Project Manager (Innovation Portfolio)

Harlow, England, United Kingdom

4/10/2025

Synthomer is an innovative and differentiated global leader in sustainable polymer solutions. The Group is one of the world’s foremost suppliers of water based polymers and has leadership positions in many markets. Our polymers help customers create innovative new products and enhance the performance of existing products in key industries such as coatings, construction, adhesives, textiles, paper and nitrile medical gloves.

With the acquisition of Eastman Adhesive Resins in 2022 and Omnova Solutions in 2020, Synthomer grew its global manufacturing network, expanded its product portfolio and boosted its geographical presence, allowing it to better serve over 6000 customers around the world. Synthomer has its operational headquarters in London, UK, and provides customer-focused services from regional centres in Harlow, UK; Marl, Germany; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Beachwood, Ohio, USA. It employs more than 5000 employees across over 40 sites and is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Main Accountabilities

• Manage the strategic innovation portfolio across the 4 Business Units balancing financial, sustainability and specialisation deliverables against risk, resource, feasibility, costs and strategic objectives.
• Collect and collate key performance metrics across the innovation portfolio and drive business decisions through key insights.
• Ensure portfolio balance across short-term and long-term innovation efforts, ensuring a mix of incremental improvements and breakthrough innovations across the portfolio and across the BUs.
• Lead cross-functional project teams to execute key innovation initiatives within the portfolio, ensuring timely and cost-effective delivery of projects.
• Develop detailed project plans, establish key milestones, allocate resources, and manage budgets for multiple projects simultaneously.
• Monitor and track the progress of all innovation projects across the portfolio, ensuring they stay on schedule, within budget, and meet performance expectations.
• Lead the project through gate approvals in a timely and efficient manner, ensuring effective delivery of innovation projects to market
• Collaborate across all functions to ensure transparency, alignment and successful project execution.
• Serve as the main point of contact for senior leadership and stakeholders, providing regular updates on portfolio and project performance, risks, and opportunities.
• Proactively identify and assess risks associated with innovation projects, including technical, market, and financial risks and develop mitigation plans to address potential obstacles, delays, or cost overruns.
• Continuously evaluate and improve innovation processes, tools, and methodologies to enhance efficiency, effectiveness, and outcomes.
  
  

What You’ll Need To Be Successful

• Degree-level qualification, ideally science or business related
• 5-7 years of experience working within innovation project management or portfolio management essential
• Advanced certifications in Project Management (e.g., PMP, Agile) or Innovation Management are a plus.
• Proven experience in managing a diverse portfolio of innovation projects and leading cross-functional teams in a complex, fast-paced environment.
• Strong understanding of the product development lifecycle, from ideation through commercialization, including regulatory and safety considerations.
• Strong project management and portfolio management skills, with a track record of managing multiple projects from concept to market.
• Excellent organisational, communication, and presentation skills with the ability to engage senior leadership and external stakeholders.
• Familiarity with project management software and portfolio management tools.
• Strong leadership capabilities and a collaborative team player.
• Results-oriented with a strong focus on achieving business objectives and driving innovation.
• Ability to manage ambiguity and navigate complex decision-making processes.
  
  

Why Synthomer?

We are ambitious!

We have grown significantly – both organically and inorganically. We are a FTSE 250 listed company, 22% of our revenue comes from newly commercialized products, and we’re recognized in the top-quartile for chemicals manufacturing safety.

We believe in high challenge, high support!

We are keen to let you contribute in real roles from day 1. We expect a lot, but offer a lot, too. This includes onboarding, induction and learning events, networking opportunities, mentoring and personal development planning. So, be up for an inspiring long-term career adventure.

We personalize our approach to development!

At Synthomer, you won't find generic career tracks or development programs but rather a one-size-fits-one approach to employee development. We'll partner with you to ensure you have the right experiences that build your capabilities and accelerate your career growth.