Business Development Manager - Textiles

Textiles Business

Eastman’s Textiles business is a growth engine for Eastman; in our Fashion segment, our focus is to build a growth platform that embodies sustainability, innovation and design versatility.  Our key brand is Naia™, a cellulosic yarn that is sustainable from sourcing to manufacturing until the end of life and is used to create fabrics that leaves freshness on the skin, drapes elegantly and gives any garment a brilliant color with a luxurious soft hand and luster. Naia™ is available in filament and spun yarn. We recognize there is a growing need to shift to a more sustainable fashion industry and Naia™ is a yarn with a low environmental impact with a carefully designed production process. Eastman is also committed to empower and collaborate with our partners to understand, communicate and collectively build a more sustainable fashion industry. Eastman offers a great career opportunity for experienced business developers within the European textile brand segment.

The Role

The role incumbent is responsible for creating a pull effect and executing our business strategy at brand level, by convincing fashion and retail brand accounts and stakeholders to integrate Naia™ into their collections and develop the textile value chain. Approximately 50%+ travel is required for this role.

The location of the role can be in our offices in Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Langenfeld, Germany or Barcelona, Spain.

Responsibilities

• Position, develop and expand Naia™ by using and/or building your business network at fashion brands
• Generate brand targets aligned with the business strategy to deliver future growth
• Effectively engage buying influences at brand level to learn more about their unmet needs and the buying process
• Utilize sources for competitive and customer information that allows a deep understanding of the market
• Present information that enables the prospective customer to understand the value proposition of Naia™ and Eastman’s sustainable solutions
• Create and drive account strategies and plans Identify opportunities and act to strengthen Eastman’s position in the eyes of the customer
• Develop strong trust and credibility with all key players impacting the customer’s buying process  
• Lead cross functional brand engagement team to ensure opportunities are provided with the required resources
• Cultivate a broad network of relationships across the value chain and within the customer organizations beyond procurement and sustainability to enable successful development of new business
• Create a brand pull to enable accelerated Naia™ adoption into fashion brand

We are looking for a dynamic and experienced sales professional who has experience, expertise and passion for strategic selling, and who can help build our Textiles business with key sustainable fashion brands.  The role is ideal for a self-starter who enjoys the challenge and excitement of co-developing a new business. This is a pivotal role in our growth strategy, and we are seeking a strong sales and business development profile that can inspire with vision, build and execute strategy and deliver results.

Qualifications

• Bachelor/Master’s degree in Business or Textile/Fashion related
• Advanced consultative sales skills (at least 8 years), ideally from a newly established business area
• Extensive knowledge of the European fashion markets and solid network with fashion brands is preferred; ability to form partnerships with other players in the value chain 
• Strong market & customer strategy and planning experience with a start-up spirit
• Experience with CRM and other sales systems and tools is an asset
• High curiosity, strong strategic skills with a bias for action 
• Strong communication skills in English, a second language like German, French, Italian, Spanish would be an advantage

#LI-Rotterdam; #LI-Barcelona; #LI-Langenfeld