Principal Scientist Foam Research

What's your job?

As Principal Scientist for Foam at Tata Steel Nederland Building Systems you will be at the forefront of technical developments for PIR Foam systems used for sandwich panels in the construction industry. Our industry faces many technological and legislative challenges and we are picking up the pace, continuously improving our product offering to meet these challenges. That’s why we are also investing in a new state-of-the-art lab facility at our sandwich panel production unit in Geldermalsen, where you will have the opportunity to steer its development, implementation, and use. 

You will work closely with our 3 production facilities in The Netherlands (SAB Profiel, Geldermalsen), Switzerland (Montana Bausysteme, Villmergen), and Fischer Profil (Netphen, Germany). You will identify opportunities for improvements to current products, as well as identifying, developing, and testing different options and formulas for our products of the future. For the shorter-term you will improve product performance for fire-testing, thermal conductivity, and quality improvements, allowing a higher degree of product differentiation. And for the longer-term you will develop recipes and formulations towards circular offerings, such as bio-based and recyclable components, or even completely new insulation materials.  

With a proven track record in the rigid foam industry you are outward-looking, staying abreast of the state-of-the-art in the industry. You will initiate and lead internal & external research & development programmes to answer these questions, including liaison with the main Tata Steel Nederland R&D facility in IJmuiden. You will manage the Foam Laboratory and drive these lab-scale developments, utilising the new facility to its maximum potential, as well as leveraging knowledge and facilities from external partners where required as well as with existing and potential foam chemical suppliers. Based on your findings & recommendations from lab-scale activities you will propose options for production scale-up trials, and in turn use those results to feed back into the laboratory programme. 

Is this you?

• You are educated to Master or PhD level, preferably in Chemistry, Polymer Science, Chemical Engineering or similar.
• You have at least 10-15 years of experience working in a relevant rigid foam PIR / PU industry & sector.
• You are self-motivated, can work independently and have an analytical mindset.
• You are proficient in designing, executing, and reporting on (laboratory) experiments. 
• You are able to clearly translate technical opportunities, activities and results to tangible business objectives. 
• You are able to clearly and concisely report and present results & recommendations.
• You have a strong command of Dutch, German and English 

What do we offer?

• A salary that, depending education and experience, is a maximum of €9.667,42,- gross per month. 
• In addition to a variable profit share, you will receive a fixed end-of-year bonus of 2% and 8% holiday allowance. 
• Your own pension provision, where Tata Steel pays 70% and you pay 30%. 
• Minimum of 26 vacation days and 11.5 ADV days. 
• Excellent fringe benefits including a pension provision, reimbursement of your medical expenses and an expense allowance. 

What's your department?

TSN Building Systems is one of five businesses within the ‘Downstream’ leg of Tata Steel Nederland. You will be part of the central IDS (Innovation, Development, Sustainability) group within Building Systems. IDS provides knowledge and expertise to all 3 Building Systems businesses (Fischer Profil, SAB Profiel, Montana Bausysteme). As a key member of the cross-business Foam Team, you will be mainly based at SAB in Geldermalsen (location of our central foam laboratory and also production facilities). Otherwise you will be visiting our other sites (Germany, Switzerland, and the TSN headquarters in IJmuiden), or external partners & suppliers to review work packages, results, and future directions.  

Apply or learn more?

Does this vacancy appeal to you? Then apply directly via the application button! If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact David Jonker, Corporate Recruiter, telephone 06-10966326. 
 
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