Business Development Associate

RenewCO₂; New Jersey; On-site; USD 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

RenewCO₂ is hiring a Business Development Associate to identify and engage potential buyers of low‑carbon MEG, formic acid, and ammonia. You will build conversations that lead to real opportunities while learning the chemistry, economics, and negotiation from the inside.

Work alongside our commercial leadership and CTO, with a defined path into account ownership as your pipeline converts. This role is ideal for someone early in their career seeking real commercial responsibility and growth.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field.
• 0–4 years of experience; new grads encouraged.
• Strong written communication for emails to busy technical people.
• Willingness to learn and work methodically on a target list.
• Authorized to work in the United States; able to work on-site in New Jersey.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain the target account list across core chemical markets.
• Run outbound outreach by email, phone, and LinkedIn to procurement, R&D, and sustainability contacts.
• Qualify opportunities by volume, specification, geography, and timeline criteria.
• Own CRM hygiene—log contacts, conversations, and next steps.
• Follow up on inbound leads from conferences, trade shows, webinars, and the website.
• Prepare pre‑meeting briefs on prospect operations, feedstock exposure, and sustainability targets.
• Coordinate sample requests, NDAs, and technical data packages.
• Track market and competitive intelligence and surface changes to positioning.
• Report weekly on funnel metrics: outreach volume, meetings booked, opportunities added, and tonnes per year.
• Represent RenewCO₂ at industry conferences and customer sites (15–25% travel).

Skills

Written communication

Persistence

Organized

Education

Bachelor’s degree in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, environmental science, business, or related field

Tools

HubSpot

Salesforce

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.

We are hiring a Business Development Associate to build the top of our commercial funnel. This is the person who identifies the companies that should be buying low‑carbon MEG, formic acid, and ammonia, reaches the right people inside them, and qualifies whether a real opportunity exists. You will not be closing offtake agreements in your first year — you will be creating the conversations that lead to them, and learning the chemistry, the economics, and the negotiation from the inside while you do it.

The role is built for someone early in their career who wants real commercial responsibility now and is willing to learn a technical market properly. You will work directly with our commercial leadership and CTO, with a defined path into account ownership as the pipeline you build converts.

What you will do

• Build and maintain the target account list across our core chemical markets: PET and polyester producers, coolant and antifreeze formulators, leather and animal‑feed users of formic acid, chemical distributors, and consumer brands with public decarbonization commitments
• Run outbound outreach by email, phone, and LinkedIn to procurement, R&D, and sustainability contacts, and get qualified meetings on the calendar
• Qualify opportunities against volume, specification, geography, and timeline criteria so senior team members spend their time only on prospects that can transact
• Own CRM hygiene — every contact, conversation, and next step logged accurately and kept current
• Follow up on every inbound lead from conferences, trade shows, webinars, and the website within a defined turnaround
• Prepare pre‑meeting briefs on prospect operations, feedstock exposure, and stated sustainability targets, and capture outcomes and next steps afterward
• Coordinate sample requests, NDAs, and technical data packages between customers and our internal technical team
• Track market and competitive intelligence — pricing signals, new entrants, and regulatory shifts such as CBAM, EU packaging rules, and state low‑carbon standards — and surface what changes our positioning
• Report weekly on funnel metrics: outreach volume, meetings booked, qualified opportunities added, and pipeline volume in tonnes per year
• Represent RenewCO₂ at industry conferences and customer sites (approximately 15–25% travel)

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, environmental science, business, or a related field
• 0–4 years of experience. New graduates are encouraged to apply, as are candidates with a few years in sales development, inside sales, technical sales, or procurement
• Clear, concise written communication. A large part of this job is writing emails that busy technical people actually answer
• Comfort with rejection, and the persistence to work a target list methodically rather than in bursts
• Real interest in learning the technical and commercial fundamentals of specialty chemicals. Within a few months you should be able to read a product spec sheet and hold your own in a first conversation with an R&D manager
• Organized and self‑directed — we provide targets, coaching, and context, not daily supervision
• Authorized to work in the United States and able to work on‑site in New Jersey

Preferred

• Coursework, research, or internship experience in polymers, catalysis, electrochemistry, or process engineering
• Familiarity with a CRM such as HubSpot or Salesforce, and with sales engagement or prospecting tools
• Exposure to life cycle assessment, Scope 3 accounting, or corporate sustainability reporting
• Additional languages, particularly for European and Asian market development

Why this role

• The funnel you build is the funnel. There is no inherited pipeline to maintain and no established playbook to follow — you will help write it
• Short feedback loop. You sit close enough to the technical team that what customers tell you changes what we build and how we prioritize product development
• Clear progression. Strong performance leads to account ownership and a direct role in offtake negotiations
• 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.