R&D- Senior Chemist (Beverage Can Product Development)

Sherwin-Williams; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Sherwin-Williams is seeking a Senior Chemist, Beverage Inside Spray Development, to lead formulation, testing, scale‑up, and commercialization of interior spray coatings for beverage cans. The role requires advanced polymer chemistry, hands‑on coating formulation, and cross‑functional collaboration with global teams.

Responsibilities include developing robust coating solutions, communicating technical findings, and mentoring junior staff.

Qualifications

• Expertise in polymer chemistry and coatings development.
• Strong ability to design, test, and optimize beverage can interior coatings.
• Experience guiding projects from concept through commercialization.

Responsibilities

• Formulate, test, and optimize beverage can interior spray coatings to meet performance, regulatory, quality, cost, and manufacturing requirements.
• Apply polymer chemistry knowledge to solve coating-performance challenges.
• Lead projects from concept through scale‑up and support commercialization and transfer to manufacturing.
• Collaborate with Product Development, Analytical, Manufacturing, Quality, Regulatory, and Customer teams to meet objectives.
• Prepare technical reports, communicate results to stakeholders, and mentor chemists and technicians.

Skills

Polymer chemistry

Coating formulation

Laboratory testing

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

The Senior Chemist, Beverage Inside Spray Development, provides advanced technical expertise in the formulation, development, testing, scale‑up, commercialization, and ongoing support of interior spray coatings for beverage cans. This role combines a strong understanding of polymer chemistry with hands‑on coating formulation and application knowledge, creativity, and scientific curiosity to develop differentiated coating technologies and optimize coating systems that meet customer, manufacturing, and business requirements.

The Senior Chemist independently leads product‑development and commercialization projects of moderate to high complexity, coordinates cross‑functional and global stakeholders, and serves as a technical resource for spray‑coating formulation and application. The position translates customer and end‑use requirements into robust, commercially viable coating solutions and clearly communicates technical findings, risks, and recommendations to internal and external stakeholders.

Job duties include contact with other employees and access to confidential and proprietary information and/or other items of value, and such access may be supervised or unsupervised. The Company therefore has determined that a review of criminal history is necessary to protect the business and its operations and reputation and is necessary to protect the safety of the Company’s staff, employees, and business relationships.

10% Travel

• Formulate, develop, test, and optimize beverage can interior spray coatings to meet customer, performance, regulatory, quality, cost, sustainability, and manufacturing requirements.
• Apply advanced knowledge of polymer chemistry, resins, crosslinkers, additives, solvents, waterborne technologies, and structure-property relationships to solve complex formulation and coating‑performance challenges.
• Design and execute laboratory experiments; analyze and interpret technical data; document results; and recommend formulation, raw‑material, processing, or application changes.
• Partner with Polymer Development to evaluate and incorporate new or modified resin technologies, including participation in resin synthesis, resin‑cook, scale‑up, and related technical activities.
• Develop, improve, validate, and document fit‑for‑purpose laboratory and application test methods that reliably differentiate coating performance and correlate with manufacturing, customer‑line, pack, and end‑use conditions.
• Identify limitations or gaps in existing test methods and partner with other SW groups to establish improved approaches.
• Use emerging technologies, technical literature, competitive insights, and external collaboration to strengthen innovation and accelerate learning.
• Develop hands‑on expertise with beverage can inside‑spray equipment and application methods, including equipment setup, operation, cleaning, calibration, and maintenance.
• Evaluate and optimize the interaction among polymer design, coating formulation, solvent system, application (spray equipment settings and set‑up, film weight), can geometry, and end‑use performance.
• Diagnose whether application issues such as blistering, wetting, or coverage are driven by polymer design, formulation variables, equipment settings, or a combination of factors.
• Independently lead multiple technical projects from concept through formulation, testing, scale‑up, customer qualification, commercialization, and transfer to manufacturing.
• Balance technical performance, customer requirements, regulatory considerations, manufacturing capability, product cost, project risk, and speed to market when developing solutions and making recommendations.
• Serve as a technical interface for strategic customers and external partners; support visits, trials, qualification activities, commercialization, and technical issue resolution.
• Collaborate closely with Product Development, Polymer Development, Analytical, Manufacturing, Quality, Regulatory, Customer Technical Service, Marketing, and other partners to achieve project objectives.
• Coordinate clear, timely communication among stakeholders located in different functions, organizations, geographies, and time zones.
• Prepare and communicate clear technical reports, project updates, presentations, conclusions, and recommendations to technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Provide technical guidance and mentoring to chemists, technicians, and other laboratory personnel; coordinate project activities and share formulation, application, and problem‑solving knowledge across the team.
• Perform all work in accordance with established safety, environmental, quality, housekeeping, product‑development, change‑management, and documentation requirements.
• Apply creativity, scientific judgement, and independent problem‑solving to advance technical solutions in areas where established paths may not exist

Minimum Requirements

• - Must be legally authorized to work in the country for which you are applying for employment (without now or in the future needing spo