Commercial Manager – Polymers and Coatings

LKAB Minerals UK is looking to recruit a suitable candidate to fill the post of Commercial Manager - Polymers and Coatings. As part of the LKAB Minerals Commercial Team and working for the Commercial Director – Mineral Products, an ambitious, driven and experienced Commercial Manager will have full responsibility and accountability for leading and managing the Polymers & Coatings business area.

Building a sustainable growth strategy and developing a deep understanding of how our products perform within customers’ formulations and manufacturing processes, you will focus on profitable business to ensure both direct and indirect customers are fully supported, generating leads and ensuring that budget targets are met. The successful candidate will work closely and collaboratively with the Operations and Technical teams to realise new product opportunities that support our business targets.

As part of the role you will identify the key decision-makers across the value chain, including formulators, compounders and R&D professionals, ensuring LKAB Minerals is recognised as a trusted and credible partner during the specification and qualification stages, long before purchasing decisions are made. The candidate will gain market feedback and market intelligence on new product developments, trends and applications to ensure we are maintaining product excellence and identifying new product/market opportunities.

The ideal candidate will drive the P&C team to promote sales, growth and innovation of the business and identify and develop new customers and seek opportunities for future growth in line with LKAB’s goals. The candidate will also gain market feedback and market intelligence on new product developments, trends and applications to ensure we are maintaining product excellence and identifying new product/market opportunities.

The incumbent will be a strategic leader with a proven sales background that will drive growth, development, and the retention of the business into the future.

As this role incorporates some products which are sold extensively outside of the UK, the role necessitates regular travel to Europe with occasional continental travel also forming a part of the overall role responsibilities. The possibility exists for this role to be based outside of the UK (in which case, regular travel to the UK would be required)

The Commercial Manager – Polymers & Coatings position currently includes a single direct report but with ambition to grow the team in line with business expansion. Growth of this product area is a key business target and a combination of increased sales of existing products, new product development, potential acquisitions and team expansion will drive this strategy forward. This role, therefore, is seen as a critical appointment.

• Line management and leadership responsibility for teams, including performance reviews, departmental meetings, day to day people management and general performance management
• Product Management – working with the Commercial Director to help in aligning sales, operations, technical, marketing, SOP, finance and management
• Key Account Management – providing over-arching support to the team, whilst also being a visible presence in the market – both in the UK and wider European area.
• Analysis of Business, competitors and market data to continually monitor, analyse and understand organisational positioning and translate that into proactive actions to protect and grow the business
• Develop and establish in-depth knowledge about the industry structure/logic, players and stakeholders
• Develop strategic relations with global accounts/stakeholders
• Set organic growth strategies…