Business Development Lead – Polymers & Materials

Role Overview

• Your role is to build real commercial traction by winning and executing paid industrial pilots, converting successful pilots into scale-up collaborations and repeatable revenue, and establishing a disciplined enterprise sales motion in the polymer and plastics value chain.
• Own the full enterprise sales cycle: Identify, approach and win relevant industrial partners across the polymer/plastics ecosystem—from first outreach and discovery to negotiation and contract signature.
• Close and run paid pilot projects end-to-end: Structure pilot projects with clear scope, success criteria, timelines and economics; manage execution in close collaboration with R&D and operations.
• Convert pilots into scale-up and long-term partnerships: Turn validated pilots into follow-on agreements (scale-up, supply, licensing and/or long-term collaboration pathways) and build strong customer references.
• Polymer-first solution selling: Translate customer needs into compelling value propositions (performance, processability, cost, sustainability, compliance) and tailor commercial offers accordingly.
• Commercial structuring & negotiation: Drive term structuring across NDAs, JDAs, pilot contracts and follow-on agreements— including milestones, IP boundaries, exclusivity, exit clauses, pricing logic and success criteria.
• Build a disciplined revenue engine: Operate CRM and pipeline hygiene (stages, next steps, documentation, evidence), deliver reliable forecasting and investor-ready reporting.
• Build the function over time: Develop playbooks, templates and repeatable processes; as the company grows, help build and lead the commercial team.

Requirements

• Proven closing experience: You have personally closed industrial B2B deals in polymers/plastics/materials (ideally involving pilots, qualification projects, co-development or scale-up partnerships).
• Enterprise sales maturity: You can run complex sales cycles with technical stakeholders and budget owners and consistently drive deals from discovery to signature.
• Deal structuring strength: You are comfortable with the “intricacies” of pilot and partnership agreements and can pragmatically structure win-win terms under uncertainty.
• Trusted network in the value chain: You bring an active, warm network in at least one priority segment (e.g., polymer producers, compounders, converters, OEMs/brands) and can quickly turn relationships into qualified conversations and pilots.
• Technical-commercial translation: Solid technical foundation (chemistry, chemical engineering, polymer/materials science or comparable) and the ability to translate technical performance into buyer value cases and ROI logic.
• High ownership & rigor: Hands-on, structured and data-driven: CRM discipline, evidence-based forecasting, clear internal communication and reliability in execution.
• Startup pace: You thrive in fast-moving environments, take responsibility, and collaborate effectively across functions.
• Preferred qualifications: Experience commercializing new polymer materials from early validation to first repeatable revenue.
• Experience with licensing models, supply partnerships and/or strategic collaborations in polymers/materials.
• You have led teams or taken leadership responsibility in commercial settings (e.g., line management, leading a small BD/sales team, or owning cross-functional commercial programs).

Benefits

• Hansefit membership
• Fresh fruit boost