Technical Service Chemist - Americas, Coating Additives

POSITION TITLE  

Technical Service Chemist - Americas, Coating Additives  

POSITION OVERVIEW 

Full time technical service position focused on supporting the development and growth of the Milliken coating additives business, partnering, and supporting the sales team on developing new business opportunities, and providing effective technical service to existing and new accounts. The ideal candidate has experience in formulating Coatings, passion for laboratory work, strong communication and presentation skills, and consistently delivers technical performance, excellence, and value to customers.  

This position will report to the Technical Service Manager, Americas, and is based in our Westlake, Ohio’s Borchers Americas office and technical center. 

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES   

• Effectively communicate with customers to understand their needs, to present the company and our products, and to provide advice. 

• Solve formulation issues for customers using Coatings Additives through moderate to high complexity projects. 

• Provide value through top quality technical support with a sense of urgency. 

• Demonstrate through laboratory work and technical data the added value and performance enhancement of our Coatings Additives technology in our customers’ formulations. 

• Understand the competitive landscape and how product differentiation can address unmet customer needs. 

• Communicate effectively with stakeholders at different levels: 

• • Bench chemists
  • Technical leaders
  • Sales team
  • Customers 

• Provide input in technical and marketing communications to promote the growth of the Coatings Additives business. 

• Influence the development of products on a regional level by actively participating in discussions and projects with business and technical members. 

• Support the development of technical literature, sales tools, and training programs for internal and distributor use, and for presentations to customers. 

• Maintain accurate and timely project data on Milliken’s Alchemy Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN) platform. 

• Prepare reports on work completed (lab projects) and communicate internally and externally. 

• Conduct hands-on work in the lab for assigned projects. 

• On a daily basis, demonstrate commitment to Milliken Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) policies and values. 

• The position requires up to 30% travel, domestic and international 

Other responsibilities:  

• Initiate and drive projects related to benchmarking and competitive analysis. 

• Provide support for technical questions/issues at customers. 

• Deliver custom formulation required to solve technical problems. 

• Author and present technical papers. 

• With support from Technical Management, help develop and mentor a talented team in Coatings knowledge and know-how. 

• All other duties assigned by your supervisor. 

QUALIFICATIONS - REQUIRED   

• Bachelors degree in Polymer Science, Material Science, Chemistry, or related physical science field. 

• Minimum of 5 years in the Coatings industry with customer facing and technical experience. 

• Formulated Coatings experience is a must, with demonstrated competency in Coatings raw materials – resin, additives, pigments, fillers, etc. – and their impact on Coatings performance. 

• Paint industry knowledge and awareness. 

• Strong presentation and communication skills. 

• Strong collaboration and teamwork skills. 

• Ability to think outside of the box. 

QUALIFICATIONS - PREFERRED

• 10+ years in the Coatings industry with customer facing and technical experience. 

The successful candidate will have strengths in the following:  

• Ambition, drive, and ability to work independently. 

• Critical thinking and creative problem-solving. 

• Desire to be part of a global team. 

• Experience with design of experiments. 

• Experience with instrumental analysis. 

• Experience working with raw material suppliers in the coating industry. 

• Project management skills. 

• Sound scientific reasoning and attention to detail. 

• Strong communication and presentation skills. 

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