Business Development Manager

ELANTAS; St. Louis (MO); On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

ELANTAS is seeking a New Business Development Manager to drive growth in Specialty Coatings across targeted markets. You will study markets, engage customers, and execute strategic plans to expand our portfolio.

Success requires a strong blend of technical knowledge, sales acumen, and leadership to advance opportunities with formulators, R&D, and manufacturing partners. This role emphasizes cross-functional collaboration and market-driven growth.

Qualifications

• Balanced mix of technical credibility, commercial drive, and customer-facing maturity.
• Bachelor’s degree in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, business, or related field.
• 7–10+ years in specialty chemicals, coatings, additives, resins or related B2B technical sales.
• Proven experience winning new business in a technical environment.
• Experience with formulators, R&D, technical service, and manufacturing stakeholders.
• Experience in coatings end markets such as industrial, architectural, automotive, protective, or packaging coatings.

Responsibilities

• Develops new and existing markets to support the Specialty Coatings growth strategy.
• Leads implementation of the growth strategy based on customer requirements.
• Plans and attends trade shows and conferences to develop markets.
• Engages in industry technical committees to understand markets and needs.
• Represents ELANTAS products to meet customer needs in targeted segments.
• Visits potential and existing customers for new business development, including cold calls.

Skills

Market analysis

Sales leadership

Strategic thinking

Negotiation

Cross-functional collaboration

MS Office

Education

Bachelor's degree in chemistry/chemical engineering/materials science

MBA or commercial training (preferred)

Tools

MS Office Suite

Job description

ELANTAS is a leading manufacturer of insulation and protective materials for the electrical and electronics industry. The portfolio includes coatings, resins, adhesives, and flexible insulation materials for electrical and electronic applications. ELANTAS combines high-quality products with customized solutions and comprehensive services. ELANTAS is part of the ALTANA Group and employs more than 2,000 people worldwide. The New Business Development Manager is a newly created role with the purpose of bringing a narrower and deeper focus on developing new markets, customers and applications in Specialty (industrial) Coatings. The incumbent is responsible for market research, development, and execution of the Specialty Coatings growth strategy (within the Engineering Materials Business Line). In this role the incumbent is expected to develop a thorough understanding of targeted markets/applications/customers via primary/secondary research, trade shows, conferences, etc. Focus will be on driving strategic growth by identifying, developing, and commercializing new business opportunities.

The position bridges commercial strategy, technical expertise, and customer engagement to accelerate revenue growth and strengthen the company’s innovation-led value proposition. In support of our growth strategy, the incumbent will develop new and existing segments by creating entry points at targeted accounts to evolve sales positions with ENAL’s current product portfolio. The incumbent must effectively address customer and market needs through product portfolio / product range and communicate such requirements to ENAL Technical resources requiring further portfolio innovation.

• Develops new and existing markets to support the Specialty Coatings growth strategy (within the EM Business Line).
• Leads implementation of the growth strategy based on customer requirements and future needs.
• Plans and attends trade shows and conferences to develop markets.
• Engages and participates in industry technical committees to gain understanding of markets and customer requirements.
• Represents ENAL's products and services with comprehensive understanding to identify how the solutions meet the needs of customers for targeted market segments.
• Visits potential and existing customers for new business development, including cold calls, with and without Sales team and key distribution channel partners.
• Work with Sales, Technical Service and R&D leadership to identify growth opportunities and propose the participation plan including 4P analysis and Value Propositions
• Work with TS & R&D to drive the new growth/innovation pipeline in Specialty Coatings & monitor project progress
• Work with Sales manager, Business Directors and VP – Commercial & Technology to determine the pricing strategy for new product launches and new application development

Qualification, knowledge and experience

• Balanced mix of technical credibility, commercial drive, and customer-facing maturity
• Bachelor’s degree in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, business, or a related field.
• 7–10+ years of experience in specialty chemicals, coatings, additives, resins, or adjacent B2B technical sales.
• Proven experience winning new business in a technical, solution-selling environment.
• Experience working with formulators, R&D teams, technical service, and manufacturing stakeholders.
• Experience in one or more coatings end markets such as industrial, architectural, automotive, protective, or packaging coatings.
• MBA or commercial training is a plus, but not required if the candidate has strong market-building experience
• Experience with MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Experience with managing teams preferred
• Experience in a matrixed organization where sales, technical, and operations must align

Skills And Attitude

• Ability to work collaboratively with all relevant internal and external stakeholders in an international business environment.
• Proven ability to use analytical skills and critical thinking to diagnose business issues and incorporate into development or adjustment of marketing plans.
• Exceptional use of time management, planning, organizational, selling and negotiating skills.
• Resilient, persistent, and comfortable with

At ELANTAS and ALTANA, we are innovative because we believe in better—and because we combine progress with long-term stability. We are successful because people make the difference here. Here, you can show what you’re made of right from the start. Specialty chemicals are our strength. And we make sure the chemistry between us is right, too. Find out for yourself!

ALTANA AG and its subsidiaries is an equal opportunity employer.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion, cultural background, or any other characteristic protected by law.