Environmental Chemist

McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) is a product and process design firm in Charlottesville, VA dedicated to revolutionizing the design of products and services worldwide. William McDonough and Dr. Michael Braungart founded MBDC in 1995 to promote and shape what they call the "Next Industrial Revolution" through the introduction of a new design paradigm called Cradle to Cradle Design, and the implementation of eco-effective design principles.

Job Overview:

Learn and understand MBDC's methodology for assessing chemicals and materials. Help to refine the precautionary process for evaluating materials for consistency and efficiency.

• Environmental Chemist is responsible for maintaining databases to collect, store and help evaluate chemical information used for all assessments.
• Environmental Chemist will research and keep current on all chemical registries, databases and other sources of chemical and toxicological information that may be used to evaluate chemicals. As part of these duties, the chemist will work with any outside parties to build and maintain an information infrastructure that helps to streamline MBDC's assessment process.
• It is also expected that this person will have substantial input on how MBDC might expand or improve upon its ability to offer unique and constructive advice about how our clients use chemicals/materials to manufacture their products.
• Environmental Chemist may have to conduct training seminars or make presentations of MBDC's assessment methodology to educate technical personnel related to a project or specifically as a training exercise.
• Environmental Chemist will help to educate project managers about the chemical information they must manage and to impart enough knowledge that they can become conversant with clients and suppliers about the pertinent issues.
• Research tasks: directed research using internet and journals to support senior staff; investigate innovative materials and/or chemistries, recycling technologies, corporate social responsibility and design for environment practices, etc. Ability to convey collected information in research briefs.

Minimum Qualifications:

Undergraduate degree required. Relevant background - toxicology; chemistry; chemical engineering; biochemistry; biology. Coursework in environmental science, environmental engineering or premedical training through year two desirable. We are looking for organic chemists with an understanding of environmental toxicology, not analytical chemists.

Strong oral and written communication skills; functional knowledge of MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access (basic understanding of database creation and maintenance);
basic understanding of toxicological metrics and research procedures; understand and apply principles of organic and general chemistry to context specific situations; ability to synthesize large amounts of data into concise summaries and to be able to explain technical information in lay terms to non-technical clients or to MBDC staff; ability to comprehend scientific literature and extract relevant data from sources; effectively use the internet and informational databases for diverse research assignments; familiarity with concepts of Design for Environment, Industrial Ecology and Life Cycle Analysis.

Preferred Qualifications:

Undergraduate degree in any of the fields noted above. Prefer applicants to have 1-2 years of related work experience and a demonstrated interest in environment-related activities.

Salary Range: $30,000 - $40,000 annual. Benefits include: health, dental, life, disability, vacation and pre-tax retirement savings plan.

Hire Date: Anticipated to be June 2008

To Apply:

Email resume and cover letter as PDF/MSWord file describing your interest in MBDC as a potential employer and any work experience that is relevant to sustainable product design. Please include any academic or professional publications and desired salary. 
Deadline: May 15, 2008.

Or Mail to:

Human Resources Manager - MBDC
EnvironChemist/Research Position
1001 E. Market St., Ste 200
Charlottesville, VA 22902

Please see http://www.mbdc.com/profile_employment.htm for more information.