Technical Director - Coatings/Paint/Ink
Surrey NanoSystems
Company Overview
Surrey Nanosystems is a company at the forefront of light suppression technology, specialising in the development and commercialisation of Vantablack™ coatings. This ultrablack coating enhances performance, efficiency and functionality across various sectors such as aerospace, defence, automotive and art.
Main purpose of the role:
To lead a team of Research and Development Chemists in the formulation of functional coatings and to provide the associated technical support to manufacturing and sales teams.
Responsibilities and Duties:
- Lead technical team in the development of wet coatings for stray light suppression in aerospace, automotive and other demanding application segments
- Develop and maintain IP related to stray-light suppression coatings, together with the product development roadmap
- Generate technical and support documentation for Products, ensuring they contain necessary technical, usage and application specifications
- Build a high-performing technical team, that is driven by the Company strategy.
- Aid in the product refinement process of existing products and formulations
- Provide functional leadership for new product introduction
- To document and protect the key aspects of the Intellectual Property retained by SNS.
- To develop and enhance the skills of the technical team and to become a member of the core management team.
- Management of formulation and synthesis of wet paints for use in target applications
- Management of budgets and timescales for delivery of new products
- Development and implementation of test programs for product use validation.
- Partake in customer interaction through specification development and application support phase.
Key Skills, Knowledge and Experience
Essential for the Role
Key Skills and Ability
- Management of formulation and synthesis of wet paints
- Management of timescales for delivery of new products
- Ability to design and implement test programs for products used in specific markets.
- Ability to effectively interact with customers through specification, development, and execution
- Strong leadership skills
- Ability to enhance and develop the skills of the technical team
- Ability to manage budgets
- Produce reports and presentations
Essential
Education and Qualification
- Degree qualified in Materials Science/Chemistry
Knowledge
- Clear knowledge of the product development process and the ability to implement a structured approach
- Good understanding of process control techniques
- Strong knowledge in regulatory requirements, ideally from a global perspective.
Desirable
- Good understanding of multi-component systems and automated application technologies
- Broad exposure to, and understanding of application-specific requirements for aerospace and automotive coatings, including chemical resistance (e.g. atox,vUV), radiation hardness and environmental/mechanical resilience (adhesion, cohesion, shock and vibrations, thermal/humidity cycling)
Experience
Essential
- 10+ years coatings industry experience, with a minimum of 5 years product development team leadership
- Experience with manufacturing teams and the scale-up process, from the lab to the factory.
Desirable
- Experience with Silicone Resins would be a particular advantage
Personal Attributes
- Hands-on practical approach
- Positive and pro-active.
- Logical and structured thinker
- Be comfortable with dealing with complex multi-dimensional problems
- Strong leader who can influence change where necessary
- Self-starter and results focused.
- Solution not problem focused.
- Excellent communicator