Product Manager

Synthomer is a leading supplier of high-performance, highly specialised polymers and ingredients that play vital roles in key sectors such as coatings, construction, adhesives, and health and protection – growing markets that serve billions of end users worldwide. Headquartered in London, UK and publicly listed there since 1971, we employ c.3,900 employees across our 5 innovation centres of excellence and more than 29 manufacturing sites across Europe, North America and Asia. Around 20% of our sales volumes are from new and patent protected products.

At our innovation centres of excellence in the UK, Germany, China, Malaysia and Ohio, USA we collaborate closely with our customers to develop new products and enhance existing ones tailored to their needs, with an increasing range of sustainability benefits. Since 2021, we have been proud holders of the London Stock Exchange Green Economy Mark, which recognises green technology businesses making a significant contribution to a more sustainable, low-carbon economy.

EMEA Product Manager Location: Rotterdam or Middelburg, The Netherlands

About Synthomer Synthomer is a world-leading supplier of high-performance polymers and specialty chemicals, serving customers across a wide range of industries including coatings, construction, adhesives, textiles, automotive, and healthcare.

We are looking for an experienced and commercially minded EMEA Product Manager to join our team. In this highly visible role, you will be responsible for driving portfolio performance, profitability, pricing strategy, and sustainable growth across the EMEA region.

The Role As an EMEA Product Manager, you will act as the business owner for a portfolio of products manufactured at Synthomer's production facility in Middelburg, the Netherlands. You will be responsible for driving strategy, profitability, market growth, and operational excellence for these products across the EMEA region.

You will be responsible for defining product strategy, optimizing profitability, managing product life cycles, and supporting key business decisions through market insights and data-driven analysis.

Working closely with the Middelburg manufacturing site, you will play a key role in aligning commercial opportunities with operational capabilities, ensuring that portfolio decisions support both customer needs and business performance.

Key Responsibilities Portfolio Management

• Manage and optimize an assigned product portfolio across the EMEA region.
• Develop and execute portfolio and product strategies aligned with business objectives.
• Monitor portfolio performance and identify opportunities for growth and profitability improvement.
• Manage product lifecycle activities, including product launches, rationalization initiatives, and product discontinuations.
• Utilize portfolio analysis, market insights, and win/loss data to support strategic decision-making.

Pricing & Profitability

• Develop and execute regional pricing strategies to maximize profitability.
• Monitor and improve margin performance across customers, markets, applications, geographies, and products.
• Support forecasting activities and Integrated Business Planning processes.
• Collaborate with Sales and Marketing teams to develop and implement pricing actions.
• Support contract and incentive strategy development and execution.

Market & Competitive Intelligence

• Monitor market dynamics, competitive activity, supply and demand trends, and pricing developments.
• Conduct competitive analyses and deliver actionable recommendations to support growth and defend market position.
• Analyze market opportunities and identify value creation initiatives.
• Provide commercial insight to influence strategic and operational business decisions.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Partner closely with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, and Technology teams to ensure effective portfolio execution.
• Support new product commercialization, market expansion initiatives, and successful product launches.
• Contribute to S&OP processes, asset utilization decisions, inventory management, and allocation strategies.
• Ensure compliance with product quality standards, customer specifications, and regulatory requirements.

What We're Looking For

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain, Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in Product Management, Commercial Management, Pricing, Supply Chain, Procurement, or a related field.
• Experience within the chemical industry, specialty chemicals, polymers, or other industrial B2B environments is highly preferred.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen with a focus on profitability and value creation.
• Experience managing pricing strategies, margin improvement initiatives, and product portfolios.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing capabilities within international organizations.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and negotiation skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and other Microsoft Office applications.
• Fluent in English; additional European languages are an advantage.

What Makes You Successful You are commercially driven, highly analytical, and comfortable working across both strategic and operational levels. You enjoy solving complex business challenges, using data to support decisions, and collaborating with stakeholders across multiple functions and geographies.

You thrive in a dynamic international environment and have the ability to balance customer needs, operational constraints, and business objectives to deliver sustainable growth and profitability.

Why Join Synthomer?

• An impactful role within a global leader in specialty chemicals and performance materials.
• Ownership of a strategic product portfolio manufactured at our Middelburg production facility and sold across the EMEA region.
• The opportunity to influence pricing, profitability, product strategy, and business growth.
• Exposure to international markets and cross-functional leadership.
• A collaborative and innovative working environment.
• Competitive compensation and benefits package.
• Flexible working arrangements with a base location in either Middelburg or Rotterdam.

Interested? If you are looking for a challenging international role where you can drive business performance and shape the future of a strategic product portfolio, we would love to hear from you.

Apply today and help us create innovative solutions for a changing world. 🌍 Global Benefits Overview

• 💰 Competitive, market-aligned compensation
• 🎯 Discretionary global bonus scheme
• 📈 Discretionary Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) – for senior positions
• 🚗 Company car or car allowance – varies by region and role
• 🩺 Healthcare – tailored to regional locations
• 👶 Parental leave and family support – maternity, paternity, adoption (aligned with regional policies)
• 🏡 Working options – flexibility where it matters, based on role and business needs
• 📚 Learning & development opportunities – training, online platforms, buddy/mentorship programs, Internal Synthomer University with L&D offers
• 💙 Wellbeing support – employee assistance program (EAP), mental health resources, wellbeing initiatives
• 🌱 Retirement / pension contributions – plans vary by country
• 🤝 Culture of Inclusion – where everyone can thrive
• 🏆 Performance culture, global reward & recognition programmes