Head of Material Sciences

Job Details

Job Title: Head of Material Sciences

Location: Shanghai, China

Work Arrangement: Onsite

About the Role

We are seeking a passionate, experienced and motivated Head of Material Sciences for Adhesives, Sealants and Construction (CASC) and Industrial Solutions (IS) to lead our high-performance sales team and drive the business unit’s growth by aggressively acquiring new customers and expanding revenue from existing accounts, across China. This role demands entrepreneurial drive, a strong sales focus and leadership. 

As the Head of Material Sciences, you will be responsible for leading our CASC & IS team to commercial success in China. You will shape the commercial strategy for the Material Sciences and accelerate this business forward to continued growth.  You will be responsible for developing and executing sales strategies, building a strong sales pipeline, leading new business development initiatives and inspire a team to achieve ambitious sales targets.

You will be partnering with well-known brands in the industry. You will build and maintain strong partnership relationships with our principals and suppliers, key customers and stakeholders, ensuring high levels of satisfaction and long-term business growth. This involves identifying product opportunities, partner with suppliers and develop the most attractive product basket for our customers.

Leading a dedicated and experienced team, you will lead by example, providing mentorship and coaching to develop your team’s sales skills and capabilities while fostering a competitive and results-driven culture. This role has full P&L and portfolio management accountability for the business unit and will lead it to achieve its revenue, profit and working capital targets.

Key Responsibilities

• Market Strategy & Execution: develop a short and medium-term business-strategy and plans for the business unit and drive execution, in line with our company vision.
  • Define the key supplier and customer markets in the country, survey the competitive landscape and determine go-to-market strategy including the required product- and services-portfolio.
  • Identify new markets and establish prospecting plans for developing new customers.
  • Bring creative ideas to market. Develop innovative concepts and solutions that give Caldic China competitive advantage in new and established markets.
  • Lead segment sales & marketing to develop and execute operationally to drive continuous profitable growth.

• Sales Leadership: Lead and motivate the sales team to meet and exceed sales targets, driving both new customer acquisition and increasing revenue from existing accounts. Meet and exceed sales growth, gross margin/gross profit, pipeline, other business goals and ensure Commercial Excellence.

• Leadership & People Management: Lead by example, inspire, motivate and coach the team to maximize performance. Set clear sales objectives, provide ongoing feedback, and ensure that the team has the skills and support needed to succeed. Work with sales and functional areas to deliver seamless 100% customer satisfaction.

• Sales Strategy & Execution: Develop and execute a sales strategy that aligns with the company’s growth objectives. Continuously evaluate market opportunities and ensure the team is positioned to capitalize on them.

• P&L Responsibilities: Holds the Business Units P&L ownership, managing revenue, costs, and margins through budgeting, forecasting, KPI tracking, and cross-functional collaboration to drive profitable growth.

• New Business Development: Identify and pursue new suppliers and customers business opportunities, leading your team to target potential customers and expand the company’s market presence.

• Principals, Suppliers and Customer Development & Relationship Management: Develop, build and maintain strong partnership relationships with principals and suppliers, key customers and stakeholders, ensuring high levels of satisfaction and long-term business growth.  Identify product opportunities, suppliers and develop the most attractive product basket for our customers. Partner with some known brands in the industry.

• Collaboration: Work closely with internal departments such as marketing, supply chain, and finance to ensure a seamless customer experience and to drive product alignment with market needs.

• Forecasting & Reporting: Oversee sales forecasting and pipeline management, ensuring accurate and timely reporting on team performance, market conditions, and sales opportunities.

• Learning & Development: identify training needs and gaps, provide ongoing training, mentorship, and coaching to help team members improve their sales skills, product knowledge, and customer engagement capabilities.

Skills

Job Requirements

• Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in business, science, chemistry or related qualification, preferably coupled with post-graduate qualification.

• Sales Experience: Minimum of 15+ years in sales leadership within Coatings, Construction, Adhesives & Sealants (CASC) and/ or Industrial Solutions (IS) distribution industry or a directly related industry, with a proven track record of driving sales growth and leading teams to consistently exceed targets for China.

• Leadership & People Management: Experienced leader with proven track record in leading and developing sales and support teams to set and meet their objectives and drive results and deliver stretch goals. Able to inspire, motivate, and lead by example.

• Sales & Business Strategy: Expertise in developing and implementing sales strategies that drive business growth, including experience in new customer acquisition and expanding share of wallet within existing accounts. Strong ability to establish mid to long term plans and work with customers to translate their strategies and pain points to create and execute tactical and actionable plans.

• Commercial Acumen: Strong understanding of sales metrics, P&L, and the ability to manage forecasts, pipelines, and budgets.

• Communication Skills: Excellent communication, interpersonal and presentation skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels and inspire your team to deliver results.

• Decision Making & Problem Solving: Ability to analyze market trends, identify obstacles, and find creative solutions and make informed decisions to drive business success.

• Principals and Suppliers Focus: Champion our Principals and Suppliers portfolio through technical promotion, delivering product insights and training to customers.

• Customer Focus: A customer-centric mindset with the ability to build lasting relationships and address customer needs proactively.

• Tools: Proficiency in MS Office and CRM software and a leader in adoption of new systems.

About Caldic

At Caldic, we’re a global leader in distribution solutions, serving diverse markets across the world. Joining us means becoming part of an entrepreneurial, collaborative, and innovation-driven team.

We offer:

• Global opportunities with rapid career growth and development
• An inclusive, diverse, and dynamic work environment
• The chance to shape the future of specialty ingredient solutions across industries like food, pharma, personal care, and more

We operate in 43 countries around the world. Our innovative solutions are tailored to meet the needs of industries such as food, pharma, personal care, and industrial markets, ensuring sustainable success for all stakeholders. To learn more, visit: www.caldic.com

Ready to Join Us?

If you're ready to take your career to the next level and join a global leader, apply now at Caldic!

Equal Opportunity Employer

Caldic celebrates diversity and is committed to fostering an inclusive work environment. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender, or any other characteristic.