Applications Development Specialist

Global manufacturer is seeking a rubber compounding expert with excellent communication skills.  Work is focused on exploring emerging technologies and market trends, and you will be the main point of contact for technical subject matter experts within major customers.  Work is onsite in the greater Akron/Cleveland area and you will interact with team members around the world.

Responsibilities:

• Conduct regular in-person visits and maintain contacts with the technical management staff at key customer accounts to track & capture unmet needs & implement co-developed account and product strategies
• Act as the initial customer contact point on market insight, customer discovery, product stewardship issues seeking support from the global Technical, Product Management and Sales groups as necessary
• Combine knowledge of market trends, broad market understanding and customer unmet needs to investigate and propose potential new areas of business, either directly in or adjacent to the tire manufacturing space
• Provide product & application technical information / recommendations about the company’s tire additive products (current and new) to tire compounders and plant engineers
• Through discovery calls identify customer unmet needs, understand customer requirements and define fitness-for-use criteria for specific tire/rubber applications. Translate the fitness-for-use criteria to fundamental materials/chemicals characteristics, followed by product recommendations using knowledge of structure processing property-performance understandings
• Lead technical projects through effective design of compounding studies, coordinate activities within technology, marketing and sales for project planning, milestone and deliverables and support the development and presentation of marketing material to customers
• Lead and/or provide technical support to market research efforts in support of strategic initiatives
• Seek, gather & distribute market intelligence, contribute to the global technical knowledge-base through sharing of relevant learning & experience via Call Reports
• Monitor and communicate developments relating to our existing & potential customer base and competitive landscape
• Keep abreast of regulatory charges & their impact on relevant markets
• Foster dialogue with industry related groups and government organizations

**If you’d like to hear more about this opportunity and others we are currently working on, please contact Tory Mack at tmack@cps4jobs.com.

JO:  247.23TM
#LI-TM1

Technical Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in materials or polymer science, chemistry, chemical/materials engineering, rubber technology, or related disciplines required
• Master’s PhD or MBA preferred
• Experience in the tire industry is required. Must be able to discover customer needs through discussion with customers technical / manufacturing organizations, clearly recommend/implement technology/product solutions.  5+ years of experience and understanding of stand and evolving/competing raw materials, formulation, compounding, mixing & processing of various rubber/tire compounds preferred
• Proven project leadership with the ability to influence without authority on cross-functional and cross-regional teams
• 10-25% travel is required for this position
• The candidate would ideally be based out of the Akron office, but other locations with the US would be considered
• Reports into the Application Development and Technical Service Manager for EU, Americas and India
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English, Second Languages: Fluency or conversational skills in Spanish or Portuguese is a plus
• Culturally aware and comfortable with international travel
• A team player with initiative, good analytical and trouble shooting skills, able to work under minimum supervision

**If you’d like to hear more about this opportunity and others we are currently working on, please contact Tory Mack at tmack@cps4jobs.com.

JO:  247.23TM
#LI-TM1