Sustainable business manager

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Sustainable business manager at IMCD

Add Element [E] to your daily formula

At IMCD the Element E is yours to explore and enjoy. It is the missing element in the Periodic table of Elements, it is our own X-factor. It allows you to bind your ambitions and skills with emerging markets, innovative solutions, and bold future visions.

As our new Sustainable business manager, you will play a pivotal role in shaping and implementing IMCD’s global Sustainable Solutions program.

Your mission? Make sustainability measurable and impactful for our business and customers. From structuring product portfolios and managing data insights to engaging with business leaders and driving adoption. You will be the engine that turns sustainability ambitions into real business value. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to IMCD’s growth ambition and build a strong platform for your next leadership role in the business.

The opportunity

At IMCD, promoting innovative and sustainable solutions is embedded in our day-to-day operations. Through our business-driven Sustainable Solutions programme we invest in product and formulation know-how, as a driver for organic growth. Our Business Group (BG) teams systematically identify sustainable trends, assess our portfolio for materials with fitting sustainability characteristics, and optimise formulations in our laboratories and technical centres, with the ambition to bring expert guidance and collaboration to our customers, helping them to answer sustainability challenges and create future-fit, and commercially successful, products.

What you’ll do

You will hands-on lead all aspects of the global Sustainable Solutions programme, working closely with the Group Director Sustainability and BG leadership. You will lead and support an international network of Sustainable Solutions Ambassadors in each BG, driving alignment, action, and impact across our 8 global Business Groups and 60+ countries. As part of your work, you will co-develop IMCD’s future-fit supplier strategy, by driving portfolio gap analyses with a sustainability angle and work out tangible business cases to increase the sustainable product offering.

You will:

• Build clear structures and processes to scale the programme.
• Manage and interpret large data sets to provide focus, direction, and measurable outcomes.
• Drive portfolio insights, gap analyses, and business cases that turn sustainability drivers into revenue and margin growth.
• Engage with senior commercial and technical leaders to embed sustainable solutions in business strategies, lab and formulation activities, customer service and supplier partnerships.
• Deliver ad-hoc projects as required.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the global Sustainable Solutions programme and chair the Sustainable Solutions Ambassador network.
• Drive portfolio analyses in the BGs to identify opportunities and risks from a sustainability and commercial perspective across IMCD’s 50,000+ product portfolio.
• Support the development of IMCD’s future-fit supplier strategy by identifying gaps and opportunities in the sustainability positioning of our portfolio.
• Develop and help implement top business cases for sustainable growth together with BG directors.
• Accelerate sustainable product know-how and data initiatives, working closely with the Sustainability team, digital transformation team and BGs.
• Partner with technical teams to demonstrate the added value of sustainable solutions through lab and technical centre activities.
• Track and communicate programme progress with data-driven insights to enable fact-based steering and clear communication to stakeholders (customers, suppliers, and investors).
• Deliver tangible success stories in Sustainable Solutions to evidence IMCD’s ambitions to be ‘a force of influence for sustainable growth’ throughout the value chain

Your profile

You are a commercially minded, hands-on professional who combines strategic thinking with programme delivery. You’re motivated by the opportunity to drive tangible business impact from sustainability.

Experience & skills

• At least 5 years of experience in strategy consulting, business development, commercial excellence, or programme management. Background in specialty chemicals, food ingredients, or a related distribution business is an advantage.
• Strong affinity with sustainability and a track record of turning market trends into commercial opportunities.
• Comfortable managing large datasets, conducting portfolio and business case analyses, and presenting results clearly.
• Experience working with senior commercial and technical leaders, influencing across cultures and functions.
• Hands-on and structured, able to drive progress in a lean team.
• Fluent in English; additional languages are a plus.
• Proficient in Excel and PowerPoint; Salesforce and JD Edwards experience is a plus.

Personal qualities

• Commercially sharp, with a strong drive for results.
• Clear communicator who brings structure and simplicity to complex topics.
• Collaborative and credible with senior stakeholders.
• Pragmatic and action-oriented, with a continuous improvement mindset.
• Ambitious and motivated to take on future leadership responsibilities.

What we offer:

• The opportunity to drive a global programme at the heart of IMCD’s commercial growth ambition.
• Competitive compensation package with performance-based rewards and attractive benefits (pension, mobile, laptop, international travelling.)
• The role is initially Rotterdam based, with occasional travelling involved (up to 20%). The close cooperation with IMCD’s business groups creates opportunity for a potential career path towards an (international) business or leadership roles in 2-3 years, based on performance.
• An equal opportunities employer with an entrepreneurial, international culture, focused on growth, ownership, team mentality and fun.

About IMCD

IMCD Group is a leading global distributor and formulator of specialty chemicals and ingredients. Headquartered in Rotterdam, we operate in more than 60 countries with over 5,100 employees. With 82 application laboratories and a digital-first approach, we co-create formulations that shape a more sustainable and innovative future.

Ready to add Element [E] to your journey?

Apply now and make a measurable impact in a role where technology, content, and creativity come together.
Please get in touch with Herald Biewenga herald.biewenga@imcdgroup.com