EMEA Premium Product Manager (Paints & Coatings, automotive sector)

Axalta has remained at the forefront of the coatings industry by continually investing in innovative solutions. We engineer technologies that protect customers’ products – whether they are battling heat, light, corrosion, abrasion, moisture, or chemicals – and add dimension and beauty with colorful finishes. We have a vast and ever-evolving portfolio of brands primed to play an important part in everything from modernizing infrastructure around the world to enabling the next generation of electric and autonomous vehicles.

We are currently looking for an EMEA Premium Product Manager (paints/coatings sector) for our Refinish Premium segment in EMEA.

This highly visible role is for an individual who manages the product portfolio for a particular segment in the EMEA region. The chosen candidate will be responsible for the management and delivery of projects within EMEA, to either add new products, sunset products which are to be obsoleted or otherwise manage product changes within segment.

The regional product manager is responsible for building an understanding of the customer product requirements; this includes an understanding of the market landscape, competitive intelligence, and emerging new trends. The candidate will work closely with technology platform managers to convert these insights into clear requirements for project deliverables.

The role holder needs to have a close interaction with the other marketing, sales, and technical teams in their region, to understand any market needs and to execute the global initiatives within their region.

Key responsibilities:

• Execute segment strategic direction and key product initiatives within EMEA.
• Follow-up of execution of the premium segment, product & business initiatives within EMEA.
• Collect market & technical input from regional organizations to be input into the global segment teams.
• Establish overview, knowledge & understanding of the customer segment regarding product-technical-color and process aspects of the Axalta Refinish offering.
• Understand competitive landscape and market drivers within the segment.
• Define segment related opportunities and business cases.
• Liaise with sales and technical teams to provide required product support.
• Support the regional organizations on business related requests.
• Support/assess private label initiatives.

Key requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent industrial experience
• Minimum 5+ years of experience in marketing, technical, R&D, and/or product management within the coatings, chemical, collision repair, automotive, or another industrial segment.
• Proven technical/product knowledge of refinish and/or automotive coatings including their application, performance, and commercial aspects
• Possesses strong analytical and problem-solving skills with ability to proactively identify process and efficiency improvement opportunities
• Technical knowledge and experience in managing new product development and product support programs
• Understanding of product life-cycle management
• Demonstrated success in project management
• Understands customer processes and competitive market dynamics
• Travel availability around 25%

Axalta operates its business in two segments: Performance Coatings and Mobility Coatings, which serve four end markets, including Refinish, Industrial, Light Vehicle and Commercial Vehicle, across North America, EMEA, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Our diverse global footprint allows us to deliver solutions in over 140+ countries and coat 30 million vehicles per year. We’ve recently set an exciting 2040 carbon neutrality goal, in addition to 10 other sustainability initiatives, and we take pride in working with our customers to optimize their businesses and achieve their goals.