Technical Director

Nippon Paint Automotive Americas, Inc.•Cleveland, OH

About The Position

The Technical Director leads the automotive coatings technical organization across assigned product lines, customers, and locations. This role oversees technical support, product development, technology transfer, new product launches, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement while partnering with commercial, manufacturing, quality, and customer teams to drive business growth and operational excellence. The position also develops technical talent, establishes technical standards, ensures compliance with quality and customer requirements, and manages departmental priorities and budgets.

Requirements

Minimum of BS degree in Chemistry or related scientific field
Experience in a specialty chemical manufacturing environment
10+ years of experience in industrial or automotive (OEM) preferred
A broad base of scientific knowledge and experience in chemistry, coatings, and polymers

Nice To Haves

MS degree preferred

Responsibilities

Lead the development and execution of the annual and 5-year technology strategy for assigned automotive coatings businesses, ensuring alignment with customer requirements, technology roadmaps, business plans, and regional growth objectives.
Identify current and future technology needs for the North American automotive coatings market and communicate those needs to global affiliates, internal leadership, customers, and suppliers as appropriate.
Direct technical resources supporting OEM and related automotive coatings programs, including pretreatment, electrocoat, primer, basecoat, clearcoat, plastic parts coatings, color development, testing, analytical support, and product/process improvement activities.
Protect and grow existing business by ensuring strong line support, timely issue resolution, effective root cause analysis, customer communication, and implementation of corrective and preventive actions.
Lead technical programs that support new customer approvals, product launches, technology transfers, localization initiatives, raw material changes, cost reduction, cycle time improvement, and performance improvement.
Partner with commercial, manufacturing, quality, field technical service, supply chain, and executive leadership to prioritize projects, resolve business-critical issues, support customer strategy, and align technical activities with company objectives.
Establish and maintain effective relationships with key OEM, tier customer, supplier, toll manufacturer, and global affiliate contacts to support technical collaboration, business development, and long-term customer satisfaction.
Oversee development, validation, specification, transfer, and commercialization of automotive coatings formulations and related manufacturing, storage, quality control, raw material, and work-off requirements.
Review customer operating conditions, line trial results, product performance data, and technical staff recommendations to determine appropriate actions for product optimization and customer support.
Provide technical consultation to customers, on-site service representatives, and internal teams, including travel to customer facilities, production sites, laboratories, and affiliate locations as business needs require.
Manage departmental operating and capital budgets, support future business planning, and ensure technical resources are deployed effectively against the highest business priorities.
Develop, implement, and maintain technical standards, SOPs, laboratory practices, quality system requirements, training programs, and customer-specific requirements, including support for internal, external, and compliance audits.
Lead talent development within the technical organization by setting expectations, coaching managers and employees, identifying training needs, supporting succession planning, and promoting a high-performance, inclusive, and accountable culture.
Ensure compliance with company policies, safety requirements, environmental expectations, customer standards, and prudent laboratory practices; lead or assign appropriate lead for corrective actions for safety concerns, near misses, and process gaps.
Facilitate regular technical reviews, project meetings, escalation discussions, and management updates to communicate priorities, trends, risks, action plans, and progress on key initiatives.
Provide departmental support for supplier qualification, raw material evaluation, analytical testing, toll manufacturing transfer, supplier quality audits, technical agreements, confidentiality agreements, and joint development activities as required.
Research new technologies, materials, processes, and industry trends to identify opportunities for innovation, localization, quality improvement, cost savings, sustainability, and competitive differentiation.
Serve as the technical representative for assigned sites, customers, audits, and strategic initiatives, and perform other duties or special projects as assigned by executive leadership.