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Job title: Technical Sales & Business Development Manager – Polymer Compounds

Location: Mumbai, India

Experience: 5–12 Years

Reporting To: Director / Business Head

Function: Technical Sales, Business Development & Application Development
Travel: Extensive travel across India
Employment Type: Full-time
Industry: Specialty Polymers / Plastics / Rotational Moulding

Position Summary

We are looking for a Technical Sales & Business Development Manager who can combine technical expertise, commercial acumen, and entrepreneurial drive to build new businesses and expand existing markets in the specialty polymer compounds and rotational moulding industry.

The role covers the complete business-development cycle — from identifying opportunities and understanding customer requirements through material selection, trials, validation, commercialisation, and account growth.

The candidate will work closely with rotational moulders, automotive OEMs, Tier-1/Tier-2 suppliers, industrial customers, and strategic accounts, with interaction across senior technical, procurement, R&D, and business leadership teams.

Core Mandate

Identify → Develop → Qualify → Commercialise → Grow

• Identify new applications and customers.
• Understand customer requirements and pain points.
• Map requirements to existing products or identify new product-development opportunities.
• Arrange and manage material trials.
• Support technical qualification and validation.
• Build business cases and commercial propositions.
• Convert successful trials into regular production.
• Develop accounts and expand business over time.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Business Development

• Identify and develop new business opportunities in rotational moulding and specialty polymers.
• Develop customer relationships across automotive, industrial, and other high-value applications.
• Identify opportunities involving competing polymers, imported materials, or conventional materials where specialty solutions can provide superior value.
• Build a structured pipeline of customers, applications, and projects.
• Develop relationships with decision-makers across R&D, Materials, Engineering, Procurement, Quality, and Business Development.
• Develop strategic accounts and long-term customer partnerships.

Technical Sales

• Understand customer products, applications, processing conditions, and performance requirements.
• Translate customer requirements into specific material requirements.
• Recommend appropriate polymer grades and formulations.
• Explain technical and commercial benefits of materials.
• Conduct technical presentations and material-selection discussions.
• Support customers in optimising rotational moulding processes and material utilisation.
• Address technical objections and differentiate products from competing materials.

Application Development

• Identify applications suitable for specialty polymer compounds.
• Work with customers to develop material specifications.
• Coordinate sample supply and trial programmes.
• Attend customer mould trials where required.
• Analyse trial results and recommend improvements.
• Coordinate with internal R&D, laboratory, and production teams.
• Drive projects towards customer approval and commercial production.
• Maintain records of application-development projects.

OEM & Automotive Business Development

Develop business with:

• Automotive OEMs
• Tier-1 suppliers
• Tier-2 suppliers
• Component manufacturers
• Major rotational moulders serving the automotive industry

Potential application areas include:

• Fuel tanks and fluid-handling applications
• Automotive storage and utility components
• Underbody applications
• Commercial vehicle components
• Tractor and agricultural applications
• Other rotationally moulded automotive components

The candidate should be comfortable discussing material requirements with OEM R&D, Materials Engineering, Procurement, and Supplier Quality teams.

New Product Development

• Act as a bridge between customers and the company's R&D/technical team.
• Capture customer requirements accurately.
• Identify gaps in the existing product portfolio.
• Propose new grades or modifications to existing grades.
• Prepare technical briefs for R&D.
• Coordinate development samples.
• Obtain customer feedback.
• Drive iterative trials and modifications.
• Support product qualification.
• Identify opportunities for customer-specific or application-specific products.

Commercialisation

Own opportunities through the complete commercialisation cycle:

Technical Enquiry → Sample → Trial → Validation → Approval → Commercial Quotation → First Order → Repeat Business → Account Growth

• Maintain visibility of active opportunities.
• Ensure development projects progress beyond the trial stage.
• Support conversion of successful technical trials into commercial business.

Existing Customer Development

• Increase share of wallet.
• Introduce additional grades and products.
• Identify new applications within existing customers.
• Understand future production plans and obtain customer forecasts.
• Strengthen technical relationships.
• Identify opportunities to replace competing materials.
• Develop long-term supply arrangements.
• Monitor customer satisfaction and resolve technical/commercial issues.

