Are you ready to move your career forward and help shape our company’s and customers’ futures?
If you aspire to challenge yourself, work with the best in the industry and join a successful team where you can make a meaningful contribution, then we invite you to join us at Ketjen Corporation, a provider of advanced catalyst solutions to leading producers in the petrochemical, refining, and specialty chemicals industries. Together, we can create a legacy marked by innovation, excitement, and energy.
Excited to grow your career?
We value our talented employees and, whenever possible, strive to help employees grow professionally before recruiting externally. If you believe this position is the right next step for you, we encourage you to apply.
Our people make all the difference in our success.
Job Summary
Ketjen is hiring a Technical Services Manager CFT within the CFT Technical Excellence department in Europe. The role reports to the Technical Excellence Director CFT and leads the Technical Excellence Specialists supporting our customers in Europe and Africa.
In this role, you will coordinate regional Technical Services for CFT catalysts, support commercial objectives, and ensure customers receive reliable, the required technical support.
You will provide technical leadership, strengthen customer relationships, ensure the quality of proposals and documentation, coach the regional team, and personally support selected your own set of customers as well.
What You Will Do
- Own & set the regional CFT Technical Services strategy and annual plan, aligned with the Technical Excellence Director CFT and Regional General Manager CFT.
- Be accountable for translating business priorities into clear technical priorities, resource plans, and team objectives. Help to reduce business risks.
- Ensure the region delivers consistent, high-quality technical service, proposals, and customer-facing materials.
- Act as the senior technical interface for key customers, building management-level relationships and influencing technical and commercial decisions.
- Provide high quality technical support yourself to assigned customers.
- Lead the resolution of complex customer issues, ensuring technical, commercial, and cross-functional alignment.
- Approve or validate technical proposals, documentation, and recommendations before they are shared with customers.
- Drive effective use of technical expertise, systems, processes, and data to improve service quality and team productivity.
- Ensure customer and process information is validated, shared, and protected to support model improvement, product development, and future customer references.
- Oversee technical customer complaints and ensure timely analysis, follow-up, and closure.
- Represent Technical Services in customer presentations, seminars, publications, and product-support activities.
- Lead, coach, and develop the regional Technical Excellence team, including capacity planning, recruitment, succession, and workforce planning.
- Ensure the team operates in compliance with company policies and applicable environmental and safety requirements.
- Accountable to support the development and regional implementation of Ketjen’s CFT Technical Services digitalization strategy.
What You Bring
Required
- Master’s degree or equivalent in Chemistry, Engineering, or a closely related discipline.
- More than 10 years of relevant experience in Technical Services, business, marketing, research and technology, or a combination of these areas.
- In-depth knowledge of the catalyst business and customer-facing refinery applications.
- Demonstrated leadership experience, including coaching and developing technical professionals.
- Strong strategic, commercial, advisory, influencing, and stakeholder-management skills.
- Clear communication skills and the ability to build effective networks in a complex international organization.
- Strong presentation skills, including the ability to explain technical and economic recommendations to customers and colleagues.
- Project-management experience, including setting objectives and managing timing, resources, budgets, and implementation.
- Ability to work independently, manage conflicting interests, and collaborate across functions, countries, and cultures.
Preferred
- Experience leading a regional or international Technical Services team.
- Experience managing complex customer issues and validating high-value technical proposals.
- Experience working across Technical Excellence, Sales, Marketing, R&D, and regional commercial teams.
- Knowledge of languages relevant to the assigned region.
Why This Role Matters
This role connects technical expertise, customer needs, and commercial priorities. It shapes the regional technical agenda, improves customer support, and develops the Technical Excellence organization.
Benefits of Joining Ketjen
Competitive compensation
Comprehensive benefits package
A diverse array of resources to support you professionally and personally.
Apply today and help Ketjen unleash the POTENTIAL of advanced chemistry for industries that power the world.
Skills Required
- Master's degree or equivalent in Chemistry, Engineering, or a closely related discipline
- More than 10 years of relevant experience in Technical Services, business, marketing, research and technology, or a combination of these areas
- In-depth knowledge of the catalyst business and customer-facing refinery applications
- Demonstrated leadership experience, including coaching and developing technical professionals
- Strong strategic, commercial, advisory, influencing, and stakeholder-management skills
- Clear communication skills and ability to build effective networks in a complex international organization
- Strong presentation skills, including explaining technical and economic recommendations to customers and colleagues
- Project-management experience, including setting objectives and managing timing, resources, budgets, and implementation
- Ability to work independently, manage conflicting interests, and collaborate across functions, countries, and cultures
- Experience leading a regional or international Technical Services team
- Experience managing complex customer issues and validating high-value technical proposals
- Experience working across Technical Excellence, Sales, Marketing, R&D, and regional commercial teams
- Knowledge of languages relevant to the assigned region
Albemarle Corporation Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Albemarle Corporation and has not been reviewed or approved by Albemarle Corporation.
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Retirement Support — Retirement support is positioned as a standout element of the total rewards package, including a 401(k) with matching contributions and an additional automatic employer contribution with immediate vesting. This structure meaningfully boosts total compensation beyond base pay and is repeatedly emphasized as a differentiator.
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Parental & Family Support — Parental and family support appears robust, including up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave for either parent and financial support for adoption and surrogacy. Family-related programs extend into fertility and broader parenting support, reinforcing the depth of benefits beyond traditional medical coverage.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Wellbeing and lifestyle benefits include dedicated wellness days, mental-health access with coaching and therapy support for employees and dependents, and a broad Employee Assistance Program. These offerings suggest the rewards package is designed to support health, resilience, and work-life needs alongside pay.
Albemarle Corporation Insights
What We Do
Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB), headquartered in Charlotte, NC, is a global specialty chemicals company with leading positions in lithium, bromine, and refining catalysts. We power the potential of companies in many of the world’s largest and most critical industries, from energy and communications to transportation and electronics. Working with our customers, we develop and customize solutions using the finest technology and ingredients with the knowledge and know-how of our highly experienced and talented team of operators, scientists, and engineers. Discovering and implementing new and better performance-based sustainable solutions motivates all of us. We think beyond business-as-usual to drive innovations that create lasting value. Realize your POTENTIAL with Albemarle. At Albemarle, we believe that our people make us successful. It’s that simple. We embrace the diversity of experience, talent, and thought. We work hard to create an inclusive work environment that empowers you to openly and honestly communicate, create and innovate. Your career will reach an international reach from the United States to Australia. Your decision to join our team will be rewarded with a positive, team-oriented workplace that inspires personal and professional growth. We will make every effort to support your career goals and create opportunities for you to realize your full potential. This is our culture. This is our commitment. AS PART OF OUR GLOBAL TEAM, YOU’LL EXPERIENCE: • Competitive compensation and benefits • Hands-on technical experience • Job variety and career flexibility • Collaboration with seasoned employees at every level • A proven record of innovation • Company-wide focus on economic and environmental sustainability • Deep commitment to our communities, education and social development • Concern and compassion for fellow employees • Among the best safety records in the industry The bottom line: no matter where you apply your talent and training, Albemarle
