Assistant Manager - Product Management Oleo Surfactants, Asia Pacific

Main responsibilities

1. Market Intelligence & Business Steering

• Continuously monitor Fatty Alcohol, Lauric oils, Ethylene, Sulfur, Caustic Soda, Ammonia, Acetic Acid and Acrylonitrile
• Develop forward-looking market perspectives on pricing, supply-demand dynamics, competitor activities, customer trends, and macroeconomic developments.
• Identify opportunities and risks impacting profitability, competitiveness, and supply security.
• Act as an early-warning mechanism for market disruptions and emerging opportunities.
• Build strong networks with Procurement, suppliers, customers, and market participants to gather and validate market intelligence.
• Challenge assumptions, reconcile conflicting information, and provide objective market assessments.
• Develop alternative business scenarios and recommendations for Business Management team review.

2. Value Chain Optimization

• Continuously challenge and optimize the end-to-end value chain and supply chain to improve cost competitiveness and customer value.
• Conduct internal and external benchmarking analysis to identify improvement opportunities and competitiveness gaps.
• Collaborate closely with Raw Material Procurement, Packaging Procurement, Logistics, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain teams to improve value chain performance.
• Lead recommendations regarding strategic raw material sourcing decisions
• Drive initiatives that improve profitability, operational efficiency, customer competitiveness, and supply resilience.

3. Asset Profitability & Portfolio Management

• Manage and optimize profitability of Primary Surfactant and Co-Surfactant assets.
• Monitor monthly asset profitability and EBIT performance.
• Monitor product profitability, asset performance, and portfolio competitiveness.
• Conduct product level and asset-level benchmarking analysis.
• Support customer and product allocation decisions during bottleneck situations to maximize overall profitability.

4. Margin Management & Commercial Analytics

• Provide market intelligence and cost forecasts, pricing recommendations to support commercial decisions.
• Support the development and maintenance of pricing formulas, pricing rationale, and index correlation methodologies.
• Analyze cost structures, competitor activities, and value chain developments to identify profitability risks and opportunities
• Conduct monthly margin reviews and identify corrective actions where required
• Assess the impact of raw material cost movements and market dynamics on portfolio profitability.
• Support annual profitability reviews and Corporate Audit processes in collaboration with Finance, Business Management leadership, Business Analysts, and Product Management Head.
• Provide fact-based profitability analysis and recommendations to support commercial and portfolio decisions.
• Balance customer requirements, manufacturing constraints, and financial objectives.
• Lead quarterly Margin Management Meeting presentations, clearly communicating risks, opportunities, and recommendations to Sales teams and business management team.

5. Sales Enablement & Commercial Support

• Provide market insights, portfolio direction, and commercial guidance to Sales teams.
• Equip Sales teams with customer-relevant market intelligence and value propositions.
• Support bidding activities through profitability simulations and scenario analysis.
• Develop contingency plans to ensure sales continuity during supply disruptions and operational constraints.
• Support project follow-up and commercial opportunity development.
• Partner with Sales leadership to identify profitable growth opportunities and improve portfolio quality.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Business Management, Science or a related discipline.
• Experience: At least 5 years of experience in Product Management, Supply Chain or a related function, with a proven track record of success in commodity or FMCG businesses.
• Skills: Strong analytical skills, ability to identify and capitalize on business opportunities, and sound decision-making in daily operations to meet customer expectations.
• Language: Proficiency in English.

Work location

• Emporium office, Bangkok