Business Development Manager – Personal /Home Care Segment

Job Requirements

Job Purpose:

The Business Development Manager will drive growth in Japan’s Personal and Home Care markets by identifying customer needs, developing strategic relationships, and translating market opportunities into cross business unit growth initiatives. The role connects external market and customer insight with relevant product, technology, and service offerings across the organization.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Provide market and competitive Intelligence

- Monitor market trends, consumer preferences, customer strategies, formulation developments, regulatory changes, and competitive activity in Japan’s Personal and Home Care markets.
- Identify attractive growth areas, including new product concepts, emerging applications, sustainability-driven demand, and evolving performance requirements.
- Translate market intelligence into actionable recommendations for customer prioritization, portfolio development, and business unit strategy.

2. Develop customer opportunities and build strategic relationships

- Proactively engage target customers, including personal care and household product manufacturers, formulators, distributors, and relevant industry partners.
- Build trusted relationships with R&D, marketing, procurement, technical, sustainability, and senior commercial stakeholders.
- Identify customer challenges, innovation priorities, and unmet needs; generate qualified opportunities and develop customer-specific growth plans.

3. Connect customer needs with multiple BU offerings

- Understand customer requirements across relevant Personal and Home Care applications and identify suitable offerings from relevant business units.
- Develop integrated value propositions that address formulation performance, consumer preferences, sustainability expectations, cost efficiency, supply reliability, and regulatory needs.
- Ensure customer requirements are communicated clearly and effectively to internal technical & application, commercial, and product management teams.

4. Lead cross BU opportunity development

- Lead cross BU teams to evaluate, prioritize, and advance strategic customer opportunities.
- Establish clear opportunity ownership, customer-engagement plans, milestones, resource requirements, risk assessments, and next steps.

5. Share expertise and customer insight across BUs

- Act as a subject-matter expert on the Japan Personal and Home Care market, including customer landscape, consumer trends, applications, formulation needs, and competitive dynamics.
- Share customer feedback, market intelligence, opportunity learnings, and application knowledge with relevant business units.

6. Manage pipeline and business development performance

- Build and maintain a robust, qualified pipeline of Personal and Home Care opportunities in Japan.
- Maintain accurate account plans, opportunity records, forecasts, and progress reports.

Work Experience

Key Qualifications & Requirements

- Bachelor’s degree or above in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related discipline.
- Strong understanding of Japan’s Personal and Home Care market, including customer landscape, consumer trends, formulation requirements, distribution channels, and regulatory considerations.
- 10 years of relevant experience in business development, strategic market development, key account management, application development, or product management in Personal Care, Home Care, specialty chemicals, ingredients, or related markets.
- Demonstrated ability to identify and develop new opportunities with a “Hunter” mindset, build strategic customer relationships, and manage complex business development projects from concept to commercialization.
- Proven ability to work effectively in a matrix organization and influence stakeholders across multiple business units and functions without direct authority.
- Japanese citizen with fluent English, willingness to travel regularly.