What are the responsibilities and job description for the Product Manager position at Helm US Corporation?
HELM is one of the world’s leading chemical marketing companies, managing international marketing activities, global distribution, warehousing, logistics, and a range of value-added services for our partners.
With a presence in over 30 countries through a network of subsidiaries and affiliates, HELM operates across all major markets, offering a truly international and diverse working environment.
We are currently seeking a Product Manager to join our motivated and agile team in the Americas region. In this role, you will work within an international framework, maintaining close collaboration with colleagues in Europe and Asia. You will play a key role in managing supplier relationships, identifying market opportunities, and contributing to strategic growth initiatives.
Our strong partnerships with established suppliers provide access to a highly competitive market that demands continuous innovation, proactive risk management, and operational excellence. Aligned with the evolving needs of our polyester customer segment, we are actively driving strategic initiatives focused on sustainability, advanced production technologies, and alternative raw materials.
Join us at HELM and contribute to a company committed to excellence, innovation, and long-term growth.
Main Task and Responsibilities
- Manage, develop, and grow HELM’s BCS 1 business as part of a team.
- Taking ownership and accountability for the P&L results (gross profit) of the allocated products.
- Proactively grow volume and profitability for the allocated products in the region.
- Establish and maintain productive relationships with suppliers and customers (external stakeholders) and internal and for the business by regular communication and in-person meetings
- Negotiate and handle purchase agreements with relevant producers (annual contracts, spot purchases, swaps).
- Negotiate and handle sales agreements in predefined territories (annual contracts, spot sales), via Sales Managers or directly.
- Control, monitor and manage inventory and price risk (including long/short-positions) of the allocated products.
- Respond to inquiries from Sales Managers for pricing, product information and documentation for the allocated products.
- Identify and pursue product alternatives with lower product carbon footprint and work on decreasing HELM’s carbon emission intensity
- Regularly exchange market and profit information with HELM colleagues in the Americas as well as in Europe and Asia, and identify and pursue business opportunities within the Americas and between the regions
- Monitor/guide the activities of Sales Managers regarding the allocated products.
- Regularly control P&L calculations for the allocated products on accuracy and completeness.
- Take part in budgeting and forecasting process for the allocated products.
- Develop in-depth knowledge of the allocated products and market involved (applications, markets, production capacities, demands, product flow, etc).
- Actively present Helm, Helm's products, prices, and value proposition to Helm's business partners and industry players.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, or
- Bachelor’s degree in any field plus at least three years of work experience in the respective industry, or experience in handling commodity business.
- Contract negotiations
- Formula pricing
- Behavior in increasing/falling markets
- Risk management, Commodity trading
- Optimization through swaps, etc.
- Microsoft Office (Excel, Words, PowerPoint, Outlook)
- Microsoft Power BI
- ERP/SAP