Entry-Level Chemist, Industrial Coatings R&D; STEM Background

Pave Talent is hiring on behalf of Sheboygan Paint Company, a family‑owned industrial coatings manufacturer that has been in business for over 100 years. With roughly 115 employees across labs in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and Cedartown, Georgia, the company ranks among the top 25 US paint companies by size, yet the culture still feels like a family business. There's a record player in the lab, group bowling nights, and leadership (including the CEO) that walks the halls and is genuinely accessible.

• Curious self‑starters who ask questions and want to understand why something works, not just follow steps
• Comfortable working hands‑on in an industrial laboratory, including standard safety procedures and personal protective equipment
• People who want breadth early on: testing, formulation modification, and eventually customer and cross‑functional exposure
• Motivated to learn new chemistries and instrumentation without needing much hand‑holding

If you want a role where every task is handed to you and mapped out in advance, or you'd rather specialize narrowly on day one, this probably isn't your fit.

You'll join a nine‑person research and development lab in Sheboygan, reporting to senior chemists and the VP of Technology and Research Operations, a 25‑year coatings veteran who came up through Dow Chemical, Valspar, and Sherwin‑Williams. Sheboygan is being built into the company's center of excellence for all R&D, and this lab covers a wide range of chemistries: epoxies, solvent‑based and water‑based polyurethanes, water‑reducible and traditional alkyds, acrylics, and UV and electron beam systems.

They even manufacture their own catalysts in‑house.

There are no QA responsibilities in this role. You'll be mentored on real formulation and testing projects starting in your first weeks, not sidelined into pure quality control.

• Conduct performance and property testing on paint formulations (viscosity, gloss, cure, adhesion, weathering)
• Modify existing formulations under senior chemist direction: raw material substitutions, gloss adjustments, viscosity reductions
• Build and test paint batches across epoxy, polyurethane, alkyd, acrylic, and UV/electron beam chemistries
• Learn to operate and interpret results from lab instruments such as Fourier‑transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), a rheometer, tensiometer, goniometer, weatherometer, and color spectrophotometer
• Document experiments clearly and write up organized results
• Take part in customer calls, plant visits, and cross‑functional meetings as you grow into the role

• Bachelor's degree in a STEM field (chemistry, chemical engineering, biology, geology, materials science, or related)
• Self‑motivated, you don't wait to be told what to do next
• Strong written and verbal communication
• Comfortable working in an industrial laboratory environment, including standard safety procedures
• Coursework or internship experience in coatings, polymers, or formulation chemistry
• Hands‑on exposure to FTIR, a rheometer, or a color spectrophotometer
• Interest in color science or color theory
• Experience with statistical software (JMP, Minitab, or MATLAB)

Interested? Apply via Linked In and we'll be in touch.