Paint Engineer, Paint Materials and New Color Launch

About This Role

A leading automotive manufacturer's Paint Department is seeking a Paint Engineer focused on paint application and production implementation. You will lead new paint material introductions for automotive production, support new model colour launches, and manage the transition of materials from lab development into mass production. Reporting to the Materials Manager, you will independently manage the development and implementation of new materials, colours, and technologies for both the Body Paint and Bumper Paint departments, leading trials, process controls, scale-up, and material performance improvements.

Responsibilities

• Manage area project schedules for new material trials, new model paint trials, cost reduction, and material performance improvements
• Lead planning, evaluations, and implementations for new colours and new materials in the Body Paint and Bumper Paint shops
• Predict and manage how a colour or material behaves as it moves from lab development into mass production, and countermeasure the differences
• Lead lab workability and on-line testing for new materials
• Establish necessary process controls and parameters for new materials and technologies in a cross-functional environment
• Lead materials-related problem-solving efforts across multiple divisions as necessary
• Lead cost-per-unit (CPU) impact analysis for new materials
• Assess the environmental impact of new materials and technologies

Qualifications

• Required: hands-on paint application process and top coat experience in an automotive production environment. Aerospace coatings experience may transfer and will be considered. Marine and boating coatings experience does not transfer to this role.
• Required: experience carrying a colour or coating from lab development through to mass production, including how the colour behaves differently at volume
• Bachelor's degree in an Engineering field, or related experience
• 3 plus years of project management working across multiple functions
• 2 plus years in colour and appearance evaluations
• 1 plus years in paint design
• Exposure to production launch, scale-up, or change management
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel for analysis, PowerPoint for reporting); ability to work in cross-functional teams
• Preferred: degree in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Materials Engineering, or Materials Science; automotive paint production engineering; paint application and lab workability evaluation

Required Skills

• Lab-to-mass-production colour behaviour: predicting, testing, and countermeasuring how a colour or coating performs once it moves from lab development onto a production vehicle
• Paint application process expertise, especially top coat, in automotive production
• New colour and paint material introduction and production launch for automotive manufacturing
• Colour and appearance evaluation and paint design
• Lab workability and on-line testing of new materials
• Establishing process controls and parameters for new materials and technologies
• Cross-divisional materials problem-solving
• Production launch, scale-up, and change management
• Cost-per-unit (CPU) impact analysis and environmental-impact assessment
• Software and platforms: Microsoft Excel (analysis), Microsoft PowerPoint (reporting and presentations)