If you want a career in research, then you definitely need a PhD. I would say that even a Masters is insufficient for most research positions, though you could potentially get a job in industry (I'm not expert on that, however). Jobs are not the easiest thing to get for chemistry PhD's either, but if you network during your PhD through conferences and the like and you manage to do a PhD that trains you well, answers semi-interesting questions and provides you with a wide range of skills that you are able to apply, then you'll be fine. It sounds like a lot, but the key is mostly to engage yourself as much and in whatever ways that you can before you are at a point where you are actually in need of employment. A good way to do that, for instance, is to try and get travel scholarships to visit international labs and go to (and present at) conferences at home and abroad.