R&D- Sr. Scientist

About the role

The Senior Scientist serves as a recognized scientific leader and subject matter expert within Industrial Wood, supporting the New Product Development team. Reporting to the Technical Manager, this role translates customer, market, and business needs into differentiated coating technologies and commercially successful new products. The Senior Scientist develops technology strategies, leads highly complex development programs from concept through commercialization, and advances innovation platforms that support profitable growth within Industrial Wood. The role leverages deep technical expertise to identify emerging technologies, solve complex formulation and application challenges, establish product design requirements, and influence portfolio and technology‑roadmap decisions. It provides scientific leadership across functions and builds organizational capability through mentoring, coaching, and technical thought leadership. The position is located at the Sherwin‑Williams Morikis Global Technology Center, 6745 Miller Road, Brecksville, OH 44141 and is not hybrid. Access to confidential and proprietary information may be supervised or unsupervised, necessitating a criminal‑history review to protect the business, its operations, reputation, and staff safety.

Responsibilities

• Lead highly complex new product development and platform‑technology programs aligned with customer needs, market opportunities, portfolio strategy, and long‑term growth objectives.
• Serve as a recognized subject matter expert in coating chemistry, formulation science, application technology, and performance evaluation.
• Translate voice‑of‑customer, market, regulatory, sustainability, cost, and manufacturing requirements into clear technical strategies, product design criteria, and development plans.
• Develop and execute scientific strategies that create differentiated products, strengthen the innovation pipeline, and position the organization for future growth opportunities.
• Identify and evaluate emerging technologies, industry trends, raw material innovations, competitive developments, and external partnerships that may enable new products or accelerate development.
• Lead cross‑functional project teams through concept development, feasibility, formulation optimization, validation, scale‑up, customer qualification, and commercialization.
• Design and direct complex experiments using scientific methodology, statistical analysis, design of experiments, and structured problem‑solving tools to optimize performance and reduce technical risk.
• Define technical milestones, identify project risks, recommend mitigation plans, and communicate progress and decisions to business and technical stakeholders.
• Influence product and technology roadmaps through technical assessments, opportunity evaluation, and strategic recommendations.
• Develop new coatings and coating systems that meet customer performance, application, manufacturing, sustainability, and commercial requirements.
• Partner with Manufacturing, Quality, Procurement, Regulatory, Marketing, Sales, and Technical Service to ensure products are robust, scalable, manufacturable, and ready for successful launch.
• Establish technical standards, best practices, and knowledge‑transfer plans that support repeatable development, scale‑up, commercialization, and post‑launch learning.
• Collaborate with customers, suppliers, academic institutions, and industry organizations to expand technical capabilities and accelerate innovation.
• Present technical findings, project recommendations, development risks, and commercialization readiness to leadership, customers, and cross‑functional stakeholders.
• Mentor chemists,