Product Development Chemist

PPG has an opportunity for an expert formulator to advance automotive refinish coatings technology. The successful candidate will join the Refinish Product Development team and serve as the team's formulation expert for the development, optimization, scale-up, and launch of waterborne basecoat toners and related technologies.

This role is designed for a seasoned scientist who can independently tackle the team's most difficult formulation challenges. The individual will diagnose complex performance gaps, define formulation strategies, design efficient experimental approaches, integrate knowledge across relevant scientific disciplines, and identify optimized formulations that balance color, application, product performance, robustness, manufacturability, and business requirements.

The position will also provide end-to-end technical leadership for transferring toners from the laboratory into the Delaware manufacturing plant. The individual will lead the technical execution and coordination of NPL, FRR, CMWS batch following, manufacturing color confirmation, scale-up troubleshooting, and readiness for routine manufacture.

This is an individual contributor role with broad assignments and minimal day-to-day instruction. The individual will act as a technical resource to colleagues, provide informal guidance to less experienced employees, and influence decisions across R&D, manufacturing, quality, color, procurement, and other partner functions.

The base salary range for this position is $115,000 to $130,000, with the possibility of an annual bonus up to 10% of base salary. PPG offers comprehensive benefits such as Health, Dental, Life, Retirement Plan, Paid Vacation & Holidays, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Disability/Leave, and other Voluntary benefit offerings. Actual benefit offerings confirmed at the time of hire.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the team's most complex formulation challenges for automotive refinish basecoat formulations, working independently from problem definition through technical resolution.
• Develop formulation strategies based on mechanistic understanding of pigment dispersion, resin and additive interactions, rheology, spray application, film formation, color development, appearance, and coating performance.
• Design and execute focused experimental programs, including DOE or other structured approaches, to efficiently identify critical variables, define operating windows, and select optimized formulations.
• Integrate formulation performance, color position, application behavior, stability, raw-material variability, cost, robustness, and manufacturability into balanced technical recommendations.
• Lead complex root-cause investigations and implement robust corrective actions for formulation, application, color, appearance, stability, or manufacturing issues.
• Establish clear technical success criteria, interpret multifactor data, exercise sound scientific judgment, and make recommendations that move programs forward despite ambiguity.
• Serve as the formulation subject-matter expert for the team, review technical approaches, and provide practical guidance to formulators and other project contributors.
• Lead the manufacturing and scale-up pathway for all toners transferred from the laboratory to the Delaware plant, including NPL, FRR, CMWS batch following, and manufacturing color confirmation.
• Develop and maintain technology-transfer packages that define formulas, raw-material requirements, processing parameters, critical-to-quality attributes, test methods, acceptance criteria, and known technical risks.
• Partner with plant, quality, color, process, and R&D teams to plan manufacturing trials, provide on-site or remote technical support, evaluate batch data, resolve deviations, and confirm readiness for routine manufacture.
• Assess scale-dependent risks and translate laboratory learning into practical plant instructions, control strategies, and contingency plans.
• Lead post-scale-up learning and formulation or process optimization when plant results do not meet established color, quality, performance, or robustness requirements.
• Plan and manage broad technical assignments with minimal supervision while maintaining clear priorities, documentation, milestones, and stakeholder alignment.
• Communicate formulation strategy, experimental evidence, technical risks, manufacturing status, and recommendations through concise reports, presentations, and decision-focused discussions.
• Build productive partnerships across global R&D, manufacturing, quality, procurement, product management, suppliers, and other technical communities.
• Protect intellectual property and maintain complete, traceable technical records in accordance with internal requirements and project governance.
• Model a safety-first mindset, promote safe laboratory and plant practices, and support 6S, continuous improvement, and technical best-practice development.
• Adhere to corporate policies, government regulations, business conduct standards, environmental requirements, and EEO guidelines.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Polymer Science, Coatings Science, or a related STEM discipline.
• Minimum of 8 years of relevant professional experience, or 5 years of professional experience following completion of a PhD.
• Demonstrated depth in waterborne formulation development and optimization within coatings, paints, dispersions, polymers, or another complex formulated-product environment.
• Proven ability to independently resolve difficult, multifactor technical problems using scientific judgment, disciplined experimentation, and data analysis.
• Experience designing formulation strategies and converting experimental findings into optimized, robust product recommendations.
• Experience supporting technology transfer, manufacturing trials, scale-up, commercialization, or production troubleshooting.
• Strong knowledge of experimental design, laboratory practices, structured problem solving, data interpretation, and technical documentation.
• Ability to work across two or more related technical disciplines and connect formulation science with application, color, performance, and manufacturing requirements.
• Ability to manage broad assignments with minimal day-to-day instruction and to provide informal technical guidance to colleagues.
• Strong planning, organization, decision-making, analytical, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Strong verbal, written, presentation, interpersonal, and conflict-resolution skills, including the ability to deliver clear technical recommendations.
• Ability to build effective partnerships at all levels and work successfully in collaborative, cross-functional, and global teams.
• Commitment to laboratory and plant safety, regulatory compliance, and environmental standards.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree or PhD in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Polymer Science, Coatings Science, or a related discipline.
• Deep experience with waterborne automotive refinish basecoat formulation, toner development, pigment dispersion, rheology, spray application, film formation, color development, or coatings performance testing.
• Demonstrated success optimizing formulations against multiple competing requirements, including color, appearance, application, stability, durability, manufacturability, robustness, and cost.
• Experience leading toner or color-product scale-up from laboratory development through plant manufacture and final color confirmation.
• Practical knowledge of plant batching, mixing, dispersion, filling, quality, and manufacturing deviation resolution for coatings.
• Experience with design of experiments, statistical analysis, multivariate data interpretation, or data-driven formulation tools.
• Experience qualifying raw materials, alternatives, or suppliers and managing formulation risk associated with material variability or supply continuity.
• Track record of serving as a technical resource, raising team capability, and influencing decisions without direct reporting authority.
• Experience working with global development and manufacturing teams, suppliers, customers, or external technical partners.

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