Business Development Director

INTERNATIONAL RECRUITMENT & HR EXPERTS ACROSS THE PLASTICS, PACKAGING, SPECIALITY CHEMICALS, LIFE SCIENCES, BIOPOLYMER, FOOD ADDITIVES & INGREDIENTS, ENERGY AND RECYCLING SECTORS SINCE 1975.

Business Development Director– Ingredient Branding and Licensing Sales
Based in North America

Sector: Chemicals
Function: Sales

Client Overview:

A global leader in additive and surface modification technologies, enhancing consumer, textile, industrial and medical products across the globe.

Role Overview:

The overall purpose of the Business Development Manager position is to develop strategic relationships with customers and prospects, within the assigned territory and category, to expand the company network, increasing revenue and profits through acquisition of new partner accounts and to manage assigned accounts.
Monitoring sales trends and market dynamics, to develop an appropriate time and territory strategy and a plan that delivers growth for the company in new customer conversions.
This person will be skilled in listening, discovery and solutions selling, will be a self-starter, will coordinate well with teams in support roles and with teams in other territories.

The role will require interface with key company stakeholders globally including sales, technology and innovation, supply chain, marketing, customer service, and manufacturing. The Business Development Manager must be able to effectively collaborate and communicate with these departments to meet company expectations and consumer/partner demands and manages up to $10MM in business revenue.

Responsibilities:

• Identify target market segments and priority accounts where company solutions can deliver protection, performance improvement, lifecycle improvement, and/or consumer preference increase, and create mutually beneficial relationships with key decision makers in those accounts to develop a pipeline of sales opportunities and build a book of business by closing new customer deals.
• Manage existing business for customer retention and expansion, helping support customer success in the marketplace. Develop strategic business relationships with partner companies, communicate thought leadership and insights to those prospects, develop trust, and ultimately execute new sales contracts supporting product sales, royalties, license fees, and testing fees, depending on required solutions.
• Creatively structure unique contracts with wide variety of customers, leveraging and monetising the value of the business brand.
• Manage pricing, development fees, and deal structure consistent with the regional / global commercial strategy.
• Support delivery of company messaging at trade fairs, technical conferences, regulatory sessions, and in public presentations to further the brand, products, solutions, and sales.
• Help commercial team peers replicate commercial successes in different territories and other regions of the world by documenting case studies for key wins and sharing insights with others.
• Monitor and analyze market trends and competitors to make sure products and services stay competitive, and make suggestions on how to better improve, position, or promote current product lines into new partner accounts and application spaces.
• Help development of unique products and/or formats to meet customer needs, working with the technical teams to bring these optimal solutions to market
• This role requires strong relationship development and network expansion skills, loads of originality in structuring win-win deals, and a lot of initiative in developing strategic and continuous improvement plans for the territory and for key accounts.

Candidate Profile:

• Educated to bachelor’s degree level.
• Demonstrable experience in a sales management role, selling a technical, solution based product, or working for a Brand or Licensing sales.
• The person in this role is to be a self-starter, a curious individual, and a tenacious hunter, who is hungry to develop new pipeline opportunities.
• Creative in deal structure, solution development, in negotiating win-win outcomes, and bridging between being a commercial owner and a technical liaison for the customer and prospect base.
• Skilled in listening, discovery and solutions selling.
• Adept at interpersonal skills to develop and maintain business relationships and determine customer wants and needs.
• A self-starter, who coordinates well with teams in support roles and with teams in other territories.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office and have experience with Salesforce.com or other Customer
• Relationship Management system and business social media platforms such as LinkedIn.
• Skilled in the following areas: pricing, lead generation, networking, financial understandings, customer awareness, manufacturing, international business knowledge, commercially astute, high level detailed branded royalty agreements, project management, marketing, copy writing, contract negotiating, CSuite corporate negotiations.
• Tenacious mindset, possess negotiation prowess, creativity and natural curiosity
• Must be able to travel as needed up to 50% of the time.

For reasons of better legibility, the simultaneous use of the language forms male, female and diverse (f/m/d) is avoided. All personal designations apply equally to all genders.
For EU roles, candidates must be eligible to work and live in the European Union. Proof of eligibility will be required with your application.

Throughout 2025, you can meet with Listgrove at the following exhibitions:
Packaging Innovations, JEC World, European Coatings Show, Plastics Live UK, The advanced materials show UK, Kunststoffenbeurs, K2025