Associate Scientist, Analytical Sciences & Natural Products Location: San Diego, CAWe are seeking a highly skilled (analytical) chemist with strong natural products background to contribute to our next-generation health and chemical senses ingredients discovery program. You will collaborate with our global R&D community of chemists, data scientists, and biologists to explore computer-aided and receptor-driven discovery of new bioactive ingredients and their application in health, nutrition, and beauty.
Key Responsibilities: - Generate extracts and fractions from raw natural materials (e.g. plants, fungi) in alignment with project priorities and OKRs
- Process new natural products fractions for receptor screening in the context of health, nutrition, taste, perfumery, and beauty projects, as well as other programs as necessary
- Isolate and contribute to the characterization of promising hits or compounds of interest from natural extracts
- Collaborate with other science experts around the globe to drive project success, e.g. biotech reaction profiling.
- Scale up promising natural fractions and compounds for further evaluation
- Actively participate in the maintenance and troubleshooting of analytical equipment within the Naturals Lab
You Bring:- Master's degree in Analytical Chemistry, Natural Products and Pharmacognosy, or in Synthetic Chemistry.
- At least 3 years' experience in activity/properties-guided isolation and characterization of bioactive and bio-functional ingredients.
- Record of accomplishments demonstrating high drive and keen entrepreneurial innovation.
- Strong analytical chemistry skills with the ability to use cutting-edge technologies to speed up the isolation, analysis, and characterization of complex molecules.
- Strong understanding and expert handling of a broad range of analytical equipment used in the isolation, analysis, and characterization of natural products, including HPLC, LC-MS, preparative HPLC, and NMR.
- Familiarity with modern medicinal chemistry and Structure-Activity-Relationship (SAR)
- Familiarity with molecular networking and other computational tools useful for speeding up the discovery of natural products
- Great team player and effective communicator with a strong drive for collaboration, excellence, and impact
- Excellent problem-solving skills with proven ability to innovate and thrive both independently and collaboratively in a multidisciplinary environment.
The salary or hourly wage scale provided reflects the pay range dsm-firmenich expects to pay the successful candidate for the position. Individual pay offered will be based on the applicant's job-related skills, experience, relevant education, or training, and primary work location. This position is also eligible for bonuses and benefits, which are not included in the pay scale provided. Salary $100,000-$120,000.
In addition to base salary, we also offer a comprehensive total rewards package, inclusive of annual incentive pay, a retirement savings plan, health care coverage, paid time off, recognition programs and a broad range of other benefits. All benefits and incentives are subject to eligibility requirements.
The application processInterested in this position? Please apply online by uploading your resume in English by August 19, 2026.
Agency statementWe're managing this search directly at dsm-firmenich. If you're applying as an individual, we'd love to hear from you. We're not accepting agency submissions or proposals involving fees or commissions for this role.
