Business Development Manager, SMS

Asahi Kasei•Charlotte, NC

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The Business Development Manager, Specialty Membrane Solutions (SMS), is responsible for delivering Celgard’s growth initiatives and sales efforts for products and applications beyond lithium, primarily in North America. The role develops and executes business development strategies to expand the specialty business segment, grow sales of current products and applications, broaden the customer base, and identify new and adjacent markets. It also focuses on building long-term customer relationships and commercializing new products and processes. The manager oversees existing SMS applications, such as transdermal patches and textiles, and develops opportunities in areas including ventilation, HVAC, filtration, ion exchange, and adjacent battery applications such as sodium-ion. The position directs multiple global sales channels involving Celgard and external distributors, agents, partners, and consultants. It has no direct reports, but coordinates and influences regional sales representatives and external channel partners. The role reports to the Director of Strategic Marketing and SMS. It directs North American sales activities, product and channel strategies, new-product phase-gate and commercialization processes, customer and market development, and cross-functional work to address customer and product needs. Travel of up to 50% domestically and internationally is required.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required.
At least 7 years of experience in B2B sales, technical sales, or business development, including extensive travel, international experience, and selling to a diverse customer base.
Experience developing pricing strategies.
Strong ownership and resilience in developing business and managing current and potential customers.
Ability to work across the organization and constructively influence team objectives and outcomes.
Strong presentation skills.
Knowledge of key sales concepts, practices, and procedures.
Strong communication skills, including the ability to interface with senior management and communicate with technical and non-technical audiences.
Ability to use data to support decisions.
Ability to manage multiple priorities and work in a highly matrixed environment.
Self-starter with curiosity, a bias for action, and the ability to operate independently.
Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to influence at varying organizational levels.
Willingness and ability to travel up to 50% domestically and internationally.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration or Engineering preferred.
Two years of B2C experience preferred.
Experience in pharma, healthcare, and medical packaging highly preferred.
Experience developing and validating product and channel strategies, defining product requirements, and managing successful product commercialization in B2B settings preferred.
Experience translating membrane characteristics into application benefits and value propositions strongly preferred.
Experience developing new membrane-based applications through external partners strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Drive profitable sales growth for Celgard’s specialty product portfolio through product management, brand management, and channel management strategies.
Direct North American sales activities using internal and external resources.
Manage and expand existing SMS applications, including transdermal patches and textiles, and develop new specialty applications and markets.
Develop and direct multiple global sales channels, including distributors, agents, partners, and consultants.
Direct phase-gate and commercialization processes for new products, working across internal and external organizations.
Communicate the company’s value proposition, technology, processes, and partnerships effectively.
Develop business models and go-to-market strategies suited to each market segment.
Direct cross-functional and cross-organizational activities to meet customer and product needs.
Build relationships at multiple levels within customer organizations.
Identify new product, market, and business opportunities; collect and provide market, customer, and competitor intelligence.
Work with Marketing, Sales, and R&D to develop strategic selling initiatives.
Support payment, engineering, and customer support issues.
Develop the annual sales budget by customer and for the overall specialty business.
Develop and maintain a customer database.
Negotiate customer contracts and long-term agreements.
Build relationships with customers, vendors, distributors, and sales and marketing teams.
Research emerging trends and recommend new offerings to meet customer needs.
Present business or marketing opportunities to company executives and management.
Coordinate and direct regional sales representatives, distributors, and agents in their efforts to grow specialty product sales.
Travel domestically and internationally, up to 50%, for training and visits to company locations.