Polymer Jobs in Decatur, GA (NOW HIRING)

Job Title: R&D Laboratory Manager
Department: Gravure Inks Division Pay
Type: Salary (Overtime Exempt)
Reports to:Technical Manager
Job Summary: The R&D Laboratory Manager is the senior technical leader responsible for formulation excellence, customer confidence, and commercial success within the Gravure Inks Division. This role serves as the primary technical interface with customers while providing strategic leadership and oversight of laboratory personnel supporting customer, trials, product development, and manufacturing support. This position maintains full accountability for technical quality, customer satisfaction, and long-term partnership growth by translating customer requirements into reliable, manufacturable, and commercially viable ink and coating solutions while
developing laboratory staff to execute trials and technical work at a consistently high professional standard.
Duties/Responsibilities:
• Serve as the primary technical representative for LioChem, owning customer relationships through direct engagement with existing and
prospective customers and acting as a trusted technical advisor and escalation point.
• Support sales and business development initiatives by aligning technical solutions with customer needs, promoting LioChem’s technical
capabilities, and driving product adoption, retention, and commercial growth.
• Own and direct customer trial strategy with full accountability for technical execution, customer satisfaction, and commercialization
outcomes, while developing, guiding, and overseeing laboratory personnel responsible for trial execution.
• Direct formulation, testing, optimization, and validation of gravure and/or flexographic ink systems across solvent-based, water-based,
UV/EB, digital, and related technologies.
• Establish and manage priorities across customer requests, R&D initiatives, and internal technical support activities to ensure timely, highimpact
execution.
• Lead laboratory-to-production scale-up activities and resolve complex formulation, processing, and manufacturing challenges in partnership
with Operations and Production.
• Evaluate, qualify, and approve raw materials while maintaining strong supplier relationships to support performance, cost opt imization, and
supply continuity.
• Develop, implement, and enforce laboratory safety practices, regulatory compliance standards, and robust documentation system s,
including TDS, SDS reviews, test records, and change control.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives focused on efficiency, cost reduction, waste minimization, and product and process reliability.
• Contribute to R&D strategy, budgeting, and long-term product and technology roadmaps by providing technical insight into market trends,
competitive positioning, and emerging technologies.
Required Skills/Abilities
• Demonstrated ability to formulate inks and topcoats utilizing UV/EB, solvent, and water-based technologies for decorative applications.
• Demonstrated ability to understand printing technology.
• Demonstrated ability to understand pigments, additives and resin chemistries.
• Demonstrated ability to translate customer requirements into successful commercial products.
• Demonstrated analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making capability in customer and manufacturing environments.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with customers, sales teams, and internal stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple high-priority initiatives with shifting business demands.
• Demonstrated discipline in documentation, organization, and recordkeeping.
Education and Experience:
• Bachelor’s degree in chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Polymer Science, Materials Science/Engineering, or a related laboratory science field.
• Ten (10) or more years of progressive experience in ink formulation, coatings, or a related chemical manufacturing industry.
• Proven leadership of chemists and technical staff in a laboratory or R&D environment.
• Proven deep technical expertise in Gravure inks or other industrial printing technologies.
• Proven success leading laboratory-to-production scale-up and resolving complex formulation and manufacturing challenges.
• Proven success directing customer trials, resolving field issues, and enabling successful commercialization of products.