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Meet Kira

Vehicle Paint Technician

Kira is a Senior Paint Technician at McLaren Automotive.

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What I do

I work as a Senior Paint Technician in McLaren’s Ultimate Series paint team, helping to paint parts for some of McLaren’s most special high-performance cars.

A lot of the parts I work on are made from carbon fibre, which is a very strong but lightweight material used in supercars and hypercars. These can include parts such as quarter panels, bonnets, wing mirrors and more.

My job is to make sure each part has the perfect finish before it is fitted to the car. This means carefully preparing, painting and lacquering the surface so it looks smooth, clean and flawless.

Even a small mark, paint defect or speck of dust can be a problem. I also add extra bespoke details such as pinstripes, fades, metal inset badges and decals – all customised to each customer’s liking.

I like that my job combines creativity with precision – it is not just about adding colour, it is about making every part top quality and look worthy of a McLaren

How I became a technician

I didn't follow a typical, straight career path into this job. I've always been creative and practical and I preferred hands-on tasks.

My interests were art, colour and cars, but for a while I didn't know exactly where this could take me.

After A-levels I knew university was not the right route for me, so I took a gap year.

How I became a technician

I worked at McDonalds and saved up to go travelling around Southeast Asia with my best friend – this was hands down the best time of my life.

When I got back, I went on a two-week custom and conventional paint course, where I learnt about the basics of painting cars – panel preparation, painting and custom airbrushing. By the end of the course, we had painted a full car and completed custom panels.

How I became a technician

This is where I realised automotive paint brought together lots of things I loved – creativity, detail, problem-solving and cars.

After that, I formed my own small car painting business. I started in my parents’ garage, then later moved into a small, rented unit.

How I became a technician

I worked on repairs, resprays and custom paint projects, and I learnt a huge amount by doing things myself.

It wasn't always easy. I made many mistakes, had paint defects to fix, and had to research what had gone wrong so I could improve.

This taught me resilience, patience and how important it is to understand and appreciate the process, not just the final result.

How I became a technician

When my business came to an end, I started looking for full-time paint roles and saw a Paint Technician job at McLaren. I applied, went through the interview process, and got the job.

Getting that call was a massive moment for me. It showed me that even if your route is not traditional, the skills you pick up along the way can still lead somewhere really exciting.

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A typical day in my working life

I work shifts, either early or late, so my working day can start at 6am some weeks and finish at 10pm others.

When I get to work, I usually start by having a small catch up with colleagues, looking at what needs to be done for the day, then I locate my panels, a paint booth, and chuck on a pair of overalls and gloves.

A typical day in my working life

Before I actually paint anything, preparation is super important. I carefully degrease, tack and blow the panel so there is no dust, grease or contamination on the surface.

We also use a tool called an anti-static gun – this blows a stream of ionized (electrically charged) air onto the panel and removes any static charge. This massively helps in reducing the amount of dust, fibres or hair that get stuck in our paint jobs!

A typical day in my working life

Once the panel is ready, I mix the paint to the correct specification and apply it by hand using a gravity-fed air spray gun.

Some panels are fully one colour, while others need more detailed work such as small fades, fine lines, custom decals or carefully blended areas. This is where patience and precision really matter.

A typical day in my working life

Not every day is the same, some days I may be painting brand new panels and other days I may be reworking a panel which has a paint defect.

Rework means correcting something which hasn't come out perfectly, then building the finish back up until it meets the right standard.

A typical day in my working life

One of the things I like most about this job is that it's not repetitive.

Every part needs focus, care and attention, and there is always something to learn, improve or solve.

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What I love about my job

One of the things I love most about my job is working as part of a team. When I ran my own business, I had to do everything on my own – prepping, painting, lacquering, polishing, speaking to customers and solving problems. It taught me a lot, but it could also feel like a lot of pressure and I would sometimes feel quite isolated and alone with all these problems.

At McLaren, every panel goes through different skilled people and quality checks. Everyone has their own role, but we are all working towards the same goal – making the finished car look as perfect as possible.

I also love that I am constantly learning. There are so many variables within painting, temperature, humidity, materials and technique. So, there is always something new to understand and usually ways to improve and learn from mistakes.

There is also the mindset where “everything is fixable”. When something goes wrong you take a step back, figure out the root cause, ask for opinions and advice then find the best solution. I like this mindset because it makes problems feel like a puzzle to solve, rather than something to panic about.

The skills I use most

A big part of my job is having a good eye for detail. I need to notice small marks, texture changes or anything that doesn’t look quite right before the panel moves on to the next stage. The Mclaren W1 cars that we work on are high-end products which have a starting price of £2 million! So, customers are expecting super high-quality finishes.

Patience and precision are also really important, especially when working on detailed paint effects. For example, a thin pinstripe or fade will need to be lined up by eye across multiple panels, which curve in different directions. Even a small section can take a lot of time to mask, paint and check properly.

