Role purpose:
The Paint and powder coating engineer / coordinator is responsible for planning, controlling, testing, and improving powder coating and liquid painting operations to ensure consistent quality, optimal productivity, cost efficiency and compliance with customer and regulatory requirements. The role includes responsibility for coating process validation, testing equipment handling customer coordination for audits and technical discussions, and close interaction with production, quality and maintenance teams.
Key responsibilities
1. Process planning and control
- Develop, standardize and maintain powder coating and liquid painting process parameters, including pre-treatment, application, curing and drying.
- Define SOPs, control plans and work instructions for coating and painting operations.
- Monitor and control coating parameters such as film thickness, adhesion, surface appearance, gloss, colour consistency and curing performance etc.
- Ensure correct selection, handling, storage and usage of powders, paints, chemicals and consumables.
- Optimize line speed, oven temperature profiles and material flow for consistent coating quality.
2. Quality assurance, testing and validation
- Perform and oversee coating quality tests including dry film thickness, adhesion testing, cure verification, gloss measurement, visual inspection and corrosion resistance testing.
- Handle and maintain coating testing and measurement equipment such as coating thickness gauges, adhesion testers, gloss meter and colour spectrometer.
- Ensure calibration, handling, and storage of testing instruments.
- Conduct root cause analysis for coating defects including poor adhesion, orange peel, blistering, pinholes, colour variation and surface preparation and pre-treatment failures.
- Implement corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) based on test results and process data.
- Ensure compliance with customer specifications, drawings and quality standards.
- Support internal audits, external audits and customer audits related to coating and painting processes.
3. Customer coordination and technical interface
- Responsible as the primary technical point of contact for customers on coating and painting-related topics.
- Coordinate and participate in customer audits, process reviews and technical assessments.
- Present coating processes, control plans, testing methods and validation data during customer visits.
- Support customer technical discussions related to coating specifications, defect resolution, and process capability.
- Coordinate customer trials, approvals and implementation of specification changes if any.
4. Equipment - maintenance and preventive maintenance.
Coordinate maintenance and troubleshooting of pre-treatment lines, paint and powder coating booths, curing and drying ovens, spray equipment, recovery systems and conveyors.
- Optimize oven temperature profiles using thermal profiling tools such as Datapaq.
- Support installation, commissioning and validation of new coating and testing equipment if required.
- Ensure preventive maintenance and calibration schedules are followed and documented.
5. Cost, productivity and continuous improvement
- Reduce powder and paint consumption and rework through process optimization.
- Improve first-pass yield, throughput and overall line efficiency.
- Monitor coating process costs and material utilization.
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives using Kaizen or any other tools.
- Use testing and process data to support improvement actions.
6. Environment, health and safety (EHS)
- Ensure compliance with EHS norms related to chemical handling waste disposal, emissions, fire safety and workplace safety.
- Ensure MSDS availability and compliance for all coating materials and chemicals.
- Train operators on safe work practices, PPE usage and safe handling of chemicals and testing equipment.
- Support environmental compliance and sustainability initiatives.
7. Material and supplier coordination
- Coordinate with powder, paint and chemical suppliers for trials, evaluations and technical support.
- Conduct and document material validation trials using defined testing protocols.
- Approve new materials based on performance, test results, customer requirements and cost considerations.
- Provide technical input to procurement for material selection and sourcing decisions.
8. Team Support and training
- Train operators and supervisors on coating processes, testing methods, quality requirements and defect prevention.
- Provide technical guidance during production issues and quality concerns.
- Support cross-functional teams including production, quality, maintenance, planning teams.
- Participate in daily production review meetings and continuous improvement programmes.
Key Skills and competencies
- Strong knowledge of powder coating and liquid paint processes.
- Hands-on experience with coating testing and measurement equipment.
- Understanding of pre-treatment chemistry (seven tank process-phosphate, zirconium, etc.).
- Knowledge of coating defects, testing methods and troubleshooting.
- Ability to communicate technical information clearly to customers and internal teams.
- Familiarity with ISO 9001 and EHS standards.
- Strong analytical, documentation and coordination skills.
Educational qualification and experience.
B.E / BTech / Chemical engineering, or surface /coating engineering. 5 years plus experience in paint shop and powder coating operations, including testing, validation and customer interaction, within a sheet metal or automotive manufacturing environment.
Pay: ₹15,244.79 - ₹42,470.95 per month
Benefits:
- Food provided
- Paid time off
- Provident Fund
Work Location: In person
