WE ARE MINDFUL, ORIGINAL, & BOLD

Phospholutions, Inc. is an award-winning and venture-backed agtech start-up company enhancing global phosphorus use. Phospholutions is experiencing exponential growth with the recent launch of our proprietary RhizoSorb® technology helping reduce the environmental impact of fertilizers and helping growers achieve more from our crop inputs.

Headquartered in State College, PA, Phospholutions is hiring a Research Associate to join our State College, PA team and support the commercial launch of RhizoSorb® technology following multiple years of successful field trials, three decades of academic research, and backed by leading industry investors.

If you are a resourceful, focused and innovative research professional who enjoys problem solving, have great attention to detail, exercise good judgement, and are able to maintain a safe research laboratory, we highly encourage you to apply for this position!

JOB OBJECTIVE 

We value energy, passion, authenticity, creativity…and results! The individual hired for this position will assume ownership of and perform a diverse range of tasks, becoming an indispensable partner to our Research & Development (R&D) team, helping to manage, implement, and achieve critical R&D objectives and strategies. Immediate tasks include carrying out phosphorus adsorption and desorption studies, raw material characterization, soil and water testing, nutrient leaching experiments, soil nutrient incubation studies, and nutrient release studies. The Research Associate also serves as a liaison to internal colleagues regarding laboratory studies/projects.

Among other responsibilities, this position provides research and development support by planning and executing lab experiments, preparing samples for analysis, performing quantitative and qualitative analysis on raw materials, preparing standards and chemical reagents for use in experiments, developing a company-specific scientific knowledge inventory of various materials and their impacts on phosphorus-soil behavior, recording/managing experimental procedures and data, performing quality control tests, troubleshooting instrumentation, and ensuring proper repair as needed. Work assignments are often performed with limited direct supervision and often, where only limited standardization exists; therefore, the Research Associate must have the skills and abilities to identify and implement process and/or system improvements to achieve a defined outcome. The Research Associate also performs other tasks to support the R&D team and other staff, including, but not limited to organizing, maintaining, and managing small-scale laboratory equipment, supplies, and chemical inventory and translating/communicating research findings and complex statistical information within the company.

KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS/QUALIFICATIONS/ABILITIES : The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate core competencies in the following areas:  

• Demonstrated success prioritizing and managing work requests from multiple sources and in meeting deadlines; superior time management skills and attention to detail are essential

• Ability to exercise ethical, prudent judgment and problem-solving in the absence of direct supervision

• Ability to communicate, collaborate, and build strong working relationships with others, especially using digital, phone, and video technologies

• Ability to work independently, learn new skills quickly, and take initiative

• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, performance-driven environment and assume personal ownership of R&D activities and outcomes

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including mastery of correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, syntax and tone

• Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form 

• Strong knowledge of organic and inorganic chemistry

• Strong math skills including the use of statistic, formulas, charts, and tables

• Critical thinking and problem solving

   

  MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS  

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Biology or related physical science field from an accredited university or college

• “Day-1 Expert-level” proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word)

• 1 or more years laboratory research experience

• Proficient in statistics and graphing software(s)

• Experience with basic analytical chemistry (qualitative and quantitative analysis) as well as spectrometry, spectroscopy, spectrophotometry, and microscopy

• Background checks (criminal/education/employment/reference/credit/DMV) will be performed; results must be satisfactory to the company.

• If hired, must adhere to all company policies and procedures and other prescribed best practices/industry standards 

   

  DESIRED EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES (THESE ARE A PLUS!)  

• Demonstrated experience with lab design and setup

• Experience with computer programming

• Material Science experience

  PHYSICAL JOB REQUIREMENTS

• Must be able to lift 40 to 50 lbs (occasionally)

• Infrequent sitting, standing, moving forward/back/side-to-side, and working around laboratory equipment is required; where exposure to electrical currents, vibrations, fumes, odors, dusts, gases, chemicals, oils, sealants, solvents, and other compounds is possible

• Must be able to stand for prolonged periods of time

  POSITION LOCATION:

  The successful candidate must be able to report to work in State College, PA. This is not a remote position.

  TO APPLY:  

  Tell us why you are interested in this position and your desired salary in the cover letter section of this posting. Include your resume, answer a few questions, then click submit. It’s that easy to apply right now! 

• This is an IMMEDIATE opportunity, BUT we are looking for an awesome new team member, so the position will remain open until filled. 

• Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States. This company does not sponsor applicants for work visas. 

• The Company reserves the right to alter, change, modify and/or terminate this job posting at any time without notice, or obligation. No recruiters, please; principal applicants only. 

   

The job is primarily performed indoors in a traditional office setting; The employee is constantly required to talk, hear, stand, or sit for extended periods of time while using a computer, telephone or other productivity devices to communicate with other personnel and conduct business. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to reach with hands and arms. The employee frequently, uses hands to: finger, handle, feel or operate objects and computer keyboards. The employee is occasionally required to climb, balance, stoop, bend, kneel, crouch or crawl, squat, turn/twist, and smell. The employee must frequently lift, carry, push or pull up to 10 pounds and/or occasionally lift, carry, push or pull up to 20 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

Phospholutions, Inc. provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, familial status, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions. If you need a reasonable accommodation because of a disability for any part of the employment process, please send an e-mail to  jboney@phospholutions.com  and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.

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