R&D Manager - Auto Refinish & Industrial Coating

We are seeking an experienced Senior Manager - R&D with strong technical expertise in automotive refinish coatings, industrial coatings, or resin chemistry. The role requires deep formulation knowledge, hands-on lab experience, and the ability to lead new product development (NPD) initiatives while improving existing product lines.

Key Responsibilities

- Lead R&D projects for automotive refinish, industrial coatings, and resin-based products.

- Drive formulation development, testing, and optimization to meet performance, cost, and regulatory standards.

- Oversee end-to-end New Product Development (NPD)-from concept, trials, validation, to commercialization.

- Collaborate with production, QC, procurement, and marketing teams for successful product scale-up.

- Evaluate and qualify raw materials, resin systems, pigments, additives, etc.

- Strengthen product durability, curing time, gloss, adhesion, hardness, chemical resistance, and overall performance.

- Create technical documentation: TDS, MSDS, SOPs, and formulation records.

- Lead a small team of chemists/technologists; provide guidance, training, and performance oversight.

- Ensure compliance with industry standards, environmental norms, and safety protocols.

- Support customer trials, technical troubleshooting, and application testing when required.