Associate Director - HNC Regional Science EMEA

Associate Director - HNC Regional Science EMEA

dsm-firmenich

Kaiseraugst, Switzerland

Your key responsibilities

• Act as the regional scientific lead, ensuring alignment between global innovation and regional business needs while translating science into differentiated, locally relevant value propositions.
• Partner closely with Marketing and Commercial teams to shape customer engagement, support key accounts, and strengthen the scientific positioning in the region.
• Provide scientific input to support business activities, including claims development, substantiation, and effective communication to internal and external stakeholders.
• Identify gaps in scientific evidence and define research and clinical study needs, collaborating with partners to initiate innovation and strengthen value propositions.
• Build and maintain a strong regional network of KOLs, academic partners, and scientific organizations to enhance credibility and accelerate innovation adoption.
• Drive scientific communication and insight generation by presenting to customers and external audiences, while collaborating cross-functionally with Sales, Marketing, Regulatory, and Innovation teams.

You bring

• PhD in Nutrition or Life Sciences or a minimum of a Master’s degree with relevant experience, with strong knowledge of nutritional metabolism and clinical nutrition. Registered Dietitian qualification is a plus.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in life sciences or nutrition, including customer-facing roles and exposure to industrial environments.
• Experience in areas such as gut health, biotics, specialized nutrition, or protein/amino acid metabolism is an advantage.
• Proven ability to work cross-functionally and independently, leveraging insights to deliver business impact and strengthen scientific positioning.
• Strong external credibility, with recognition as a trusted scientific expert and an established Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) network in the EMEA nutrition ecosystem.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to translate complex science into clear messaging; fluent in English, with additional EMEA languages as a plus.