Chemist – Formulation and Color

Wilsonart•Pflugerville, TX

About The Position

At Wilsonart, we don’t just make surfaces—we build careers. When you join our team, you become part of something bigger: a company driven by innovation, grounded in values, and powered by people who care. You’ll be surrounded by teammates who take pride in their work and look out for one another. You’ll have the chance to learn, grow and make a real impact. And you’ll be part of a company that believes winning means helping you succeed at work and in life. Here, you’ll win with: The Chemist – Formulation and Color is responsible for developing, optimizing, and maintaining formulations with a strong emphasis on design, color matching, and appearance control to meet customer and regulatory requirements

Requirements

Hands-on experience in laboratory-scale polymer casting, focusing on performance evaluation, cure kinetics, and color matching.
Strong understanding of pigments, dyes, colorants, and their interaction with binders, solvents, and substrates.
Candidate must demonstrate superior or normal color discrimination on the Farnsworth Munsell 100 Hue Test.
Hands on experience with color measurement instruments and software (spectrophotometer, color matching/tinting systems).
Demonstrated ability to design experiments, analyze data, and translate results into formulation changes.
Knowledge of relevant test methods, quality systems, and safety/regulatory requirements applicable to the product line.
Strong problem solving skills, attention to detail, and ability to manage multiple projects in a fast paced environment.
Effective written and verbal communication skills; ability to work both independently and in cross functional teams.
Bachelors or Master’s degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or related field.
7-10 years of experience in formulation chemistry with direct responsibility for coatings, plastics, cosmetics, or related industries.

Nice To Haves

Experience in [coatings/inks/plastics/cosmetics – customize here] product development and customer-facing technical support.
Familiarity with design of experiments (DOE) and statistical tools for formulation and color optimization.
Working knowledge of sustainability trends, low VOC and regulatory driven reformulations in color intensive products.

Responsibilities

Develop and optimize formulations by selecting raw materials (resins/binders, solvents, pigments, additives) to meet defined performance, cost, and sustainability targets.
Perform color design, shade development, and color matching for new and existing products using visual assessment and instrumental color measurement (e.g., spectrophotometer, color software).
Conduct laboratory experiments and application testing to evaluate color, appearance, viscosity, stability, cure/dry, adhesion, and other key properties.
Perform stability studies and shelf life evaluations; adjust formulas to improve robustness, processability, and long term performance.
Scale up lab formulations to pilot and production, working closely with manufacturing to ensure smooth transfer and resolve scale up issues.
Troubleshoot formulation and color issues in production and customer applications; identify root causes and implement corrective actions.
Evaluate and qualify new raw materials and colorants; interact with suppliers to understand capabilities, trends, and new technologies.
Maintain accurate laboratory records, formulation databases, and technical reports that document experiments, test methods, and results.
Support Quality and Technical Service with test methods, specifications, customer investigations, and complaint resolution related to color or formulation.
Collaborate with cross functional teams (R&D, Operations, Quality, Sales/Marketing) to define project requirements, support product launches, and provide technical input.