Market & Competitive Intelligence

Monitor:

• Competing polymer grades
• Competitor companies
• Material pricing
• Imported materials
• New polymer technologies
• New applications
• Customer requirements
• OEM specifications
• Industry trends
• Raw-material price movements
• Changes in rotational moulding technology

Provide regular market intelligence to management and identify opportunities for new products and markets.

Commercial Responsibilities

Working within company-approved commercial guidelines:

• Prepare technical-commercial proposals.
• Participate in commercial negotiations.
• Develop customer-specific business proposals.
• Monitor customer pricing and margins.
• Track order conversion.
• Prepare sales forecasts.
• Monitor outstanding payments in coordination with Finance.
• Maintain an accurate sales and project pipeline.
• Provide regular business-development reports to management.

Key Performance Indicators

Business KPIs

• Sales revenue
• Sales volume
• Gross margin
• New customers acquired
• New applications developed
• New products commercialised
• Customer retention
• Existing-account growth

Business Development KPIs

• Qualified opportunity pipeline
• Active development projects
• Trial-to-commercial conversion
• Time from trial to commercialisation
• Value of new business generated
• New OEM/Tier-1 relationships developed

Strategic KPIs

• Development of new market segments
• Replacement of competing/imported materials
• Development of strategic accounts
• Customer forecasts and long-term business visibility
• Contribution to new product development

Educational Qualifications

Preferred qualifications:

• B.E./B.Tech/M.Tech in Polymer Engineering, Plastics Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related discipline.

• MBA/PGDM in Marketing/Business Management is an advantage.

Required Experience

Typically 5–12 years of relevant experience in one or more of the following:

• Specialty polymers
• Polymer compounds
• Plastics
• Rotational moulding
• Polymer additives/masterbatches
• Technical sales
• Application development
• Automotive plastics
• Industrial polymers

Experience dealing directly with OEMs and Tier-1/Tier-2 suppliers will be highly valuable.

Candidates with strong plastics/polymer knowledge but limited rotational moulding experience may also be considered if they demonstrate strong technical aptitude and commercial capability.

Technical Knowledge

• Polyethylene and specialty polymers
• XLPE / MDPE / HDPE
• Polymer compounding
• Additives and masterbatches
• Rotational moulding
• Material selection
• Polymer testing and properties
• Impact strength
• Density and MFI/MFR
• Chemical/environmental resistance
• Fuel/chemical compatibility
• Failure analysis
• Processing parameters
• Customer validation and qualification

Critical Competencies

Technical

• Strong understanding of polymer materials.
• Ability to understand complex applications.
• Ability to troubleshoot technical issues.
• Ability to interpret test data and specifications.

Commercial

• Strong business-development orientation.
• Commercial understanding and negotiation skills.
• Ability to identify and prioritise opportunities.
• Understanding of margins and value-based selling.

Customer

• Excellent relationship-building capability.
• Strong presentation and communication skills.
• Ability to interact with senior technical and commercial personnel.
• Ability to influence customer material-selection decisions.

Entrepreneurial

• High ownership.
• Self-driven and proactive.
• Comfortable creating opportunities rather than waiting for enquiries.
• Strong follow-through.
• Willingness to take responsibility for outcomes.
• Ability to operate in a fast-growing organisation with relatively limited hierarchy.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate should be capable of entering a customer's R&D or engineering environment, understanding the technical problem, identifying a potential material solution, and working with the customer and internal teams to take that solution through to commercial production.

The role requires a combination of:

Technical Depth + Customer Orientation + Commercial Thinking + Entrepreneurial Drive

The candidate should enjoy creating new business, rather than simply servicing an existing customer base.

Compensation

Compensation will be competitive and commensurate with experience and demonstrated capability.

The overall package may include:

• Fixed compensation
• Performance-linked variable component
• Incentives linked to new business development and commercialisation
• Travel and business-development expenses as per company policy