Product Manager

Seeking a Product Manager - Chemicals 

Salary: $110,000-$130,000
Location: Houston, TX

Responsibilities:

• Handle purchasing for the allocated products.
• Control, monitor and manage inventory (incl. long/short-positions) of the allocated products.
• Business focus - Trucks, railcars, barges, vessels.
• Define and execute the strategy for the allocated products.
• Respond to inquiries from Sales Managers for pricing, product information and documentation for the allocated products.
• Answer and/or forward customer questionnaires to the respective colleagues.
• Monitor/guide the activities of Sales Managers regarding the allocated products.
• Attend joint customer visits with Sales Managers.
• Visit inhouse customers.
• Regularly control P&L-calculations in the NAV-system for the allocated products on accuracy and completeness.
• Calculate and set sales prices.
• Prepare regular turnover/profit forecast.
• Regularly check and analyze import statistics for the allocated products.
• Develop marketing materials/ideas (e.g. product leaflets).
• Research and select suitable marketing opportunities (i.e. various trade shows).
• Identify potential new customers through cold calls and research tools (e.g. Hoovers, Manta etc.) and either pursue them directly or forward them to the respective sales manager.
• Identify and research potential new product offerings and discuss them with management.
• Establish and maintain sustainable customer and supplier relationships through emails, phone calls and personal meetings (selected accounts).
• Develop in depth customer knowledge (on products, volumes, order cycles, quality requirements etc.) for the respective inhouse accounts.
• Actively present products and prices to (potential) inhouse customers through emails, phone calls and personal meetings.
• Respond to inquiries for information, products and prices through emails, phone calls and personal meetings or forward them to the respective sales manager.
• Handle and offer solutions to problems and product claims.
• Attend national and regional trade shows and participate in their organization and planning (if relevant for the department).
• Prepare, attend and evaluate company strategy and sales meetings.
• Prepare and attend Annual Report (upon request).
• Regularly inform the sales managers about relevant market developments for the allocated products.
• Maintain and control the status spreadsheets for the allocated products.
• Maintain individual customer files for all inhouse customers.
• Communicate customer requirements and information to management, customer service and logistics, where necessary.
• Request new customers to be entered in Navision.
• Request customer credit lines for inhouse customers and make sure sufficient credit lines are in place at all times to cover the pertinent sales.
• Check and communicate purchase orders to customer service and logistics for processing.
• Monitor and follow up on customer payments.
• Write and save meeting reports that summarize discussed subjects/items and things to do.
• Manage and submit expenses according to the rules defined in the quality manual.
• Request customer service to send samples to (potential) customers whenever necessary.
• Provide existing product documentation to customers upon request.
• Understand local competition and occasionally, contact for product purchases, prices and product information.
• Backup for Sales Managers (e.g. during vacations).
• Backup for Supply Chain Coordinator (e.g. during vacations).
• Develop logistics concepts for the allocated products.
• Managing/overseeing the negotiations and selection with/of tank terminals and warehouses.
• Carry out the monthly reconciliation for all SPM-products in RSD

• Deviation from the education and/or experience level listed below is acceptable only if approved by the President. 
• Experience with handling chemicals (solid or liquid)
• Experience with Styrene or Acetone
• Bachelor’s degree in Business or bachelor’s degree in any field plus at least three years’ work experience in the respective industry
• Experience with Microsoft Office (Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint)
• Navision / Salesforce
• Online research tools (e.g. Hoovers, Manta, Jigsaw, LinkedIn etc.)
• Ability to operate various devices (desktop computer, laptop, smart phone)
• Good communication, presentation and persuasion/debating skills.
• Good time management and organizational skills.
• Experience with Chemical products (Glycose, Polypropylene methane)

Due to the high volume of applications we typically receive, we regret that we are not able to personally respond to all applications. However, if you are invited to take the next step in the process, you will typically be contacted within 2 weeks of submitting your application.

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