Market Development Manager - Pharma Solutions, Lipids

Croda; Montevallo (AL); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Excellent Medical, Dental, and Vision

401(k) match

Generous PTO

Wellness reimbursement

Parental leave

Career development

Life and AD&D insurance

Short- and long-term disability

Paid holidays

Job summary

Croda seeks a Market Development Manager to turn customer and market insights into portfolio strategy and growth across pharma solutions and lipids. You will lead discovery, segmentation, and opportunity assessment with a global perspective, aligning cross-functional teams to drive strategic platforms and partnerships.

The role emphasizes translating complex scientific and market data into executive recommendations, supporting market-entry decisions, and building a robust pipeline of

Qualifications

• Experience in market development, strategic marketing, or related roles in life sciences or pharma.
• Experience designing voice-of-customer programs and market research.
• Experience supporting strategy, portfolio, or market-entry decisions.
• Experience in lipids, lipidomics, diagnostics, or drug-delivery markets preferred.

Responsibilities

• Translate customer and market insight into recommendations for portfolio strategy and growth.
• Lead discovery, segmentation, and market assessment work across regions.
• Develop competitive and industry intelligence to inform partnerships and investments.
• Maintain a prioritized pipeline of opportunities with data-backed assumptions.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Voice-of-customer

Market intelligence

Stakeholder influence

Education

Bachelor's degree in life sciences/chemistry/biotech

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

Market research tools

Competitive analysis

Job description

Market Development Manager -

Pharma Solutions, Lipids

At Croda, scientific insight becomes practical progress. Our Pharma Solutions teams connect advanced lipid science, customer needs, and market intelligence to help identify where innovation can create the greatest value across pharmaceutical, drug-delivery, diagnostic, and related life-science markets.

As Market Development Manager, you will turn customer, market, competitive, application, and technology insight into clear recommendations that guide portfolio strategy, investment choices, partnerships, commercialization, and long-term growth. Acting as the voice of the customer and market, you will lead high-priority discovery and opportunity-assessment work across a complex global matrix.

Contribute Strategic Growth to the Lipids Portfolio

• Establish and lead a systematic voice-of-customer program across priority market segments and strategic growth areas.
• Develop a deep understanding of customer workflows, unmet needs, decision criteria, adoption barriers, and buying behaviors.
• Build trusted relationships with customers, partners, industry experts, research institutions, and market influencers.
• Identify and assess new applications, technologies, customer segments, adjacent markets, and business-model opportunities.
• Evaluate market size, growth potential, strategic fit, customer value, commercial attractiveness, adoption barriers, risk, and value potential.
• Maintain a prioritized pipeline of validated opportunities with documented assumptions, evidence gaps, risks, and next actions.
• Develop actionable competitive and industry intelligence, including market trends, partnerships, investments, substitute technologies, and emerging developments.
• Translate customer and market insight into recommendations for portfolio strategy, strategic platforms, innovation, partnerships, positioning, market entry, and commercialization.
• Support market-driven business cases, investment proposals, partnership evaluations, and strategic growth initiatives.
• Lead priority customer discovery, segmentation, market assessment, competitive-intelligence, and opportunity-assessment work.
• Translate complex scientific, technical, customer, and market information into concise business implications and executive recommendations.
• Partner across Portfolio Management, Product Management, Business Development, R&D, Technical and Strategic Marketing, regional commercial teams, Operations, Quality, Regulatory, Legal, Intellectual Property, Finance, and Customer Service.
• Ensure mature opportunities transition effectively to the appropriate portfolio, platform, partnership, product-management, or commercial owner.
• Complete required training and follow applicable health, safety, environmental, privacy, and compliance requirements.

Experience and Expertise

Education

• Bachelor's degree in life sciences, chemistry, biochemistry, biotechnology, pharmaceutical sciences, engineering, business, marketing, or a related field required.
• Advanced scientific or business degree preferred.

Experience

• Experience in market development, strategic marketing, product management, business development, market intelligence, commercial strategy, or a related role in life sciences, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, drug delivery, specialty ingredients, or an adjacent market.
• Demonstrated success identifying and evaluating market opportunities and converting customer needs into clear business recommendations.
• Experience designing and conducting voice-of-customer programs, customer interviews, workflow research, market research, segmentation, market sizing, and competitive analysis.
• Experience supporting strategy, portfolio, innovation, partnership, investment, commercialization, or market-entry decisions.
• Experience in lipids, lipidomics, diagnostics, drug delivery, pharmaceutical ingredients, research tools, or related scientific markets preferred.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strategic perspective with the ability to connect customer needs, market dynamics, technology trends, and business priorities.
• Strong research, interviewing, workflow analysis, segmentation, market sizing, forecasting, scenario-development, and competitive-intelligence capability.
• Sound commercial judgment and strong analytical and business-case development skills, including financial framing and recommendation development.
• Ability to separate facts, assumptions, hypotheses, risks, evidence gaps, and confidence levels when information is incomplete or conflicting.
• Excellent written, verbal, interpersonal, presentation, and facilitation skills across technical and commercial audiences.
• Ability to influence without direct authority, build alignment, manage multiple priorities, and follow through in an ambiguous and changing environment.
• Curiosity about emerging science, technologies, applications, customer needs, and business models, paired with the discipline to test assumptions objectively.
• Proficiency with standard business, research, analysis, presentation, and collaboration tools.

Working at Croda

The successful candidate will receive a competitive salary and benefits package, including:

• Excellent Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage, available immediately
• Generous PTO
• 401(k) match
• Wellness reimbursement
• Parental leave
• Career development
• Company-paid and voluntary Life and AD&D insurance
• Short- and long-term disability
• Paid holidays

Additional Information

This is a flexible/remote role with preferred proximity to Alabaster, Princeton, or Cowick. The position requires frequent collaboration across functions, regions, and time zones and may periodically involve work at Croda sites, customer locations, research institutions, conferences, or partner facilities.

Occasional domestic and international business travel is required.

If you require any reasonable adjustments during the hiring process or experience any issues with our online application process, please email [e-mail].

Why Croda?

At Croda, we believe our people are our difference. We are people-led, driven by the desire to do good and deliver value, a unifying principle shaped by all the great people who have travelled through Croda since our beginning in 1925. Guided by our values of Responsible, Innovative, and Together, we bring together diverse teams and talents from across the globe and are passionate about building an inclusive, collaborative, and diverse organization with innovation and customer focus underpinning all that we do.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Croda recognizes employees as our strength, and the diversity they bring to our workforce is directly linked to our ongoing success. We are an equal opportunity employer and place a high value on diversity and inclusion. We do not discriminate on the basis of any protected attribute, including age, race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital or veteran status, pregnancy or disability, or any other basis protected under applicable law. In accordance with applicable law, we make reasonable accommodations for applicants' and employees' religious practices and beliefs, as well as any mental health or physical disability needs. Equal Opportunity Employer/Disability/Veterans. This organization participates in E-Verify.