Director, Plant Extract Commercialization

Director, Plant Extract Commercialization Job Description

You’re not the person who will settle for just any role. Neither are we. Because we’re out to create Better Care for a Better World, and that takes a certain kind of person and teams who care about making a difference. Here, you’ll bring your professional expertise, talent, and drive to building and managing our portfolio of iconic, ground-breaking brands. In this role, you’ll help us deliver better care for billions of people around the world. It starts with YOU. Kimberly-Clark is seeking a Director, Plant Extract Commercialization to lead revenue growth and commercial development for plant extract within the Natural Solutions organization. Reporting to the Vice President and Managing Director, this leader will shape and execute the strategy for turning plant extract into a scalable, profitable business. The Director will lead the commercial organization responsible for identifying markets, developing customer relationships, building partnerships, managing the sales pipeline, and converting plant-extract opportunities into revenue. Target markets may include agriculture, animal health, surfactants, personal care, household care, and other specialty applications. The Director owns the commercial outcome. Your responsibility is to determine where the strongest value exists, build the route to market, secure customers and partners, and ensure that technical and operating work is aligned to attractive revenue and profit opportunities.

In this role, you will:

• Own the commercial strategy for plant extract, including priority markets, applications, customers, channels, partnerships, portfolio priorities, and value-creation pathways.
• Lead and develop the plant-extract sales and commercialization organization, establishing clear roles, goals, sales processes, and performance expectations.
• Identify and prioritize markets and customers based on customer need, technical feasibility, competitive position, strategic fit, and financial value.
• Build a qualified pipeline across agriculture, animal health, surfactants, personal care, household care, and other suitable markets.
• Lead customer discovery, value proposition development, business development, sales negotiations, commercial proposals, and conversion of opportunities into signed agreements and revenue.
• Build relationships with customers, distributors, development partners, toll manufacturers, strategic collaborators, and other commercial partners.
• Lead commercialization from concept through customer validation, product definition, launch, scale-up, and ongoing business management.
• Translate customer and market requirements into priorities for technical, formulation, quality, regulatory, operations, and supply-chain teams.
• Confirm that proposed offerings can meet customer requirements for performance, quality, supply, cost, service, regulatory support, and timing.
• Establish pricing strategy, offer architecture, contract structures, channel models, partnership economics, and commercial terms.
• Own the plant-extract business case, including revenue, volume, pricing, margin, forecasts, profitability, capital requirements, and long-range value creation.
• Lead annual operating plans, growth plans, commercial forecasts, scenario plans, and financial updates for senior leadership.
• Establish the operating rhythm, pipeline reviews, commercial metrics, and governance needed to manage plant extract as a business.
• Coordinate plant-to-market planning with Operations and Supply Chain to align customer commitments with capacity, quality, inventory, logistics, and service expectations.
• Represent the business with senior internal stakeholders, customers, partners, and external organizations.
• Communicate strategy, progress, risks, and recommendations clearly.
• Lead cross-functional teams through customer qualification, product definition, trials, contracting, launch, and post-launch performance management.
• Champion accountability, customer focus, collaboration, innovation, and bias for action while upholding Kimberly-Clark values and standards.

About Us

Huggies®. Kleenex®. Cottonelle®. Scott®. Kotex®. Poise®. Depend®. Kimberly-Clark Professional®. You already know our legendary brands—and so does the rest of the world. In fact, millions of people use Kimberly-Clark products every day. We know these amazing Kimberly-Clark products wouldn’t exist without talented professionals, like you. At Kimberly-Clark, you’ll be part of the best team committed to driving innovation, growth and impact. We’re founded on more than 150 years of market leadership, and we’re always looking for new and better ways to perform – so there’s your open door of opportunity. It’s all here for you at Kimberly-Clark. Led by Purpose. Driven by You.

About You

You perform at the highest level possible, and you appreciate a performance culture fueled by authentic caring. You want to be part of a company actively dedicated to sustainability, inclusion, wellbeing, and career development. You love what you do, especially when the work you do makes a difference. At Kimberly-Clark, we’re constantly exploring new ideas on how, when, and where we can best achieve results. When you join our team, you’ll experience Flex That Works: flexible (hybrid) work arrangements that empower you to have purposeful time in the office and partner with your leader to make flexibility work for both you and the business. In one of our professional roles, you’ll focus on winning with consumers and the market, while putting safety, mutual respect, and human dignity at the center.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• An advanced degree in business, engineering, chemistry, materials science, chemical engineering, or a related field is preferred.
• Significant experience in commercialization, business development, sales leadership, strategy, product management, new-business scaling, or general management.
• Experience in ingredients, specialty chemicals, biomaterials, agribusiness, consumer products, industrial products, or adjacent sectors preferred.
• Demonstrated success leading new businesses, products, or platforms from development through customer adoption, launch, and scale.
• Experience leading and developing a sales or commercial organization, including pipeline management, customer segmentation, account strategy, sales execution, and performance management.
• Experience owning or materially influencing a P&L, including pricing, forecasting, margin management, business cases, and resource allocation.
• Strong track record working with customers, external partners, distributors, and senior leaders to create and execute growth strategies.
• Ability to translate technical or manufacturing capabilities into compelling customer propositions and commercially viable offers.
• Strong financial, strategic, analytical, negotiating, communication, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams in complex, ambiguous, and fast-moving environments.
• Willingness to travel as needed to plants, partners, customers, conferences, and market-development activities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Selling or commercializing plant-derived ingredients, natural products, specialty chemicals, surfactants, biomaterials, agricultural inputs, animal-health products, personal-care ingredients, household-care ingredients, or related solutions.
• Building a market, channel, or customer base for a new product or technology with limited existing market structure.
• Strategic partnerships, licensing, toll manufacturing, distribution models, contract development, or technology commercialization.
• Selling into multiple markets with different customer requirements, regulatory pathways, value propositions, and margin structures.
• Connecting customer needs to R&D, process development, formulation, manufacturing, quality, regulatory, and supply-chain capabilities.