Problem-solving is another skill I use every day. Paint can be affected by things like temperature, dust, timing and technique, so if something does not come out right, I need to step back, work out what may have caused it, and find the best way to fix it.

You don't need to have everything figured out straight away. You just need to be curious, willing to learn and brave enough to give things a go.
As cheesy as it sounds, I would say, “do what makes you happy”. Pay attention to what you genuinely enjoy, even if it doesn't seem like an obvious career at first.

A little more about my everyday role

The best bits about working in a team

My team is really supportive – there are people of lots of different ages and backgrounds, and everyone has their own story.

When I first started, I really appreciated how kind and willing people were to help. Some technicians have been doing this for 20+ years, and they shared tips, tricks and care points with me. Care points are the little areas where you need to slow down, look closely and be extra careful.

Having people around me who are happy to share their knowledge has helped me improve much faster. It also makes the job feel less overwhelming, because I know I can ask questions, learn from others and keep getting better.

My favourite piece of equipment

My favourite piece of equipment is the mini base spray gun. It is smaller than a normal spray gun, so it is really useful for delicate work like small fades, tiny areas and blow-ins. A blow-in is where I blend the paint out carefully, so the repair looks seamless and matches the rest of the panel.

I like using it because it gives me a lot of control. It feels more precise compared to the normal basecoat gun, almost like using a detailed airbrush, but for painting cars.

What I like to do in my spare time

On the weekends, I like going on mini adventures. I enjoy hiking, scrambling, and generally being outdoors, and I make time to visit my family and my sister who are all living in different countries to the UK.

I also enjoy working on cars and doing all sorts of crafts. In my downtime I make jewellery out of beads, stones and wire, as a way to relax. It's like fidgeting but you get a pretty necklace as a result!

My school days

I didn't enjoy school a whole lot, if I'm honest. I knew I didn't want to spend another three to five years studying at university if I wasn't going to enjoy it, and I wasn't aware of the other options out there as I was nearing the end of school.

Some people say school days are the best days of your life, but I don't think that's true for everyone. For me, I was excited to get out into the world, experience lots of different things and start building a life that suited me.

I found something practical and creative that I cared about, and that helped me realise there are lots of different ways to build a career.

The most exciting thing I’ve achieved so far in my job

The most exciting work I have done so far is the really intricate painting, like pinstripes and reveal packs.

A pinstripe is a thin painted line that could go around parts like the front splitter, wing mirrors or even across larger sections of the car. Reveal packs are on the inside facing sections of the panels, so they appear as a pop of colour when looked at from certain angles.

It can take many hours or even days to line everything up, mask it, paint it, bury it in lacquer, and make sure the finish is smooth and flush.

Once the part has been polished, it goes through quality control. When it passes and there are no faults to be found, it feels great. As a painter, I know how much care and patience went into that one small detail, so seeing it come out right feels quite rewarding!

A surprising fact about my job

One surprising fact is that even though I work on cars that cost millions of pounds, I drive an absolutely battered fixer-upper car myself!

Another thing people may not realise is how much science is involved in painting. It is not just spraying colour onto a panel. Paint can react differently depending on the materials, temperature, timing, viscosity of the paint, cleaning process and even tiny bits of dust or grease.

I learnt a lot of this the hard way when I ran my own business, by making an uncountable number of mistakes. If something went wrong, I had to work out what caused it, fix it and learn how to stop it from happening again.

This is what makes painting interesting to me. There is so much happening behind the scenes, and every small variable can affect the final finish.

The next steps in my career journey

I am still near the beginning of my journey at McLaren, so my main goal is to keep learning, building my confidence and improving my skills.

I am especially interested in the detailed paintwork that requires patience and precision, such as pinstripes, fades, reveal packs and custom decals. These are the kind of skills I would love to keep developing.

My managers have told me I am doing well and settling into the team nicely, which means a lot to me. It has made me even more motivated to keep improving and make the most of the opportunity.

Outside of work, I'd also like to try custom wrapping my own car one day. I enjoy learning new creative skills, especially when they involve cars, detail and working with my hands.

The advice I’d give to someone younger

As cheesy as it sounds, I would say, “do what makes you happy”. Pay attention to what you genuinely enjoy, even if it doesn't seem like an obvious career at first.

For me, I loved art, colour, creating and cars. I did not know exactly where that would lead, but by following those interests and being willing to try, learn and fail, I eventually found a job that brings them all together.

You don't have to be the most confident person in the room, and you don't need to have everything figured out straight away. You just need to be curious, willing to learn and brave enough to give things a go.

And, if school is not your favourite place, that does not mean life will always feel that way. Things can change a lot once you start finding your own path. I am really happy with how things have changed for me, and I hope other young people realise that there are so many different ways to build a future that you’re truly excited about.

A technician painting a car, using a spray paint gun.

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