Polymer Chemist
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Polymer Chemist studies large complex molecules or polymers. May work to develop new products or chemical processes in aerospace, biomedical, agricultural or manufacturing industries.
Job Outlook
There were 6 Polymer Chemist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 266 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Chemist industry, which includes the Polymer Chemist career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Polymer Chemist jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $108,031.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $108,031.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Polymer Chemist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $82,968.
Education and Experience
Posted Polymer Chemist jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 51.88% |
| Master's Degree | 36.47% |
| Doctoral Degree | 50.75% |
| Other | 1.88% |
Posted Polymer Chemist jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 45.1% |
| 3 to 5 years | 32.03% |
| 6 to 8 years | 5.88% |
| 9+ years | 16.99% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Polymer Chemist positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Research (50.38%)
- Communication (27.82%)
- Innovation (23.68%)
- Problem Solving (21.05%)
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (19.17%)
- Writing (19.17%)
- Leadership (16.92%)
- Presentations (15.79%)
- Sales (15.04%)
- Self-Motivation (13.91%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Materials Science (34.98%)
- Synthetic Polymers (6.08%)
- Data Analysis (11.03%)
- Chemical Engineering (42.97%)
- Chemistry (81.37%)
- Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (19.77%)
- Polymer Chemistry (83.27%)
- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (11.79%)
- Polymer Synthesis (24.33%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Ultraviolet-Visible Spectroscopy (UV/VIS) (3.04%)
- Nanoparticles (2.66%)
- Medical Devices (5.7%)
- Physical Science (4.18%)
- Laboratory Equipment (7.98%)
- Collaborative Research (1.52%)
- Small Molecules (4.18%)
- Analytical Techniques (7.22%)
- Biology (3.04%)
- Continuous Improvement Process (4.18%)
- Metal Coating (4.56%)
- Commercialization (14.07%)
- Composite Materials (9.13%)
- Data Collection (5.7%)
- Experimental Design (9.51%)
- High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (5.7%)
- Experimentation (14.07%)
- Chemical Synthesis (4.56%)
- Manufacturing Processes (8.37%)
- Renewable Energy (1.14%)
- Scalability (2.66%)
- Chromatography (2.28%)
- Organic Chemistry (19.01%)
- Organic Compounds (2.66%)
- Analytical Chemistry (6.84%)
- Catalysis (3.04%)
- Wet Chemistry (4.56%)
- Biotechnology (4.18%)
- Business Development (1.9%)
- Chemical Kinetics (4.18%)
- Scale (Map) (8.75%)
- Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (8.37%)
- Fluorescence (1.52%)
- Spectroscopy (9.89%)
- Process Development (8.37%)
- Project Management (10.65%)
- Organic Synthesis (11.41%)
- Lab Notebooks (9.13%)
- New Product Development (32.7%)
- Research And Development (7.22%)
- Patents (4.56%)
- Polymer Characterization (7.22%)
- Rheology (8.75%)
- Environment Health And Safety (12.55%)
- Process Improvement (5.32%)
- Technology Transfer (4.56%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Materials Science (38.66%)
- New Product Development (36.13%)
- Polymer Chemistry (92.02%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Polymer Chemist skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Chemist
- Polymer Scientist
- Postdoctoral Research Associate
- Polymer Engineer
- Formulation Chemist
- Synthetic Chemist
- Principal Scientist
- Postdoctoral Researcher
- Director of Chemistry
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Research and Development Chemist
- Materials Research Engineer
- Chemist (General)
- Materials Development Engineer
- Manufacturing Chemist
- Organic Chemist
- Chemistry Laboratory Supervisor
- Chemical Engineer (General)
- Inorganic Chemist
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Polymer Chemist jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Actalent (13)
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (13)
- The University of Alabama (9)
- PPG (6)
- Belzona (5)
- Medtronic (5)
- Sherwin-Williams (5)
- Solenis (5)
- Alcon (4)
- Carlisle Construction Materials (4)
North Carolina
- Schneider Electric (1)
- SYRE (1)
- Kao Specialties Americas (1)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.