This role sits at the heart of our Innovation R&D function and reports directly to the R&D Project Lead, working closely with Operations, Quality, Regulatory, and Manufacturing.

You will develop and improve formulations that are technically sound, scalable, and compliant, not just concepts that look good on paper. You’ll be expected to take ideas from the lab bench to production, owning decisions and outcomes at every stage.

This is a hands-on, on-site role for a Formulation Chemist who wants to see their work live beyond the lab: setting the standard for quality, durability, and integrity in everything we make.

What You’ll Be Accountable For

• Developing and improving formulations that work in the real world
  You will design, optimise, and validate cosmetic formulations that are safe, stable, and scalable from early lab trials through to commercial readiness. Performance, robustness, and regulatory compliance are non-negotiable.

• Owning formulation testing and technical evidence
  You will plan and execute stability, efficacy, instrumental, and sensory testing, ensuring results are clearly documented, defensible, and decision-ready. You are accountable for the quality of the data and what it means for the product.

• Taking formulations through scale-up and into manufacturing
  You will support formulation scale-up, identify critical process parameters, and work hands-on with Operations and Production to ensure smooth transfer. When issues arise, you will lead troubleshooting.

• Solving problems, not passing them on
  Whether it is a batch variation, raw material challenge, or production constraint, you will apply scientific judgment and creativity to resolve issues and keep progress moving.

• Maintaining high standards of documentation and compliance
  You will prepare specifications for formulations and raw materials, maintain risk assessments and SOPs, and ensure all work meets cosmetic regulatory, quality, and safety requirements.

• Contributing to the innovation pipeline
  You will stay close to emerging ingredients, technologies, and trends, working with suppliers and external labs where needed. You will bring forward ideas that are technically credible and commercially relevant.

• Working as a trusted technical partner across the business
  You will collaborate closely with Quality, Regulatory, Engineering, and Operations, communicating technical decisions clearly and supporting shared outcomes.

Who This Role Is For

This role is for a practical formulation chemist who wants real ownership, and you will be a good fit if you:

• Want responsibility for end‑to‑end formulation work, from early development through scale‑up and manufacturing

• Are comfortable making technical decisions based on evidence, and standing behind them

• Prefer working hands-on, close to the lab and production floor

• Care deeply about quality, compliance, and getting things right the first time

• Enjoy collaborating with Operations, Quality, and Regulatory to deliver real outcomes

Must‑haves

To succeed in this role, you will need:

• A degree in Chemistry or a related scientific discipline

• At least 2 years’ experience in formulation R&D, ideally within cosmetics, personal care, or a similarly regulated environment

• Proven experience in developing and optimising formulations, not just maintaining existing ones

• Confidence running and interpreting stability, efficacy, and laboratory testing

• Strong documentation discipline in specifications, risk assessments, and technical records that stand up to scrutiny

• A mindset that takes accountability seriously: you own the outcome, not just the task

What Will Make You Successful Here

You will succeed here through judgment, ownership, and how you work with others.

• You take full responsibility for your formulations from lab work through scale-up and production, and stay with the problem until it is resolved.

• You explain technical decisions simply and confidently to colleagues across Operations, Quality, and Regulatory, and you are comfortable defending your conclusions with data.

• You know how to interpret stability, efficacy, and performance data, and when to act on it.

• Your documentation and specifications are accurate, audit-ready, and useful.

• You adapt when theory meets reality, troubleshoot calmly, and make sensible trade-offs without compromising safety or compliance.

• You work well across functions and stay curious about new ingredients and technologies.

Why Join WaterWipes

WaterWipes is built on a simple principle: do fewer things, better. That applies to our products, our science, and how we expect people to work.

What does that mean for this role:

• You will have real ownership of formulations, from lab development through scale‑up and manufacturing

• Technical decisions are evidence‑led and taken seriously

• Documentation, compliance, and audit‑readiness matter, and are respected

• Problems are solved properly, not escalated away

If you want to see your formulations move from concept to shelf and be accountable for how they perform, this role gives you that responsibility and trust.

Location & Practicalities

• Drogheda, Co. Louth

• On-site role - This role is lab and manufacturing-based and is not suitable for remote working.

• Full-time, permanent

Call to Action

If you want ownership of formulations that make it to market and you are ready to stand behind the result. We want to hear from you!

👉 Apply directly and confidentially