applications chemist responsibilities require this skill because "chemists and materials scientists usually need to meet deadlines and must be able to prioritize tasks while maintaining quality." This resume example highlights how applications chemist duties rely on this skill: "coordinated all auditing within analytical research and development which improved output of method validations and all finished product testing deadlines. "