Director - Business Management - Specialty Chemicals

Role Overview:

We are hiring a Director - Business Management for a leading, professionally managed organisation in the specialty chemicals sector.

The position will lead an established specialty chemicals product vertical and take ownership of its P&L, growth strategy, profitability, market expansion, working capital and new product initiatives.

This is a senior techno-commercial role requiring a combination of strong chemical industry understanding, commercial orientation, strategic thinking and cross-functional business leadership.

Key Responsibilities:

- Own and drive the complete P&L of the assigned specialty chemicals business.

- Develop and execute short- and long-term business growth strategies.

- Drive domestic and international sales, business development and key account management.

- Identify new market, customer, application and product opportunities.

- Lead new product launches and commercialisation in coordination with R&D, pilot plants and manufacturing.

- Improve product margins through pricing, product cost optimisation and operating efficiencies.

- Manage working capital, receivables, inventory and overall business profitability.

- Develop annual operating plans, budgets, forecasts and business review dashboards.

- Improve plant capacity utilisation and support capacity expansion and capex decisions.

- Build strong relationships with strategic customers, suppliers, vendors and external partners.

- Track market trends, competition, regulatory developments and emerging applications.

- Work closely with manufacturing, R&D, quality, EHS, finance, supply chain, taxation and business excellence teams.

- Present business performance, investment proposals and growth plans to the senior leadership team.

- Lead cross-functional and cross-cultural teams to translate business strategy into execution.

Candidate Profile:

- BE/BTech in Chemical Engineering is essential.

- MBA or equivalent management qualification will be preferred.

- 12-18 years of experience in the chemical industry.

- Strong experience in specialty chemicals, fine chemicals, performance materials, chemical intermediates or related sectors.

- Demonstrated experience managing a product portfolio, business vertical or regional P&L.

- Strong background in B2B sales, business development, strategic marketing and key account management.

- Experience in new product development, application development, launches and commercialisation.

- Good understanding of chemical manufacturing, product costing, capacity utilisation and supply chain considerations.

- Exposure to working capital management, profitability improvement and annual business planning.

- Strong analytical, negotiation, communication and presentation capabilities.

The ideal candidate will be a business leader rather than a pure sales professional. The person should be able to connect market opportunities with R&D, manufacturing, capacity, costing and profitability, and independently drive the business from strategy through execution.

Applicants whose experience is limited exclusively to plant operations, R&D, procurement, government tendering or transactional sales may not be suitable for this position.