Market Development Senior Manager / Director
About the Role
Flexsys is seeking a Market Development Manager to lead innovation projects from idea through commercialization — bringing new materials and solutions to the global tire industry. This is an entrepreneurial, market-facing role: you own the business case, the customer relationships, the competitive intelligence, and the cross-functional coordination needed to move innovations from concept to commercial success. You are not the bench scientist or IP strategist — those are your partners. Your mandate is everything external: identifying where the market is headed, building the relationships and insights that define what Flexsys should develop, and driving each innovation to a successful launch.
The ideal candidate is a technically grounded commercial leader — someone who can earn credibility at a tire plant engineering meeting in the morning and present a compelling business case to senior leadership in the afternoon. You will operate in a matrixed global organization, leading through influence, and thrive on converting deep market insight into tangible business growth.
Key Responsibilities
You will lead a single, accountable cross-functional team that moves each project from idea to launch, with no hand-off between silos. Your ownership maps to the stage-gate phases as follows:
Discovery & Concept
Hunt for opportunities; capture voice-of-customer insight; identify unmet needs and competitive alternatives; perform initial market and technical scoping.
Build the Business Case
Lead primary market research and VoC; clarify the value proposition; build the economic and financial analysis; define positioning and the path forward.
Development
Coordinate the cross-functional team while technical partners run the bench work; maintain market alignment; run parallel commercial and operations planning.
Testing & Validation
Manage customer trials and field validation at tire makers; confirm the market will accept the innovation and the value proposition holds.
Launch
Lead go-to-market planning — positioning, messaging, pricing, demand generation — and transition into routine business management / sales.
Across All Phases You Will:
• Lead the cross-functional team (technical, IP, operations, finance, marketing, sales) through each gate — coordinating activities, resolving roadblocks, and keeping the project on strategy.
• Own the external market view — customer unmet needs, competitive alternatives, market sizing, emerging trends, and the evolving dynamics of the global tire value chain.
• Build and manage an active opportunity pipeline — identifying, qualifying, and prioritizing new market opportunities with rigor and commercial discipline.
• Build and defend the business case — economic analysis, pricing, revenue forecasts, and the value proposition presented to gatekeepers and leadership.
• Drive structured voice-of-customer programs and embed early customer validation throughout the innovation process — not just at launch.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and adjacent materials to identify potential new applications and disruptive opportunities for Flexsys.
• Coordinate marketing communications and go-to-market deliverables in partnership with the marketing function.
• Represent Flexsys externally at customer sites, trade shows, and industry events to build relationships and gather market intelligence.