Global Portfolio Manager – Coatings & Personal Care

Elementis is looking for a Global Portfolio Manager to manage the company’s global portfolio across the Coatings and Personal Care markets.

Elementis is a global specialty chemical company, with 1,300 employees and 17 manufacturing sites worldwide. The company creates high-value specialty additives that enhance the performance of customers’ products across markets such as cosmetics, anti-perspirants, decorative and industrial coatings, automotive and ceramics.

Role overview:

The Global Portfolio Manager will define long-term strategy and positioning for different product categories and steer the product portfolio lifecycle, ensuring the right balance between customer experience, working capital and operational efficiency.

This role leads lifecycle decisions, including MTS, MTO, ETO, rationalization, phase-out and production transfers, acting as the central coordination point across Strategic Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance, Sales, Sustainability and Innovation Delivery.

Responsibilities:

• Define portfolio structure and category roles aligned with segment priorities;
• Apply clear positioning logic, such as good, better and best, across the portfolio;
• Ensure trademark oversight for key portfolio brands and decide whether to create, maintain or exit them;
• Ensure alignment between portfolio strategy, segment priorities and value propositions;
• Define and steer lifecycle strategies, including MTS, MTO, limited run and phase-out;
• Lead structured lifecycle programmes to assess portfolio health and performance;
• Initiate next-generation and optimization actions to strengthen portfolio competitiveness and value creation;
• Lead SKU rationalization with clear business cases and value impact;
• Maintain a rolling rationalization roadmap for continuous portfolio optimization;
• Balance working capital reduction with customer experience and service levels;
• Act as the Strategic Marketing lead for sustainability and PRSA-related portfolio actions;
• Drive mitigation actions for at-risk products and POCOC exposure;
• Ensure alignment with regulatory requirements and long-term portfolio resilience;
• Lead sustainability-related portfolio topics, including PARC activities, sustainability scoring and improvement actions;
• Work closely with Sustainability teams and Segment Managers;
• Coordinate portfolio lifecycle priorities across Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Procurement, Finance, Sales and Innovation Delivery;
• Ensure transparency and alignment on upcoming changes and risks;
• Lead cross-functional decision-making with clear alignment, accountability and execution;
• Ensure decisions are data-driven, actionable and supported by portfolio governance standards;
• Drive the availability of accurate lifecycle data in PIM;
• Define requirements for reporting tools.

Decision making:

• Approve all small projects for Coatings and Personal Care;
• Set global portfolio strategy;
• Decide on product rationalization, considering input from sales and marketing segment leaders;
• Define relevant KPIs to track progress;
• Report regularly on portfolio KPIs to the Global Head of Strategic Marketing.

Job competencies:

• Strategic mindset to set direction, identify market trends and align product management with current and future customer needs;
• Effective communication to articulate strategic goals, provide guidance and align teams with company objectives;
• Agility and adaptability to adjust decisions, processes and resources in a complex environment;
• Ability to plan and align multiple projects, resources and timelines effectively;
• Strong collaboration with R&D, Marketing, Regulatory Affairs, Procurement and Supply Chain teams.

Technical knowledge and skills:

• Strong ability to manage a complex, multi-plant and multi-region portfolio;
• Holistic understanding of interdependencies between products, customers, operations and working capital;
• Ability to translate portfolio insights into fact-based lifecycle decisions;
• Excellent commercial and operational judgement;
• Ability to balance customer experience, profitability, sustainability and operational constraints;
• Strong stakeholder alignment and decision facilitation skills;
• Ability to bring diverse functions together, surface trade-offs and drive alignment;
• Data-driven prioritization using product performance data, demand patterns, financial indicators and risk signals;
• Ability to focus resources where business impact is greatest.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Engineering, Supply Chain, Chemistry or equivalent;
• MBA is desirable;
• 8 to 10+ years of experience in product management, portfolio management, supply chain or commercial roles in multinational environments;
• Experience in portfolio optimization;
• Experience with lifecycle governance;
• Familiarity with Power BI;
• Strong project coordination skills;
• Fluent English;
• Fluent Portuguese.