Associate Director of Business Development

RenewCO₂; Clyde (NJ); On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

RenewCO₂ is seeking a commercially minded professional to lead customer and partner engagement across energy and chemical markets from outreach to deal structuring. You will work with R&D and leadership to translate needs into credible proposals, map value chains, and develop business cases. Travel 20–30% to conferences and client sites.

This role offers a hands-on opportunity to shape go-to-market strategy in a climate-tech startup environment and drive growth with real-world impact.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, chemistry, materials science, environmental science, business, or related field.
• 2–7 years of experience in a customer-facing commercial role.
• Ability to read product specifications and engage with R&D and process engineering.
• Strong written and verbal communication for technical and commercial audiences.
• Proven ability to build and manage relationships with customers, partners, or external stakeholders.
• Systems thinking to map value chains and identify viable commercial paths.
• Genuine interest in climate technology and decarbonization.
• Startup mindset and comfort working without a playbook.
• Authorized to work in the United States and on-site in New Jersey with travel.

Responsibilities

• Build and manage the customer and partner funnel across target markets.
• Engage directly with prospective customers, partners, and value-chain participants and advance those relationships.
• Map complex value chains for each product line and identify commercial pathways.
• Translate customer requirements into credible commercial proposals with technical teams.
• Evaluate market segments and go-to-market opportunities and provide recommendations.
• Develop commercial materials, business cases, and internal decision tools.
• Contribute to techno-economic analyses and financial models.
• Help structure and negotiate partnerships, offtake agreements, site collaborations.
• Represent RenewCO₂ at industry conferences and with customers on-site (20–30% travel).

Skills

Customer-facing sales

Technical literacy

Communication

Relationship building

Systems thinking

Startup mindset

US work authorization

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering/chemistry/materials science/environmental science/business

Job description

About RenewCO2

RenewCO₂ converts CO₂ into drop-in chemicals — formic acid, monoethylene glycol, ammonia, and SAF — using electrochemical processes powered by renewable electricity. Our products meet the same specifications as their fossil-derived equivalents, so customers do not have to reformulate, requalify, or accept a performance penalty to lower the carbon footprint of what they make.

What you will do

• Build and manage the customer and partner funnel across our target markets, covering the full cycle from outreach and qualification through to deal structuring.
• Engage directly with prospective customers, partners, and value-chain participants — procurement, R&D, sustainability, and executive contacts — and advance those relationships over time.
• Map complex value chains for each of our product lines, identifying key participants, commercial pathways, barriers to adoption, and where we have the strongest right to win.
• Work closely with our technical and leadership teams to translate customer requirements, site considerations, and application needs into credible commercial proposals.
• Evaluate market segments, customer pain points, and go-to-market opportunities, and bring structured recommendations back to leadership.
• Develop commercial materials, business cases, and internal decision-making tools to support active opportunities and strategic prioritization.
• Contribute to techno-economic analyses and financial models as part of evaluating project opportunities and offtake structures.
• Help structure and negotiate partnerships, offtake agreements, site collaborations,and other commercial arrangements as we scale.
• Represent RenewCO₂ at industry conferences and with customers on-site (approximately 20–30% travel).

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, chemistry, materials science, environmental science, business, or a related field; a technical degree is strongly preferred.
• 2–7 years of experience in a customer-facing commercial role — applications engineering, technical sales, business development, customer success, or a related function.
• Strong technical foundation with the ability to read a product specification, engage credibly with R&D and process engineering counterparts, and contribute meaningfully to a techno-economic analysis.
• Clear, direct communication skills — written and verbal — with the ability to engage both technical and commercial audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to build and manage relationships with customers, partners, or external stakeholders over time.
• Ability to think in systems: how value chains are structured, where the leverage points are, and what makes a commercial pathway viable versus not.
• Genuine interest in climate technology, industrial decarbonization, specialty chemicals, or sustainable fuels.
• Hands-on, startup-oriented mindset — comfortable operating without an established playbook and willing to build one.
• Authorized to work in the United States and able to work on-site in New Jersey, with regular travel to the NYC and Pennsylvania area.

Why this role

• You will work across the full commercial cycle, from early outreach through deal structuring, at a company where those deals define the trajectory of the business.
• Direct access to the technical team means what you learn from customers changes what we build — short feedback loops, real influence.
• The market is early. The relationships and market knowledge you develop now will be hard to replicate and increasingly valuable as demand for low‑carbon chemicals accelerates.
• The work compounds. Every tonne we sell displaces fossil carbon in a supply chain that has had no credible alternative until now.

RenewCO₂ is an equal opportunity employer. We judge candidates on what they have done and what they can do, and we welcome applicants of every background. If you need an accommodation at any stage, tell us and we will arrange it.