Global Commercial Development Lead

The organisation

Cosun Beet Company and Avantium plant to form a joint venture with the aim to be a world class producer of plant-based glycols to actively contribute to a fossil-free future. The join venture is planned to be formed in 2021 and an investment decision for the commercial plant is foreseen in the first half of 2023, with commercial operations commencing in 2025.

Avantium’s Ray Technology™ converts sugars into glycols: plantMEG™ (mono-ethylene glycol), plantMPG™ (mono- propylene glycol) and co-products. MEG is a blockbuster commodity intermediate and plantMEG™ is a fully recyclable plant-based product used in broad applications like packaging, polyester textiles, and antifreeze. PlantMPG™ is non-toxic, plant-based and used for airplane de-icing and in unsaturated polyester resins used in modern windmill blades and as heat transfer fluid in solar panels.

The ambition of Cosun Beet Company (formerly known as Suiker Unie) is to be the greenest, most innovative and most successful sugar beet processor in the world. With some 850 employees, they are already one of the most efficient sugar producers in Europe. As well as developing, producing and selling sugar and sugar specialities, they process all parts of the sugar beet into natural ingredients for the food, energy, biobased and related industries. All components of the beet are used, nothing is wasted. Corporate sustainability is woven into the strategy for the benefit of their customers, growers and staff.

Avantium is a pioneer in the emerging industry of renewable and sustainable chemistry. Avantium is headquartered in Amsterdam, employing approximately 200 people, with extensive R&D laboratories and three pilot plants in Geleen and Delfzijl, the Netherlands. They are an innovation-driven company dedicated to developing and commercializing breakthrough technologies to produce chemicals from renewable sources and circular plastic materials used for a variety of consumer products. Avantium’s lead product is PEF, a novel, plant-based, recyclable, and degradable plastic material with a powerful combination of environmental and performance features. PEF has huge potential in the packaging, textiles, and film sectors, growing markets worth over 200 billion US dollar.

The position

Are you driven by the need to contribute to a fossil free future? Would you like to join an exciting collaboration between Cosun Beet Company and Avantium, where you can build a sustainable and plant-based business, with the commercial responsibility for the entire product portfolio (plantMEG, plantMPG and Glycerol) of this envisioned joint venture? Then you could be just the person we are looking for!

Tasks & responsibilities

Your main responsibility will be the commercial trajectory and development of the joint venture, playing a pivotal role in the scale-up of the new entity, leading to beneficial exposure to the overall management of Cosun Beet Company and Avantium. 

Avantium currently produces plantMEG™, plantMPG™ and Glycerol at its demonstration plant in Delfzijl, the Netherlands using Cosun Beet Company’s beet sugar as the renewable feedstock. The products are validated in commercially relevant applications by Avantium.

In this new position, you will benefit from the expertise, experiences, network and back-office services from not one but two professional, global organisations, helping you to shape your role in the joint venture.

Your main activities will be:

• developing the commercial strategy, leading to a shortlist of launching customers with optimal balance of volume, price setting and geographical focus, in line with targets.
• expanding the prospect portfolio, growing the business potential, and converting the business potential in the pipeline to actual sales.
• managing the full sales funnel and negotiations.
• visiting customers, you will interact closely with clients to build long lasting relationships.
• developing, communicating, and executing a forward-looking sampling plan.
• analysing customer needs, market trends & dynamics, competitors and product value from market intelligence and customer interactions.
• translating findings into a value proposition and commercial plans and executing these plans.
• overseeing the application validation of the products.
• promoting the company and its products at exhibitions, tradeshows etc.
• setting up the organisational sales structure needed once the joint venture is operational.

Candidate profile

• Strong desire to contribute to a fossil-free future and comfortable representing this ambition in the market.
• Proven track record in a commercial role in the chemical industry. Knowledge of glycols or glycol application areas is a plus.
• Network in the European commodity chemicals market. Network in the glycols markets is a plus. 
• Entrepreneur, self-starter, who understands what it is like to work within a company on the brink of formation and loves the dynamics of change. 
• Strategist with long-term focus and a creative thinker, able to structure fit-for-purpose commercial proposals and contracts.
• Strong stakeholder and expectation management skills.
• Excellent command of the English language. Understanding of Dutch is a plus.
• Located in the Netherlands or willing to relocate. Willingness to travel up to 25% of the time.

Interested?

You can apply to this position by using the link below.