Coatings Engineer

Herculite Products, Inc.•Manchester Township, PA

18h

About The Position

The Coatings Engineer develops, evaluates, optimizes, and commercializes coating and flexible composite technologies used in Herculite’s engineered textile products. The role serves as a technical resource for PVC and related polymer coating systems, textile substrates, films, adhesives, and laminated constructions. The engineer partners with cross-functional teams to improve product performance, troubleshoot material and process issues, reduce waste, support customer requirements, and advance new product development. The position works across laboratory, production, supplier, and customer environments and helps translate technical findings into practical solutions. It also supports new-product scale-up and commercialization, process and quality improvement, and integration of innovations into products. The role requires collaboration with multiple departments and staying current with industry and market trends.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Polymer Engineering, Textile Engineering, Chemistry, or a related technical discipline.
Working knowledge of textile substrates, scrims, woven and knit constructions, films, adhesives, surface treatments, and composite adhesion mechanisms.
Experience formulating water-based and UV-curable coatings from laboratory development and testing through production scale.
Ability to work effectively in laboratory, production, supplier, and customer environments and translate technical findings into practical solutions.
Strong project management, organization, documentation, problem-solving, data analysis, and decision-making skills, including the ability to manage multiple priorities.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills and ability to work effectively across Engineering, Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, Sales, and external partners.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office.
Ability to multitask and work at a fast pace, completing projects under tight deadlines even when priorities compete or change.
Collaborative team player who demonstrates initiative, sound judgment, confidentiality, accountability, and a continuous-improvement mindset.

Nice To Haves

Five or more years of experience in polymer coatings, coated textiles, flexible composites, films, adhesives, or roll-to-roll gravure coating of polymer films.
Demonstrated knowledge of flexible PVC formulations, plastisols, additives, stabilizers, pigments, plasticizers, processing behavior, and performance characteristics.
Experience with ERP, laboratory information, statistical analysis, or formulation management systems.

Responsibilities

Lead the development and improvement of PVC and related polymer coating systems.
Formulate, evaluate, and optimize topcoats, plastisols, primers, and other material components for coated products.
Evaluate alternative coating technologies, including polyurethane, acrylic, and silicone.
Design and execute laboratory and production trials; analyze results and recommend formulations, constructions, and process conditions.
Optimize coating variables such as coating weight, thickness, viscosity, temperature, cure conditions, line speed, tension, pressure, airflow, adhesion, and surface appearance.
Troubleshoot coating and composite defects, including poor adhesion, gels, streaks, bubbles, uneven application, color variation, blocking, cracking, curling, cupping, and delamination.
Apply root cause analysis, design of experiments, statistical methods, and structured problem-solving tools to address material, process, quality, and customer issues.
Support scale-up and commercialization of new products, including raw material qualification, product specifications, work instructions, bills of material, and production readiness.
Partner with Operations and Quality to improve process capability, product consistency, throughput, material utilization, and first-pass quality while reducing scrap and rework.
Collaborate with suppliers to evaluate new raw materials, resolve technical issues, identify cost-saving opportunities, and maintain continuity of supply.
Provide technical support to Sales, Product Management, and customers regarding product selection, performance requirements, product failures, and application needs.
Maintain accurate formulation, testing, project, specification, and process documentation while protecting confidential and proprietary information.
Follow safety procedures, chemical-handling requirements, PPE requirements, environmental practices, and company policies; perform other duties as assigned.
Develop collaborative relationships with all departments to integrate innovations into products.
Stay abreast of industry and market trends and advancements.