Head of New Business Development AP

Role overview

This role is responsible for leading venture creation and incubation within the assigned Business Hub. The position shapes the strategic direction at executive level and turns emerging technologies, market shifts and new business models into scalable opportunities, partnerships and revenue streams that are both profitable and sustainable.

What you will do

• Own and shape the venture-building and incubation strategy for the assigned business hub by scanning technologies, markets and business model trends, then converting them into priority opportunity areas and a venture portfolio with planned revenue potential above 100 m€ and an annual innovation/venture budget of up to 50 m€.
• Run the full venture lifecycle through the company’s venture development process, making clear go, hold or stop decisions based on strategic alignment, feasibility, risk-return balance and value-creation potential.
• Lead and grow business development and venture teams of up to 50 people across functions and regions, setting direction, governance and resource allocation to support discovery, validation, incubation and scaling.
• Manage executive stakeholder engagement through the Venture Board, securing funding and critical resources while guiding executive decisions on new business domains and growth platforms.
• Align closely with functions such as TBD, PD/TD, Operations, Marketing, Sales and corporate teams to build business cases, investment scenarios and commercialization plans, ensuring operational readiness.
• Create and deepen strategic partnerships with industry leaders, key customers, start-ups and innovation ecosystems to enable co-development, long-term collaboration and joint venture creation.
• Support ventures in incubation by attracting and developing entrepreneurial talent, building a start-up mindset, and putting in place the governance and structure needed for scale.
• Take ownership of the P&L impact of selected ventures once they are market-ready, steering profitable growth until the venture is transferred to a core business unit or carved out into a new entity, as decided by the Executive Board.

Experience and education

• Advanced academic qualification such as a Master’s degree or Ph.D. in a relevant field including Business, Engineering or Chemistry is required; additional training in business, strategy or innovation such as an MBA, Design Thinking or Venture Building is considered an advantage.
• At least 8–10 years of experience in technical, commercial or strategic positions within the chemical sector or another process industry, with significant leadership responsibility in business development, innovation or venture building and a strong history of portfolio steering and Board-/Executive-level decision preparation.

Skills and capabilities

• Strong understanding of market behavior, emerging technologies and customer requirements, with the ability to turn insights into strategy, growth plans and venture portfolios.
• Proven leadership of senior experts and cross-functional teams in international matrix environments, including 5+ years of work on innovation pipelines and incubation initiatives.
• Solid experience in portfolio governance, investment recommendations and preparing executive decision papers for major strategic and business development initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to develop strategic partnerships and influence senior internal and external stakeholders while ensuring disciplined execution from opportunity discovery through scaling.
• Ability to communicate a clear strategic vision and persuade executive leadership around new opportunities, business concepts and venture directions.
• Comfort operating in highly ambiguous environments while balancing long-term strategy with rigorous execution and high-impact investment decisions.
• Leadership style that is resilient, assertive and proactive, with the ability to build entrepreneurial, cross-functional teams and promote a high-performance, start-up-oriented culture.

Language requirement

English fluency is required. German at an intermediate level is an added advantage.