Senior Chemist

Role details

The Opportunity

A long-established specialty coatings manufacturer in the Quad Cities area is conducting a succession-based search for a Senior Coatings Chemist to join, learn, and ultimately lead the technical function as the current Technical Director transitions to retirement over a ~3-year overlap period. The company is a highly regarded, customer-intimate specialist in thin film coatings for aerospace and defense applications, with a strong reputation built on technical depth, quality discipline, and responsive customer support. This is a rare opportunity to step into a critical, high-ownership role at a stable company with a clear succession mandate.

Why This Role Stands Out

• Become the technical leader of a respected niche company:

not a cog in a machine, you will own the function

• Extraordinary breadth of technical challenge:

active work spans epoxy bake systems, solid film lubricants, gasket coatings, and emerging high-temp applications across a wide range of metal substrates

• Real impact from Day 1:

the incoming chemist immediately relieves a formulation bottleneck, taking over active R&D projects in aerospace fastener coatings and military product reformulation

• Compelling lifestyle package:

excellent work-life balance, company pays 90% of health premiums for employee AND family, and a charming, affordable community on the Mississippi River in the Quad Cities

What You'll Do: Core Priorities

• Drive hands-on formulation work

across epoxy melamine and epoxy phenolic bake systems, managing a fluid portfolio of 10–15 concurrent projects spanning multi-year new product development, 3–6 month product modifications, and rapid customer sample turnarounds

• Own raw material strategy:

identifying and qualifying alternatives for niche, low-volume inputs; actively navigating PFAS elimination and heavy metal pigment replacement initiatives, and attending industry conferences to source new materials

• Serve as the primary technical resource for customers

(primarily applicators serving military and aerospace OEMs), providing application guidance, surface preparation support, and field troubleshooting while cultivating the direct relationships that reduce costly reformulation cycles

• Manage the lab technician team

(R&D tech, QC tech, and a long-tenured solid film lubricant specialist): a player-coach role where the chemist directs tech execution while remaining personally hands-on

• Maintain rigorous documentation and quality compliance

under an AS9100-aligned design control system that is regularly audited; partner with production on scale-up trial batches (typical 50–200 gallons)

Who We're Looking For

• Background:

8+ years formulating high-performance coatings; OEM-type bake coatings experience across diverse metal substrates is the most directly transferable; BS in Chemistry, Polymer Science, Materials Science, or related discipline required

• Background flexibility:

aerospace and defense coatings experience is ideal, but we are equally interested in candidates from other rigorous, highly regulated coatings environments, such as automotive OEM or Tier 1 coatings under IATF 16949; hands-on PPAP or equivalent formal qualification experience is considered directly relevant

• Technical depth:

hands-on experience with epoxy bake systems (melamines, phenolics) and thin film technologies; familiarity with Mil-Spec, AS9100, Boeing/EN specs, ASTM corrosion testing, and VOC/HAPS/REACH compliance

• Mindset:

a creative, intellectually curious problem-solver who thrives without rigid formulating systems or enterprise-level tooling. This portfolio is genuinely niche with limited published reference data, so flexibility and sound judgment about where to spend time are essential

• Leadership:

experience managing lab technicians and the ambition to grow into full ownership of a technical function in a small company

• Fit:

genuine enthusiasm for small-company life and a close-knit community. Candidates who want to put down roots in a great place to raise a family will thrive here; big-city expectations will not be met