Aerospace and Defense, Auditing, Business Development, Chemistry, Corrective Action, Cross-Functional, Customer Relations, Customer Support/Service, Data Collection, Establish Priorities, Feasibility Analysis, Fortune 500 Customers, Graphics Software, Laboratory, Laboratory Testing, Leadership, Maintain Compliance, Manufacturing Requirements, Onboarding, Polymers, Problem Solving Skills, Process Improvement, Product Development, Product Documentation, Product Support, Product Testing, Quality Assurance, Quality Assurance Methodology, Risk, Technical Analysis, Technical Leadership, Technical Strategy, Test Data, Testing, User Documentation, User Interface/Experience (UI/UX)
About Dunmore International Corp
Acquired by Steel Partners in February 2018 as part of the Diversified Industrial Segment, Dunmore manufactures innovative technical films for Aerospace, Automotive, Commercial, Graphics, Packaging applications. Dunmore has deep expertise in novel coatings, films, and multi-layer laminates based on 14,000 unique chemistries and constructions, and significant experience in handling foils, plastics, and fabrics. As a trusted Industry partner for over 50 years, Dunmore collaborates with customers in high-growth markets to design, develop, and manufacture a range of highly engineered, value-added product solutions. Dunmore clients include several Fortune 500 companies across 25 countries and is a Gold Level Supplier to one of the worlds largest aircraft manufacturers. Dunmores mission is to delight its customers through technical innovation, high levels of service, and open collaboration to solve difficult application problems.
Summary
The Product Development Chemist- Commercial Accounts is a hands-on materials and formulation leader responsible for guiding commercial product development, technical problem-solving, and process optimization activities. This role combines advanced polymer and coatings formulation expertise with structured technical governance. The Commercial Technical Lead drives early-stage product development and formulation direction for complex commercial opportunities, establishes technical intent and success criteria, and then transitions structured execution and scale-up activities to downstream team members.
This position serves as the technical authority for commercial work intake and prioritization while maintaining meaningful laboratory engagement and development ownership. The Product Development Chemist- Commercial Accounts operates with high autonomy and serves as the primary technical front door for commercial work, ensuring that customer support, product development, and process optimization efforts are intentional, disciplined, and aligned with business priorities.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Commercial Development Leadership
- Lead onboarding and early technical direction of commercial Development Requests (DRs)
- Evaluate technical feasibility, risk, effort, and manufacturability
- Answer the critical business question, "What would it take"
- Lead front-end formulation and early-stage product development for complex commercial opportunities
Laboratory Work
- Perform and guide initial laboratory work to establish technical direction before delegating structured execution to downstream team members
- Develop and refine formulations, constructions, and material solutions to meet customer performance and manufacturing requirements
- Transition structured execution and scale-up activities to the Customer Solutions Chemist once technical direction and success criteria are defined
Technical Services Governance
- Determine whether work should proceed as structured product development, laboratory testing, process trial, or corrective action activity within the companys formal workflow system
- Authorize filter and frame Commercial Technical Services Requests (TSRs)
- Serve as the escalation point for complex commercial technical issues
Standardized Product & Process Optimization
- Identify and prioritize optimization opportunities based on:
- Engineering needs
- Ops and QA feedback
- Business impact
- Determine and direct the appropriate workflow
- Product testing and data collection
- Internal production trials
- Corrective Actions and RCCMs
Partnering with Engineering
- Partner with Engineering on trial design and interpretation
- Confirm readiness for handoff to Operations and Quality
5S & Lab Execution Discipline
- Commercial Tech Services responsibility is focused on execution excellence, not facilities or equipment ownership
- Establish and drive 5S standards for wet and dry lab spaces used by the Dunmore team
- Drive adherence to organization cleanliness, labeling, and standard work expectations
- Conduct periodic audits and corrective actions to maintain lab readiness
- Reinforce execution discipline across all users of Tech Services lab spaces
Cross-Functional & Customer Interface
- Partner with Business Development on customer-facing technical discussions
- Provide technical input to guide commercial product focus and prioritization
- Collaborate closely with Operations, Engineering, and Quality
Organizational Protection
- Prevent commercial work from encroaching on Aerospace development
- Resolve most commercial technical decisions independently
- Escalate only issues involving:
- Material revenue or margin risk
- Strategic conflict
- Capacity-breaking commitments