Leadership Profile

The ideal candidate will be:

• A business builder who sees pathways to value creation and moves quickly to capture them.
• Commercially sharp and externally oriented, with strong instincts for customers, markets, partnerships, and competitive dynamics.
• Comfortable in both the boardroom and the plant, connecting strategic ambition with operating realities.
• Financially disciplined, with ownership of revenue, margin, forecast accuracy, and value delivery.
• An effective sales leader who can build talent, establish commercial rhythm, and create accountability for results.
• Effective in ambiguity, where structure must be created rather than inherited.
• A strong cross-functional integrator who aligns stakeholders around clear choices and actions.
• Courageous, pragmatic, and action-oriented.

What Success Looks Like

• Within the first 12 to 18 months, you will have: Established a clear commercialization strategy with prioritized markets, customer segments, value propositions, and partnership pathways.
• Built the commercial organization, sales process, pipeline discipline, operating rhythm, and performance metrics required to drive growth.
• Developed a qualified pipeline of target customers and partners across multiple suitable markets.
• Secured customer, development, distribution, tolling, or strategic partnerships that accelerate market entry and scale.
• Established pricing, margin targets, forecasts, and business‑case updates that support disciplined investment decisions.
• Created strong coordination among customers, plant operations, process engineering, extract research, formulation, quality, regulatory, supply chain, and finance.
• Converted priority opportunities into validated customer demand, launch plans, and measurable revenue growth.

Travel

Travel to plants, research and development locations, suppliers, partners, customers, conferences, and market-development activities will be required as the business develops.

Total Benefits

• Great support for good health with medical, dental, and vision coverage options with no waiting periods or pre‑existing condition restrictions.
• Access to an on‑site fitness center, occupational health nurse, and allowances for high‑quality safety equipment.
• Flexible Savings and spending accounts to maximize health care options and stretch dollars when caring for yourself or dependents.
• Diverse income protection insurance options to protect yourself and your family in case of illness, injury, or other unexpected events.
• Additional programs and support to continue your education, adopt a child, relocate, or even find temporary childcare.

We are a committed equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, pregnancy, genetic information, citizenship status, or any other characteristic protected by law. The statements above are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by employees assigned to this classification. Statements are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities and skills required for this position. Employment is subject to verification of local policies. Employment is subject to verification of pre‑screening tests which may include drug screening, background check, and DMV check. Veterans and members of the Reserve and Guard are highly encouraged to apply. Kimberly-Clark will support in‑country relocation for the chosen candidate for the role. The benefits provided will be per the terms of Kimberly-Clark’s applicable mobility policies. The benefits/policy provided will be decided at Kimberly-Clark’s sole discretion.

Fueled by ingenuity, creativity, and an understanding of people's most essential needs, we're working to find new ways to make a positive impact on the world we share. Kimberly-Clark and its trusted brands, including Huggies, Kleenex, Scott, Kotex, Cottonelle, Poise, Depend, Andrex, Pull-Ups, GoodNites, Intimus, Neve, Plenitud, Sweety, Softex, Viva and WypAll, are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries by helping individuals experience more of what's important to them. We use sustainable practices that support a healthy planet, build stronger communities, and ensure our business thrives for decades to come. To learn more about the company's 150-year history of innovation, visit kimberly-clark.com.

Salary Range

Salary Range: – USD At Kimberly-Clark, pay is just one aspect of our total rewards package, which also includes a variety of benefits and opportunities to achieve, thrive and grow. Along with base pay, this position offers eligibility for a target bonus and a comprehensive benefits suite, including our 401(k) and Profit Sharing plan. The anticipated base pay range for this role is provided above for a fully qualified hire. Actual pay will depend on several factors, such as location, role, skills, performance, and experience. Please note that the stated pay range applies to US locations only.

Primary Location

Dallas, TX, USA Additional Locations Chicago Commercial Center Worker Type Employee Worker Sub-Type Regular Time Type Full time