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 15 Polymer Chemist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 497 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 2016:
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 $94,378.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $94,378.
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 $73,871.
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 | 43.86% |
| Master's Degree | 34.61% |
| Doctoral Degree | 47.69% |
| Other | 1.21% |
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 | 31.62% |
| 3 to 5 years | 52.99% |
| 6 to 8 years | 6.41% |
| 9+ years | 8.97% |
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 (43.46%)
- Communication (33.8%)
- Innovation (24.95%)
- Presentations (18.91%)
- Writing (18.91%)
- Problem Solving (17.3%)
- Leadership (14.49%)
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (14.08%)
- Verbal Communication Skills (13.68%)
- Detail Oriented (10.46%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Polymer Synthesis (23.5%)
- Polymer Chemistry (64.32%)
- New Product Development (23.93%)
- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (15.17%)
- Chemistry (80.34%)
- Synthetic Polymers (4.27%)
- Materials Science (44.87%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Industry Standards (4.06%)
- Extrusion (7.91%)
- Environment Health And Safety (6.84%)
- Statistics (8.12%)
- Search Engine Marketing (10.9%)
- Research Experiences (6.62%)
- Rheology (7.91%)
- Safety Standards (3.63%)
- Pharmaceuticals (3.85%)
- Physics (7.91%)
- Organic Chemistry (19.23%)
- Organic Synthesis (7.05%)
- Scale (Map) (9.19%)
- Material Characterization (7.69%)
- Project Management (7.48%)
- Spectroscopy (10.04%)
- High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (5.77%)
- Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (13.68%)
- Experimentation (16.67%)
- Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (7.26%)
- Electrochemistry (7.48%)
- Experimental Design (8.12%)
- Commercialization (7.05%)
- Composite Materials (6.41%)
- Continuous Improvement Process (3.85%)
- Chemical Kinetics (4.49%)
- Chemical Engineering (45.51%)
- Metal Coating (5.34%)
- Biochemistry (4.27%)
- Biotechnology (2.14%)
- Biology (4.49%)
- Analytical Chemistry (8.76%)
- Analytical Techniques (10.9%)
- Data Analysis (11.11%)
- Technical Support (4.27%)
- Chromatography (4.27%)
- Collaborative Research (3.63%)
- Medical Devices (4.49%)
- Laboratory Equipment (7.69%)
- Small Molecules (5.56%)
- Ultraviolet-Visible Spectroscopy (UV/VIS) (3.42%)
- Laboratory Experience (7.69%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Polymer Characterization (6.62%)
- Polymer Physics (4.49%)
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.
- Polymer Synthesis (100%)
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 Fellow
- Postdoctoral Researcher
- Synthetic Chemist
- Scientist
- Postdoctoral Research Associate
- Polymer Engineer
- Nuclear Medicine Physician
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.
- Materials Research Engineer
- Research and Development Chemist
- Chemist (General)
- Chemical Engineer (General)
- Organic Chemist
- Chemistry Laboratory Supervisor
- Analytical 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
- Kelly Services (24)
- Actalent (15)
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (13)
- Argonne National Laboratory (9)
- Allnex (9)
- Missouri University of Science and Technology (7)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (7)
- Clean Harbors (7)
- Kyyba (6)
- Medtronic (5)
North Carolina
- Critical Fit Recruiting (2)
- Soelect (2)
- Bluesky Polymers (1)
- Schneider Electric (1)
- SYRE (1)
- The Chatham Group (1)
- Kao Specialties Americas (1)
- Clean Harbors (1)
- BASF (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.