Colour Technician in Stockport

40 hours per week – 7.30am – 4.30pm, Monday to Friday. 1 hour – Unpaid Lunch Break.

We are recruiting for a Colour Technician, to support our fast paced and innovative Laboratory department.

Main Purpose of the role

Supporting the control, approval, and correction of colour on textile substrates, acting as a practical link between the laboratory and production. The role is focused on the hands-on assessment of colour samples on fabrics, carrying out shade corrections where required, and making clear pass/fail decisions against approved standards and agreed tolerances. The Colour Technician is also responsible for communicating colour issues, failures, and corrective actions to the Laboratory Colourist, Laboratory Assistant Manager, and Laboratory Manager, while ensuring works orders and colour-related production requests are prepared accurately and on time.

Main Responsibilities

• Colour Assessment on Textiles: Assess coated and uncoated textile samples visually and instrumentally against approved standards, master swatches, and customer requirements.
• Pass/Fail Decision Making: Decide whether a colour sample is acceptable for production or requires correction, based on agreed tolerances and visual appearance.
• Shade Correction: Carry out colour corrections where a sample is outside tolerance or visually unacceptable and prepare adjusted formulations or recommendations for rework.
• Production and Laboratory Link: Act as the day-to-day connection between production and laboratory functions, ensuring colour requirements, test outcomes, and corrective actions are clearly understood and implemented.
• Failure Escalation and Reporting: Report colour failures, repeat issues, and unusual findings promptly to the Laboratory Colourist, Laboratory Assistant Manager, and Laboratory Manager, with clear notes on observations.
• Works Order Preparation: Prepare and check works orders and related documentation, including confirmation of quantities required for production and timely communication of any changes.
• Sample Preparation and Handling: Prepare, label, handle, and retain textile samples for approvals, comparisons, investigations, and production reference.
• Instrumental and Visual Evaluation: Use appropriate colour measurement equipment and light cabinets to assess shade accuracy, whilst also applying visual judgement on appearance, tone, and coverage of coating.
• Documentation and Record Keeping: Maintain accurate records of colour assessments, corrections, approvals, failures, and comments so that decisions are traceable and easy to review.
• Technical Support to Production: Support production teams with colour-related queries, trial evaluations, and practical feedback where shade, appearance, or application issues are identified.
• Raw Material Delivery & Pre-Delivery Checks: Carry out delivery and pre-delivery checks on raw materials, including textiles, chemicals, and pigments, to confirm compliance with required specifications before approval for laboratory or production use.
• Housekeeping and Stock Awareness: Maintain an organised work area and monitor the availability of swatches, standards, and essential consumables.
• Colour Knowledge: Good understanding of colour matching, shade assessment, and colour correction in a textile, coatings, paint, or similar manufacturing environment.
• Hands-on Testing Experience: Practical experience working directly with colour samples, textile substrates, and routine laboratory or production testing.
• Decision Making: Ability to make clear, consistent pass/fail decisions on colour samples and to recognise when escalation is required.
• Communication Skills: Able to communicate findings clearly and professionally to production staff and laboratory management, both verbally and in writing.
• Attention to Detail: High level of accuracy when assessing shades, preparing corrections, checking works orders, and recording results.
• Technical Awareness: Familiarity with visual and instrumental colour evaluation, including the use of spectrophotometers and light booths.
• Organisation: Able to manage multiple samples, priorities, and deadlines while maintaining traceability and good record keeping.
• IT Skills: Competent in Microsoft Excel and Word, with the ability to update spreadsheets, records, and basic technical reports.
• Teamwork: Comfortable working closely with laboratory, production, and technical colleagues while also taking ownership of day-to-day tasks.
• Compliance: Able to follow laboratory procedures, quality requirements, and safety standards consistently.
• Industry Background: Experience in textiles, coated fabrics, blinds, paints, coatings, or other colour-controlled manufacturing environments.
• Relevant Qualification: Qualification or training in textile technology, colour chemistry, laboratory science, or a related discipline.
• Systems Knowledge: Recognition of X-Rite spectrophotometer systems and familiarity with colour software such as Colour iControl or similar platforms.
• Process Understanding: Awareness of textile coating, pigment application, or related production processes.