Senior Coatings & Materials Development Chemist

Index Recruitment; Waitakere Ranges; On-site; NZD 100,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Index Recruitment is supporting a globally recognised New Zealand coatings company in Auckland in recruiting a Senior Development Chemist. This permanent, full-time role reports to the Product Development Manager and focuses on formulation, testing, troubleshooting and product development across high‑performance coating systems.

You will lead lab experiments, carry out material evaluations, prepare coatings on substrates for lab and field testing, and work with cross‑functional teams to move

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Chemistry or related field.
• Minimum 5 years in coatings R&D, formulation, testing or product development.
• Hands-on formulation experience with coating systems (marine, epoxy, silicone, etc.).

Responsibilities

• Lead development, optimisation and testing of high-performance coating systems.
• Carry out lab experiments, material evaluations and formulation trials.
• Prepare and evaluate coatings on substrates for lab and field testing.
• Troubleshoot formulation, application, cure, adhesion or stability issues.
• Analyse results and recommend next steps; maintain records.
• Support scale-up, pilot batches and production trials.

Skills

Coatings formulation

R&D experimentation

Laboratory testing

Data interpretation

Documentation

Independent worker

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry

Job description

Index Recruitment is supporting a globally recognised New Zealand coatings company in Auckland in recruiting a Senior Development Chemist. This permanent, full-time role reports to the Product Development Manager and focuses on formulation, testing, troubleshooting and product development across high‑performance coating systems.

You will lead lab experiments, carry out material evaluations, prepare coatings on substrates for lab and field testing, and work with cross‑functional teams to move