Coatings Finishing Process Engineer

NIC Global•Gallatin, TN

About The Position

Owns the technical process design, standardization, and continuous improvement of coatings and finishing operations (e.g., paint, powder coat, chemical processing) across all NIC Global locations, including assessment of outsourced coatings suppliers. Serves as the process authority for finishing methods, standard work, equipment/material specifications, and performance metrics, while partnering closely with Production, Maintenance, Quality, and IT/OT to ensure safe, efficient, and repeatable finishing processes. This role provides technical and environmental compliance oversight and support across these functional areas but does not assume day-to-day ownership of production output, maintenance execution, quality disposition, or local plant engineering responsibilities.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree in Engineering (Chemical, Bio-Systems, Environmental, Mechanical, Materials, or related field) from a four-year college or university, or an equivalent combination of formal education, on-the-job training, and/or work experience.
2 to 5 years of relevant experience in coatings, finishing, or chemical treatment processes within a manufacturing environment preferred; exceptional recent graduates with relevant coursework, co-op, or internship experience will be considered.
Strong Lean Manufacturing background.
Strong analytical, communication, and MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel & PowerPoint) skills.
A high level of creativity and latitude is required.

Nice To Haves

Six Sigma certification helpful.

Responsibilities

Develops, documents, and maintains standard work, process specifications, and best practices for coatings and finishing processes across all applicable NIC Global locations and production lines.
Defines process performance metrics (e.g., throughput, first-pass yield, rework, scrap, downtime) and guides the development of dashboards to communicate performance trends to stakeholders.
Partners with Maintenance to define required preventive maintenance (PM) tasks and frequency for coatings/finishing equipment; supports execution planning without owning maintenance delivery.
Assists with inventory and asset management for coatings/finishing consumables, chemicals, and equipment in coordination with Supply Chain/Procurement.
Provides environmental compliance oversight for coatings/finishing processes (e.g., emissions, waste streams, chemical handling), working with external environmental partners; supports plant-level execution without owning day-to-day delivery.
Serves as the primary technical liaison to coatings/finishing suppliers and leads assessments of outsourced coatings providers, including qualification, audits, and performance evaluation.
Leads overall process design for new and existing coatings/finishing applications, including process flow, line layout, equipment specification, and PFMEA risk assessments.
Conducts periodic process audits to verify adherence to standard work and identify continuous improvement opportunities.
Collaborates with Controls and Automation and IT/OT teams on integration planning, automation, and technology upgrades for coatings/finishing processes.
Provides process-related technical feedback to support quoting activities and New Product Introduction (NPI), including feasibility assessment, cycle time estimates, and capital/tooling requirements.
Identifies, organizes, and leads cross-functional teams to resolve coatings/finishing process and product issues, applying lean principles and root cause problem-solving methods.