Senior Coatings R&D Scientist - Scale-Up & Innovation

NIC Industries, Inc.; White City (OR); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Excellent compensation

Rogue Valley location

Fast-paced 0-to-1 development

Evidence-driven culture

Job summary

NIC Industries, Inc. is seeking an experienced Sr. R&D Scientist to lead high-performance coatings and advanced materials development from concept to commercialization.

The role balances hands-on lab work with program leadership, coordinating cross-functional partners across manufacturing, quality, EH&S, supply chain, and sales to meet performance, cost, and timeline goals. You will design experiments, guide technicians, and build a robust body of evidence to progress projects through phase

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Physics, Materials Science, Polymer Science, or related field.
• 5+ years of relevant industry experience in coatings formulation, coatings development, materials development, process development, or related chemical product development.
• Experience leading technical development in an industrial R&D environment.
• Strong knowledge of coating chemistry, formulation design, cure mechanisms, pigment and filler interactions, and performance-property relationships.
• Experience scaling products from lab to manufacturing and coordinating phase-gate or stage-gate processes.
• Ability to design experiments, interpret data, and solve technical problems with limited oversight.

Responsibilities

• Lead execution of coating formulation and materials development programs from concept to scale-up and commercialization support.
• Drive projects through concept, lab validation, phase-gate review, qualification, and manufacturing implementation.
• Design experimental plans to solve formulation and process challenges.
• Perform hands-on lab work including formulation, testing, and data interpretation.
• Direct technician support for sample prep, testing, and data collection.
• Prepare technical updates and gate-review materials for development decisions.
• Partner with manufacturing and process engineering to ensure scalable, repeatable products.
• Identify risks and drive mitigation plans early in development.

Skills

Coatings formulation

Materials development

Experiment design

Data interpretation

Lab supervision

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Advanced degree in Chemistry/Engineering/Materials

Tools

FTIR

DSC

TGA

GPC/SEC

HPLC

Microscopy

Job description

NIC Industries, Inc. is seeking an experienced Sr. R&D Scientist to lead high-performance coatings and advanced materials development from concept to commercialization.

The role balances hands-on lab work with program leadership, coordinating cross-functional partners across manufacturing, quality, EH&S, supply chain, and sales to meet performance, cost, and timeline goals. You will design experiments, guide technicians, and build a robust body of evidence to progress projects through phase