Chief Chemist

Chief Chemist - Coatings - Essex with RELOCATION ASSISTANCE! -

• Up to £45,000 per annum
• Company pension scheme
• Funded further education and professional development - formal qualifications, OCCA programmes, specialist technical training

Our Client is an ambitious manufacturer and is striving to be the most innovative coatings company in the world, with a portfolio of decorative, industrial, marine, wood care, wax finishing and sports surfaces, and with a vision of exploring 2‑part system coatings as a future direction.

• Create and develop new formulations and private label clients, from initial concept through to production‑ready specification
• Manage and maintain the formulation library, ensuring all products are fully documented, version‑controlled and reproducible
• Lead R&D projects across decorative, industrial, wood care, marine, sports surface and wax coatings categories
• Explore the potential development of 2‑part system coatings as a future category
• Evaluate and select raw materials, including understanding preferred grades, specifications and viable substitutions
• Oversee standard testing of finished products and selected raw materials to ensure all formulations perform within prescribed tolerances
• Ensure all products comply with Trading Standards, Health and Safety and labelling regulations
• Maintain and update health and safety data sheets for all raw materials and manufactured products in line with current CLP regulations
• Liaise with regulatory bodies, Trading Standards, the HSE and environmental organisations to ensure legal and ethical compliance
• Work hands‑on in production when required, supporting the manufacturing team and ensuring formulations translate reliably into batch output
• Mentor and develop the paint makers – sharing technical knowledge, supporting problem‑solving on the floor and building capability across the team
• Control Bills of Materials and Works Orders, maintaining accuracy across formulation records
• Provide technical input on product costing to support sales and marketing decisions
• Support the purchasing team on raw material decisions – providing technical input on specifications, grades and supplier selection

• HNC in Paint Technology, Chemistry or a related discipline preferred
• Qualified By Experience candidates with a minimum of 8 years’ relevant formulation experience will be considered
• Demonstrable experience formulating water‑based and/or solvent‑based coating systems
• Strong grounding in polymer chemistry, rheology and raw material behaviour
• Working knowledge of CLP regulations, VOC compliance and safety data sheet requirements
• Hands‑on approach – comfortable working in a production environment as well as a lab setting
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills with a commercial awareness of how formulation decisions affect product performance and margin