The Principal Microbiologist will lead R&D projects in microbial control for water treatment, collaborating with cross-functional teams to develop new products and solutions.
Nalco Water, an Ecolab Company is seeking a highly motivated and creative scientist to join our innovation efforts in the areas of microbiology and microbial control as a Principal Microbiologist within the Water Anchor Research Development and Engineering group at our Naperville Technical Center in Illinois.This position will be responsible for conducting and leading research, development, and problem-solving projects to enable new product and platform technology development for applications in water treatment. This will also require working closely with other divisional RD&E teams to design and execute test work and communicate results. We are seeking candidates who have strong collaboration skills, are self-motivated, have good communication skills, are creative problem solvers, and possess strong observation and perception skills. This position represents a valuable and visible opportunity for a creative scientist to develop differentiated products and expand the current innovation portfolio in the field of water treatment and microbial control.What’s in it For You:The pay range for this position is $85,900.00 - $128,900.00. Many factors are taken into consideration when determining compensation, such as experience, education, training, geography, etc. We comply with all minimum wage and overtime laws.
- The opportunity to take on some of the world’s most meaningful challenges, helping customers achieve clean water, safe food, abundant energy, and healthy environments
- The ability to make an impact and shape your career with a company that is passionate about growth
- The support of an organization that believes it is vital to include and engage diverse people, perspectives and ideas to achieve our best
- A culture that values safety first, including training and personal protection.
- As part of a diverse, global, multidisciplinary cross-functional team, a researcher in this position will collaborate directly with other scientists, research leaders, marketers, sales teams, and customers to develop, evaluate and deploy technical offerings.
- Opportunity identification, ideation, initial feasibility analysis, process and product development, leading to commercial introduction of new programs and customer solutions.
- Lead projects and program segments to meet technical and business objectives.
- Develop new products, analytical tools, and systems integrating automation, equipment, and digital components to solve customer problems and deliver differentiated value in the area of microbial control for industrial water systems.
- Provide advanced support for technologies within the existing product line and application area, following appropriate training
- Plan and perform relevant experiments and interpret results to develop solutions to complex research problems.
- Appropriately document and communicate all research and support activities using formal/informal reports and presentations.
- Provide consulting/mentoring on experimental design and work direction for junior associates.
- Provide technical support to assist the sales process. At times, this will require travel at a level up to 15%.
- Ensure that all research activities are performed with safety as the top priority.
- PhD in Microbiology or related field and 0 or more years of R&D experience; a Master's Degree in Microbiology or related field and 1 or more years of R&D experience; a Bachelor's Degree Microbiology or related field and 2 or more years of R&D experience
- Experience in technical leadership, communications, and management of complex research projects involving multi-functional teams.
- Experience in the design and development of chemical technologies/formulations based on defined performance metrics.
- Experience in microbiological laboratory techniques and design of experiment, analytical techniques, and chemical product characterization
- Ability to travel up to 15%
- Immigration Sponsorship not available for this role.
- Background in microbial ecology, microbial physiology, water treatment and/or mitigation of microbiological growth and activity
- Familiarity with industrial water system operations and technical challenges
- Understanding of surface/interfacial chemistry and biochemistry
- Understanding of fundamental physical/chemical/biological properties and structural activity relationships influencing microbiological activity and biofilm formation/disruption
- A strong record of delivering innovative technologies
- Familiarity with the use of chemical and biocidal products in industrial applications
- Familiarity with the integration of equipment, automation, and digital technologies to industrial applications
- Experience interacting directly with business leaders and customers to understand application needs and formulate technical specifications to aid in the design of product/platform solutions
Annual or Hourly Compensation Range
Benefits
Ecolab strives to provide comprehensive and market-competitive benefits to meet the needs of our associates and their families. Click here to see our benefits.
If you are viewing this posting on a site other than our Ecolab Career website, view our benefits at jobs.ecolab.com/working-here.
Potential Customer Requirements Notice
To meet customer requirements and comply with local or state regulations, applicants for certain customer-facing roles may need to:
- Undergo additional background screens and/or drug/alcohol testing for customer credentialing.
- Be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, including a booster if eligible, unless a religious or medical accommodation is requested by the applicant and approved by Ecolab.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Ecolab will provide reasonable accommodation (such as a qualified sign language interpreter or other personal assistance) with our application process upon request as required to comply with applicable laws. If you have a disability and require accommodation assistance in this application process, please visit the Recruiting Support link in the footer of each page of our career website.
Ecolab Bedford Park, Illinois, USA Office
Bedford Park, United States
Ecolab Chicago, Illinois, USA Office
Chicago, United States
Ecolab Elk Grove Village, Illinois, USA Office
Elk Grove Village, United States
Ecolab Naperville, Illinois, USA Office
Naperville, United States, 0
Similar Jobs
Artificial Intelligence • Cloud • Sales • Security • Software • Cybersecurity • Data Privacy
Lead architecture and implementation of scalable batch and streaming ETL/ELT pipelines, data services, and graph-serving models for Observability & Insights. Own technical strategy, drive performance and cost improvements, enforce data governance and observability, lead cross-team initiatives, participate in on-call and incident follow-through, and partner with product and engineering to deliver low-latency graph exploration at extreme scale.
Top Skills:
AirflowAWSAzureCassandraClaude CodeCqlCursorDatadogDbtFlinkGCPGithub CopilotGrafanaInfrastructure-As-CodeKubernetesPrometheusSnowflakeSparkSQL
Artificial Intelligence • Healthtech • Machine Learning • Natural Language Processing • Biotech • Pharmaceutical
Lead global R&D compliance and quality management systems (QMS), driving strategy, audits, corrective actions, documentation, validation, training, and continuous improvement to ensure cGLP/cGCP/cGMP and other regulatory adherence across sites.
Top Skills:
CgcpCglpCgmpDocument Management SystemsGxpIso 9000Malcolm BaldrigeSix Sigma
Big Data • Cloud • Information Technology • Legal Tech • Software
Manage eDiscovery data ingestion, processing, and exports in Nextpoint; coordinate forensic vendors; lead review training; oversee review workflows, QC, and client communications; handle after-hours/weekend support and ship/secure client data. Collaborate with Client Success, Engineering, Support, Product, and Sales.
Top Skills:
Aeren LpoAssembly DiscoveryClioEdaFtpIron OakMd5MicrosoftModeoneNextpointRsmfUfdrZendeskZipZoom
What you need to know about the Chicago Tech Scene
With vibrant neighborhoods, great food and more affordable housing than either coast, Chicago might be the most liveable major tech hub. It is the birthplace of modern commodities and futures trading, a national hub for logistics and commerce, and home to the American Medical Association and the American Bar Association. This diverse blend of industry influences has helped Chicago emerge as a major player in verticals like fintech, biotechnology, legal tech, e-commerce and logistics technology. It’s also a major hiring center for tech companies on both coasts.
Key Facts About Chicago Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 245,800; 5.2% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: McDonald’s, John Deere, Boeing, Morningstar
- Key Industries: Artificial intelligence, biotechnology, fintech, software, logistics technology
- Funding Landscape: $2.5 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Arch Venture Partners, MATH Venture Partners, Jump Capital, Hyde Park Venture Partners
- Research Centers and Universities: Northwestern University, University of Chicago, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Illinois Institute of Technology, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
