Data Scientist - Materials R&D - Remote-Travel
This position can be based out of Marysville, MI, or work remotely with some travel as needed. Title: Senior Data Scientist Department: Research and Development Immediate Supervisor: R&D Vice President Status: Exempt Salaried Position Purpose: The Senior Data Scientist will support R&D efforts in bio-polymers and sustainable materials and focusing on applying advanced data science, statistical modeling, and machine learning to experimental, process, and materials data to accelerate innovation, improve material performance, and reduce development cycles. Principle Accountabilities
Partner with polymer scientists, chemists, and engineers to support bio‑polymer research and development using data-driven methods Analyze and model experimental, formulation, and process data to identify structure–property–process relationships
Develop predictive models to support:
Material performance and property optimization Formulation design and screening Scale‑up and process optimization
Design and analyze experiments (DOE) to maximize learning efficiency and reduce development timelines Build and maintain reproducible data workflows for R&D data ingestion, cleaning, and analysis Apply machine learning techniques (e.g., regression, classification, clustering, time-series modeling) to complex scientific datasets Collaborate with data engineering and IT teams to enable scalable data infrastructure for R&D Communicate insights, tradeoffs, and recommendations clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders Understanding of data visualization best practices Experience working with batch or streaming data processes a plus Contribute to data dictionaries and process flow diagrams for complex data solutions Mentor junior data scientists or technical staff and contribute to data science best practices within R&D Stay current with advances in materials informatics, polymer modeling, and applied AI in scientific research
Essential Skills and Experience
Bachelor’s degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, or a related field; Master’s or PhD preferred 10+ years of professional experience in data science, applied analytics, or scientific computing; experience working with materials science, polymer science or chemical R&D data, preferred Strong proficiency in Python and/or R for data analysis and modeling Solid experience with SQL and working with structured and semi-structured datasets Strong foundation in statistics, experimental design, and multivariate analysis Demonstrated experience applying machine learning to real-world, noisy scientific or experimental data Ability to work effectively in a cross-functional R&D environment Strong communication skills with the ability to translate complex analyses into actionable insights Familiarity with bio‑polymers, sustainable materials, or polymer processing, preferred Experience with DOE software, laboratory data management systems (LIMS), or scientific databases, preferred Experience deploying models to support R&D decision-making or manufacturing scale-up, preferred Familiarity with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure) and data science lifecycle tools, preferred Prior experience mentoring or leading technical projects, preferred
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