Paint Process Engineer

Position Summary

The Paint Process Engineer is responsible for developing, maintaining, and improving paint processes to ensure consistent product quality, production efficiency, and compliance with automotive customer requirements. This role supports daily production, process optimization, new product launches, and continuous improvement initiatives while reducing scrap, rework, and operating costs.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop, optimize, and maintain paint processes to meet customer specifications, quality standards, and production requirements.
• Troubleshoot paint defects, process variations, and equipment issues; lead root cause analysis and corrective actions.
• Establish and monitor process parameters, including paint viscosity, film thickness, application settings, flash times, and cure temperatures.
• Support daily production operations to improve throughput, first-pass yield, equipment uptime, and overall process performance.
• Collaborate with Quality, Production, Maintenance, and paint suppliers to resolve issues and implement process improvements.
• Support new product launches, paint trials, process validations, APQP, PFMEA, control plans, and PPAP activities.
• Develop and maintain process documentation, work instructions, and standard operating procedures.
• Identify opportunities to reduce paint consumption, scrap, rework, cycle time, and manufacturing costs.
• Ensure paint processes meet applicable safety, environmental, and regulatory requirements.
• Provide technical guidance and training to production personnel on paint processes and troubleshooting.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or a related technical field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Experience in manufacturing, paint application, coatings, or automotive process engineering preferred.
• Knowledge of industrial paint processes, coating defects, surface preparation, and curing methods.
• Experience with root cause analysis, corrective action, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Familiarity with automotive quality systems, including IATF 16949, APQP, PPAP, and PFMEA, preferred.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, communication, and project management skills.

Key Performance Expectations

• Reduce paint-related scrap, rework, and customer complaints.
• Improve process stability, product quality, and first-pass yield.
• Increase production efficiency and equipment uptime.
• Reduce paint material consumption and operating costs.
• Maintain compliance with customer specifications and manufacturing standards.

Overall Objective

Ensure paint operations are safe, efficient, consistent, and capable of meeting automotive customer requirements while driving continuous improvement in quality, productivity, and cost.