Senior R&D Chemist - Agricultural Formulations 

JOB TITLE: Senior R&D Chemist - Agricultural Formulations
REPORTS TO: Chief Product Officer
STATUS: Full time, Exempt
LOCATION: May Need To Relocate to Bellingham Washington
SALARY RANGE: $95,000-$135,000/year.
BENEFITS: Medical, dental, and vision insurance, optional FSA/HSA, 401k with 6% employer match, life and AD&D insurance, Employee Assistance Program, short & long term disability, tuition reimbursement, 21.67 days of paid time off + 10 holidays
About Tidal Vision:
We believe that sustainability should not require customers to compromise on price, convenience, or performance. Our mission is to create positive and systemic environmental impact by making our biopolymer solutions cost competitive, more convenient, and better performing than the synthetic chemicals we displace. We value innovation and take pride in challenging the status-quo; we choose to view obstacles as opportunities. We value new ideas and encourage the team to apply creativity and invent new solutions to meet challenging demands. We foster open, direct communication, and a collaborative working environment through our unique approach to work culture. We value our employees and demonstrate that through our compensation and benefits programs and opportunities for growth and development.
About Tidal Vision’s Unique Work Culture:
Tidal Vision strives to build and invest in the highest performing and most innovative team. We put our people and customers above process, avoid company-wide rules as much as possible, and have the courage to take unusual approaches to advance our mission. With this approach, we believe we can create a more flexible, fun, stimulating, creative, collaborative, and innovative organization.
Our commitment to developing, practicing and promoting direct and open communication, responsibility and freedom, and leading with and seeking context is a responsibility for every role at Tidal Vision.
JOB SUMMARY:
We are seeking an experienced R&D Chemist to develop, optimize, and scale agricultural formulations for commercial use. This role will focus on transforming active ingredients into robust, farmer-ready products that maintain performance under real-world storage, mixing, handling, and application conditions. The ideal candidate combines strong chemistry fundamentals with hands-on experience in agricultural formulation development, including compatibility, stability, scale-up, and performance across diverse farming systems. Success in this role requires a practical understanding of how products interact with fertilizers, crop protection products, water quality, storage environments, and field equipment used in modern agriculture.
Why This Role Matters:
This position plays a critical role in bringing innovative agricultural technologies from the laboratory to the field. The R&D Chemist will help ensure products are not only scientifically sound but also stable, manufacturable, compatible with agricultural systems, and reliable for growers operating at commercial scale.
While this position is being advertised as a Senior R&D Chemist, exceptional candidates whose experience and qualifications exceed the requirements of the role may be considered for a more senior position, with title and compensation commensurate with experience and qualifications.
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:
Formulation Development
Design, develop, and optimize liquid and suspension formulations for agricultural, biological, nutritional, and crop protection products.
Evaluate surfactants, dispersants, preservatives, stabilizers, rheology modifiers, and other formulation components.
Improve product performance, shelf life, handling properties, and manufacturability.
Stability & Compatibility Testing
Design and execute accelerated and real-time stability studies.
Assess compatibility with fertilizers, crop protection products, adjuvants, and common tank-mix partners.
Evaluate effects of water hardness, pH, temperature cycling, freeze-thaw exposure, and storage conditions.
Troubleshoot phase separation, sedimentation, aggregation, viscosity drift, and other formulation challenges.
Scale-Up & Manufacturing Support
Translate bench-top formulations into pilot and commercial-scale manufacturing processes.
Support process validation, quality standards, and manufacturing troubleshooting.
Work closely with operations teams to ensure repeatable production and product consistency.
Agricultural Application Systems
Evaluate formulation performance through agricultural equipment commonly used in the field, including:
Ground sprayers
Fertigation systems
Seed treatment equipment
Bulk storage and transfer systems
Mixing and handling equipment
Identify formulation improvements that enhance ease of use and operational reliability for growers and retailers.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Partner with agronomy, regulatory, operations, quality, and commercial teams to support product development and commercialization.
Provide technical expertise for customer trials, product launches, and technical documentation.
Support intellectual property generation, technical reports, and scientific communications.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Employment type
Full-Time

Work arrangement
No