Senior Director Business and Value Chain Development

About Umicore

Reducing harmful vehicle emissions. Giving new life to used metals. Powering the cars of the future. As a global materials and technology group, we apply our specialist knowledge to offer materials and solutions that are essential to everyday life. We aim to be a clear world leader in materials for clean mobility and recycling and have turned our sustainability approach into an even greater competitive advantage. With ambitions like this, imagine what you could do?

About the role

The Rechargeable Battery Material (RBM) business will grow exponentially in the coming years. The purpose of the job is to assess, develop and improve the RBM value chain globally, primarily to develop the global supply network. The position develops upstream partnerships along the value chain, from mining to precursor.

What you will be doing?

The function holder will develop and execute upstream partnerships including potential M&A’s; execute the upstream processing setup to accommodate the requirements from OEMs for consigned raw materials and integrate the plan in to overall Ni & Co processing roadmap; assess and support the overall improvement of the value retention in the full battery material supply chain.

Main areas of responsibilities: 

• Explore and execute alliance/partnership with global cathode materials value chain players (such as mining, smelter/refiners, precursor producers)  together with Supply to achieve or enhance the Rechargeable Battery business objectives
• Develop the business plan for the upstream partnerships together with the Finance and Corporate Development teams
• Develop and execute the outsourcing activities (Precursor and Refining) together with the Supply team and outline plan to support the Raw Material growth both in terms of supply and refining/leaching capacities. Execute the plan together with the refining team
• Cooperate with Key Account Manager Supply and develop the upstream processing setup for consigned raw materials from OEMs; integrate into overall upstream processing roadmap of Umicore
• Incorporate BRS recycling feed into the overall value chain strategy
• Member of the RBM supply business team making sure there is an excellent sharing and alignment between Sales, Supply and OEM relationships

Who we are looking for

You are an ideal candidate as you

• Have a Master’s degree in Engineering/Science/Economics/Business Administration; ideally enhanced by Executive Education in sales/marketing/strategy
• Have working experience for minimum 10-15 years, preferably in a B2B commercial environment in metals and materials
• Gained experience in business development through mergers & acquisitions either in similar industries and also with strategic business consulting firms
• Have good demonstrated technical understanding of metal-based materials; experience in battery technology & cathode materials is an advantage
• Are a people leader and believe strongly in working with and in teams
• Have strong financial and commercial acumen and high strategic and analytical skills
• Are a natural commercial, sales and business development talent
• Posses excellent communication, presentation and interpersonal skills
• Have very good negotiation skills
• Are strongly customer focussed and service minded
• Have working experience with diverse teams and have multi-cultural mindset
• You are fluent with English and know other European languages like Dutch and/or French

What we offer

We aim to lead the way. Not just for our customers, but for our employees too. That is why we strive to create a collaborative environment in which we can all succeed, and a culture through which we can all share ideas, develop our expertise and advance our careers. We engage in building an inclusive work culture that offers equal opportunities for all employees irrespective of their diverse backgrounds. As you would expect from a world-leading organization, we will also reward your contribution with a competitive salary and benefits.

If our battery materials can power electric vehicles, IMAGINE WHAT YOU COULD DO