Business Development Manager - Naia Textiles

Job Requisition ID: 56819

Founded in 1920, Eastman is a global specialty materials company that produces a broad range of products found in items people use every day. With the purpose of enhancing the quality of life in a material way, Eastman works with customers to deliver innovative products and solutions while maintaining a commitment to safety and sustainability. The company’s innovation-driven growth model takes advantage of world-class technology platforms, deep customer engagement, and differentiated application development to grow its leading positions in attractive end markets such as transportation, building and construction, and consumables. As a globally inclusive company, Eastman employs approximately 13,000 people around the world and serves customers in more than 100 countries. The company had 2025 revenue of approximately $8.8 billion and is headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, USA. For more information, visit www.eastman.com.

The Role

Eastman’s Textiles business is a growth engine for Eastman; in our Fashion segment, our focus is to build a growth platform that embodies sustainability, innovation and design versatility. Our key brand is Naia™, a cellulosic yarn that is sustainable from sourcing to manufacturing until the end of life and is used to create fabrics that leaves freshness on the skin, drapes elegantly and gives any garment a brilliant color with a luxurious soft hand and luster. Naia™ is available in filament and spun yarn. We recognize there is a growing need to shift to a more sustainable fashion industry and Naia™ is a yarn with a low environmental impact with a carefully designed production process. Eastman is also committed to empower and collaborate with our partners to understand, communicate and collectively build a more sustainable fashion industry. Eastman offers a great career opportunity for experienced business developers within the European textile brand segment.

The role incumbent is responsible for creating a pull effect and executing our business strategy at brand level, by convincing fashion and retail brand accounts and stakeholders to integrate Naia™ into their collections and develop the textile value chain. Approximately 50%+ travel is required for this role.

The location of the role can be in our offices in Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Langenfeld, Germany or Barcelona, Spain.

Responsibilities

Position, develop and Naia™ by using and/or building your business network at fashion brands

Generate brand targets aligned with the business strategy to deliver future growth

Effectively engage buying influences at brand level to learn more about their unmet needs and the buying process

Utilize sources for competitive and customer information that allows a deep understanding of the market

Present information that enables the prospective customer to understand the value proposition of Naia™ and Eastman’s sustainable solutions

Create and drive account strategies and plans Identify opportunities and act to strengthen Eastman’s position in the eyes of the customer

Develop strong trust and credibility with all key players impacting the customer’s buying process

Lead cross functional brand engagement team to ensure opportunities are provided with the required resources

Cultivate a broad network of relationships across the value chain and within the customer organizations beyond procurement and sustainability to enable successful development of new business

Create a brand pull to enable accelerated Naia™ adoption into fashion brand

Qualifications

Bachelor/Master’s degree in Business or Textile/Fashion related

15 years’ experience in Textiles industry

Experience working with global and European fashion brands and strong understanding of textiles value chain

Advanced consultative sales skills (at least 8 years), ideally from a newly established business area

Extensive knowledge of the European fashion markets and solid network with fashion brands is preferred; ability to form partnerships with other players in the value chain

Strong market & customer strategy and planning experience with a start-up spirit

Experience with CRM and other sales systems and tools is an asset

Strong communication skills in English and French, a third language like German, Italian, Spanish would be an advantage

High curiosity, strong strategic skills with a bias for action

Eastman is committed to creating a highly engaged workforce, where everyone can contribute to their fullest potential each day.

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