Technical specialist Jobs in Columbus, OH

Technical Director

Capital Resin Corporation (CRC) is passionate about innovation and pushing the boundaries of customer service. Our focus is helping companies create new and innovative organic chemistries, or improving upon current chemistries, to deliver greater consistency and process stability.

We manufacture and sell engineered chemistries as well as design and build chemical processes for a variety of Fortune 500 companies. We deliver transformational results.

Capital Resin Corporation is a 24/7 production environment dedicated to quality and customer responsiveness. We've had significant growth in the past few years and are continuing to build upon that growth. As such, we are always interested in communicating with those individuals who are adaptive, creative, responsive, logical, able to make quick decisions and the best at being a team player. Positions that we seek may include chemical operators, supervisors, chemists, engineers, and salespersons.

The Technical Director leads CRC's chemistry R&D and QC/QA teams and serves as the company's subject-matter expert on all chemistry, formulation, and manufacturing-process questions. Beyond the lab, this person is expected to operate as a business partner: supporting the sales process with customers, partnering with manufacturing to keep production efficient and repeatable, and contributing to strategic decisions that grow the company new products, new markets, and stronger margins.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role, not a purely administrative one. The right candidate is a strong chemist and leader first, communicator, and business thinker second CRC needs all in the same person.

Responsibilities:

• Serve as the subject-matter expert for all chemistry-related work, guiding R&D efforts on new products and processes and enhancing existing formulations for quality, safety, efficiency, and performance.
• Direct R&D programs to meet organizational needs and capitalize on new product and customer opportunities.
• Develop and monitor R&D plans, ensuring projects are completed on time and within budget.
• Explore new scientific technologies and approaches; keep abreast of competitive products and technology advances.
• Oversee raw material, in-process, and final product testing, ensuring best practices in material testing and QC.
• Ensure compliance with ISO and EH&S requirements and stay current on evolving regulatory and sustainability requirements (e.g., REACH, TSCA, VOC standards) that affect formulations and customers.
• Support Manufacturing to ensure high product quality, repeatability, and customer satisfaction.
• Own technology transfers from lab to plant translating lab-scale formulations into processes that are practical, repeatable, and tolerant of real plant conditions and equipment.
• Work with Manufacturing to improve efficiency, yield, and consistency of existing product lines, and to troubleshoot process or quality issues as they arise.
• Provide the sales team with technical advice and support throughout the sales process.
• Meet directly with customers and prospects to understand and refine specification and performance needs.
• Develop and revise project scope for customer opportunities, including realistic time and cost estimates.
• Represent the company at conferences and customer visits, building CRC's credibility in the market.
• Hire, train, manage, and evaluate R&D chemists and the QC/QA Manager; set clear goals and hold the team accountable.
• Build and sustain a productive, customer-focused R&D culture centered on ownership, initiative, and continuous improvement.
• Develop talent within the organization and make recommendations for promotions and growth.
• Make personnel changes when needed to maintain team performance.
• Participate as a member of the leadership team, contributing to business decisions beyond the lab.
• Help identify new markets and product opportunities where CRC can develop, manufacture, and compete.
• Manage the innovation portfolio and IP lifecycle, collaborating with Legal on intellectual property matters.
• Align R&D roadmaps and budgets with corporate strategic plans; identify gaps and prepare plans to address them.
• Maintain department budgets and metrics.

Qualifications / Requirements / Experience:

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Polymer Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or related field; Master's preferred, PhD preferred over Master's.
• 10+ years of experience in the chemical industry, with substantial hands-on formulation/polymer chemistry work not solely analytical or QC experience.
• 5+ years in a managerial capacity, or a clear history of increasing responsibility demonstrating the ability to lead.
• Direct experience partnering with or supporting a sales function comfortable in front of customers and translating technical detail into business value.
• Working knowledge of manufacturing/processing equipment and scale-up from lab to plant production.
• Strong leadership, communication, and organizational skills, with a proven record of managing teams and resources.

Preferred / Differentiating Qualifications:

• Background specifically in polymer or resin chemistry.
• Experience with product line simplification or ruggedization for manufacturing reliability.
• Familiarity with regulatory/sustainability requirements affecting specialty chemical products.
• Comfort with lab and process data tools (LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System), statistical process control, design of experiments).
• Experience with patents, freedom-to-operate analysis, or IP strategy.
• A track record of staying with employers long-term and growing into broader responsibility.

What Success Looks Like in Year One:

• R&D and QC teams are meeting budget and quality objectives with clear accountability.
• Sales reports the technical director as a responsive, credible partner in customer conversations.
• Manufacturing sees measurable improvement in efficiency, repeatability, or yield on at least one product line.
• At least one new product or market opportunity has been identified and scoped.

If you are a motivated individual with a strong attention to detail, we encourage you to apply for this position. We offer competitive pay, benefits, and opportunities for career growth within our organization.

EOE M/F/D/V