Director of Industrial Sales (Polymers & Compounds)
Rheom Materials
Houston, TX
- Proven experience selling specialty chemicals, polymers, compounds, or material intermediates into industrial or OEM markets, demonstrated experience closing at least one multi-year or repeat-purchase industrial supply agreement
- Existing relationships with compounders, chemical suppliers, converters, OEMs, or Tier 1 customers strongly preferred
- Comfortable leading technical sales conversations without being the primary R&D owner
- Experience navigating customer qualification, trials, and early production ramps
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build trust and influence cross-functional stakeholders
- Experience using CRM tools such as HubSpot or similar systems to track customer interactions and market activity
- Entrepreneurial mindset with high ownership, initiative, and comfort operating in a fast-moving startup environment
- Fluency in English; proficiency in additional European languages is a plus
Preference for candidates based in Houston or surrounding area.
Qualified remote candidates will be considered; however, regular onsite presence at Rheom Materials HQ and partner facilities will be required. Candidates within commuting distance should expect to be onsite four or more days per week.
Willingness to travel as needed to support customers, partners, and suppliers
We value curiosity, ownership, and execution over rigid years of experience; candidates with strong startup energy and a willingness to learn quickly are encouraged to apply.
Industrial Sales & Pipeline Development
- Build and own a net-new industrial sales pipeline for specialty polymers, compounds, and sheet materials
- Actively prospect, network, and develop relationships with compounders, chemical suppliers, converters, OEMs, and Tier 1s
- Drive customer conversations from initial interest → sampling → qualification → commercial supply agreements
- Own revenue targets, forecast accuracy, and deal execution for industrial markets
- Represent Rheom in customer meetings, plant visits, trade shows, and supplier discussions
Customer Requirements & Technical Selling
- Gather application-specific customer requirements (performance, processing, cost, volumes) and translate them into clear internal inputs
- Work closely with the Technology team to support trials, evaluations, and customer qualification efforts
- Support pricing discussions, cost tradeoffs, and commercial terms alongside leadership.
- Comfortably operate at the interface of customer engineering teams and internal R&D without over-promising or under-selling technical capabilities.
Internal Coordination
- Coordinate with supply chain and manufacturing partners to align customer demand with production readiness
- Maintain CRM records, pipeline tracking, and customer activity reporting
Rheom Materials is seeking a Director of Industrial Sales to drive revenue growth across specialty polymers, compounds, and performance-driven material intermediates sold into industrial, OEM, and supplier-driven markets.
This role is designed for a hands-on industrial salesperson who understands how specialty materials are sold—through technical conversations, relationship-building, qualification processes, and persistence across long B2B sales cycles.
The Director of Industrial Sales owns pipeline development, customer acquisition, and revenue growth for non-fashion markets, working closely with Rheom’s technical and supply chain teams to convert customer requirements into repeat commercial orders. This role is distinct from fashion and brand-led sales, which are managed separately. This is an individual-contributor role at the Director level, with full ownership of industrial revenue and a clear path to building a team as the business scales.
About the Company
Rheom Materials
Rheom Materials is pioneering next-gen materials that leverage existing plastics manufacturing to create scalable, biobased alternatives to petrochemicals.