Global Application Manager - Carbon Black Liquid Systems

Location:

European Union;

Experience:

10-15 Years

We are seeking a Senior Technical Leader to establish and lead our Global Technical Services function for Carbon Black in Inks, Paints & Coatings. This role will build an application-driven, customer-facing technical organization that accelerates product qualification and commercialization, solves complex formulation challenges, and translates market needs into clear R&D and product development roadmaps. As the senior technical authority, you will represent the Voice of the Customer internally and collaborate closely with Sales, Marketing, R&D, Quality, Manufacturing, Regulatory and Product Stewardship teams globally.

Fluency in German and English is mandatory for senior customer engagement and cross‑functional leadership.

• EU Citizen (Native / Eligible to work in the EU)
• Fluent in German and English
• Master’s or PhD in relevant chemistry/material science discipline
• 8+ years of carbon black experience in inks/coatings
• Strong expertise in dispersion science, rheology and color science
• Understanding of regulatory & product stewardship frameworks
• Willingness to travel across Europe
• Stable career history with minimum 2 years per company

• Act as the global technical authority for carbon black in inks and coatings.
• Lead advanced troubleshooting including dispersion, flocculation, rheology, jetness, gloss, undertone, filterability and rub resistance.
• Design and execute Design of Experiments (DoE) for customer trials and scale‑up.
• Provide expert guidance on carbon black grade selection for specific applications.

• Define the global applications laboratory strategy and dispersion best practices.
• Standardize critical testing methods and performance benchmarks.
• Build structured application data systems to enable faster technical recommendations.

• Translate Voice of Customer (VoC) insights into clear New Product Introduction (NPI) briefs and application specifications.
• Partner with R&D teams on surface chemistry, structure optimization, and dispersibility improvements.
• Develop application maps and recommendation matrices across market segments.

• Lead technical complaint resolution and root cause analysis.
• Strengthen alignment with manufacturing on critical‑to‑quality parameters.
• Drive improvements in product consistency, quality performance, and perceived product stability.

• Represent the company at industry conferences, customer technology events and technical forums.
• Develop technical papers, webinars and application tools to support Sales and Marketing.

• Build, mentor and lead a high-performance global technical team.
• Establish KPIs, SLAs and operational frameworks for the technical services function.
• Manage application labs, budgets and technical investments.

• Master’s or PhD in Chemistry, Materials Science, Polymer Science, or Chemical Engineering.
• 8‑10+ years of experience working with carbon black in inks and/or coatings.
• Proven experience in customer‑facing technical leadership roles.
• Deep expertise in dispersion science, rheology, color science, and application testing.
• Strong knowledge of regulatory and product stewardship requirements.
• Excellent stakeholder management and executive communication skills.

• Experience with conductive coatings
• EMI shielding materials
  
  Battery coatings
• Digital inkjet systems