What does a process development chemist do?
Process development chemist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real process development chemist resumes:
- Manage synthesis and production of specialty chemicals for carpet and textile industry.
- Perform lab audits to make sure lab are in compliance with FDA regulations.
- Train plant operators to run the new circuit in accordance to company's GMP.
- Gain working experience with FDA, EPA, and government safety regulations and requirements.
- Work also includes in QC department to analysis raw material, in-process and finish products.
- Purify oligos on HPLC units that collect either manually or automatically.
- Develop methods for quantitative and qualitative analysis of target compounds through HPLC determination.
- Develop and optimize isolation and purification processes for GMP pharmaceuticals (paclitaxel) and herbal products.
- Manufacture development and production oligonucleotides.
- Manufacture development and production oligonucleotides.
Process development chemist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 14% of Process Development Chemists are proficient in R, HPLC, and Analytical Techniques. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Math skills.
We break down the percentage of Process Development Chemists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- R, 14%
Participate in the preparation of deviation reports as necessary for submission to R &D Management.
- HPLC, 9%
Purify oligos on HPLC units that collected either manually or automatically.
- Analytical Techniques, 8%
Develop analytical techniques and operational processes in support of plant operational mission.
- Process Support, 7%
Provided process support to Operation groups.
- GMP, 6%
Validated Master Operating Records (in-lab) before commencement of a GMP production campaign.
- NMR, 5%
Analyzed compounds using a variety of scientific data instrumentation, such as NMR.
Common skills that a process development chemist uses to do their job include "r," "hplc," and "analytical techniques." You can find details on the most important process development chemist responsibilities below.
Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a process development chemist to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "chemists and materials scientists need to evaluate the results of experiments to ensure accuracy in their research." Process development chemists often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "created analytical methods on aa, tga, icp-aes, uv-vis, micro-track and auto-titrator. "
Communication skills. Many process development chemist duties rely on communication skills. "chemists and materials scientists must be able to convey information clearly in reports and presentations for both technical and nontechnical audiences.," so a process development chemist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways process development chemist responsibilities rely on communication skills: "investigated interdomain communication in e. coli gmp synthetase. "
Math skills. This is an important skill for process development chemists to perform their duties. For an example of how process development chemist responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "chemists and materials scientists regularly use calculus, algebra, statistics, and other math for calculations." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a process development chemist: "developed methods for quantitative and qualitative analysis of target compounds through hplc determination. ".
Problem-solving skills. process development chemist responsibilities often require "problem-solving skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "chemists’ and materials scientists’ work involves posing questions during research and finding answers through results." This resume example shows what process development chemists do with problem-solving skills on a typical day: "process optimization and production problem-solving techniques in production, augmented by lab scale chemistry. "
Time-management skills. A commonly-found skill in process development chemist job descriptions, "time-management skills" is essential to what process development chemists do. Process development chemist responsibilities rely on this skill because "chemists and materials scientists usually need to meet deadlines and must be able to prioritize tasks while maintaining quality." You can also see how process development chemist duties rely on time-management skills in this resume example: "completed testing on rush samples from chemical plants, submitted test results on time, with effort cited as instrumentation. "
The three companies that hire the most process development chemists are:
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Compare different process development chemists
Process development chemist vs. Chemist
Chemists are generally responsible for observing and investigating chemical substances to create new and safe compounds essential for practical applications. They are often grouped depending on a particular area of specialization to focus and understand the complexities of the matter. A chemist usually takes time performing research and conducting experiments to test and further improve the quality and usage of a specific chemical substance. Chemists are expected to write on their observations and findings to establish scientific results.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a process development chemist are more likely to require skills like "process support," "cost savings," "process validation," and "lab scale." On the other hand, a job as a chemist requires skills like "chemistry," "lab equipment," "test results," and "analytical methods." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Chemists tend to make the most money working in the manufacturing industry, where they earn an average salary of $75,495. In contrast, process development chemists make the biggest average salary, $93,205, in the health care industry.On average, chemists reach lower levels of education than process development chemists. Chemists are 6.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 3.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Process development chemist vs. Wet chemistry analyst
Quality Assurance Chemists generally offer pay of around $54K per year and require strong skills in analysis and instrumentation and general knowledge of chemistry, attention to detail, and various organizational skills. Also, they must be able to investigate and analyze problems whenever they crop up. This career choice requires a bachelor's or advanced degree in chemistry, depending on the industry, and will often be offered in pharmaceutical fields, where standard duties consist of the measurement and testing of lab materials and products according to industry standards.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that process development chemist responsibilities requires skills like "r," "analytical techniques," "process support," and "nmr." But a wet chemistry analyst might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "wet chemistry," "analytical methods," "laboratory equipment," and "analyze samples."
Wet chemistry analysts earn lower levels of education than process development chemists in general. They're 10.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 3.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for process development chemists in the next 3-5 years?
Bryan Spiegelberg Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Molecular Sciences, Rider University
Process development chemist vs. Quality assurance chemist
A Quality Control Chemist uses chemistry lab skills to test and measure materials, usually in a manufacturing or pharmaceutical field. They analyze samples using scientific equipment, prepare study protocols, collect data, and identify and investigate abnormal test results.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, process development chemists are more likely to have skills like "analytical techniques," "process support," "nmr," and "cost savings." But a quality assurance chemist is more likely to have skills like "lab equipment," "analytical methods," "test results," and "icp."
Quality assurance chemists earn the best pay in the finance industry, where they command an average salary of $84,734. Process development chemists earn the highest pay from the health care industry, with an average salary of $93,205.Most quality assurance chemists achieve a lower degree level compared to process development chemists. For example, they're 6.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 4.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Process development chemist vs. Quality control chemist
Types of process development chemist
Updated January 8, 2025
