The chemicals industry is standing at a pivotal crossroads. 🌍

Regulatory pressure, supply chain resilience, and investor expectations are accelerating the shift from petrochemical dependence to bio-based, circular materials.

Technology will matter, but leadership will decide the winners.

The organisations that hire executives capable of translating lab-scale promise into industrial-scale reality will move faster, de-risk capex, and capture the early-mover advantage.

At Wyman Bain, we’re witnessing a surge in executive search mandates at the intersection of process engineering, bio-processing, and sustainable operations. Here’s what the most successful companies are doing differently, and how you can secure the talent to lead this transition.

🔍 What’s Driving the Chemicals-to-Bio Shift?

🏛️ Regulation with Teeth

Net Zero targets, extended producer responsibility, and tightening EU/UK standards are raising the cost of inaction. Timelines are shrinking, and compliance is becoming a commercial differentiator.

💷 Margin Resilience

Volatile feedstock pricing and geopolitical disruption are pushing CFOs to diversify inputs and reduce exposure to traditional petrochemicals.

🌿 Customer & Investor Pull

OEMs and consumer brands are demanding sustainable inputs at scale. Meanwhile, private equity is backing platform plays that can commercialise bio-based materials profitably.

🧭 The New Leadership Profile

Winning teams are blending three leadership archetypes, creating a hybrid capability that bridges innovation with industrial discipline.

👷‍♂️ Industrial Veterans with a Reinvention Mindset

Directors and VPs from petrochemicals who understand large-scale process safety, quality, and regulation and can adapt those skills to bio-feedstocks and circular operations.

🧬 Bio-Process Innovators Who Can Scale

Leaders from pharma, biotech, and industrial fermentation who can navigate enzymes, feedstock variability, and yield optimisation at plant level.

🌍 Sustainability-First Operators

Executives who integrate lifecycle analysis (LCA), circularity, and compliance into commercial decision-making not as a reporting afterthought.

What Sets the Best Hires Apart

✅ Proven track record of scaling ambiguity into process — pilot-to-plant conversion, tech transfer, and capex programme governance.
✅ Disciplined commercial acumen — pricing for value, not virtue.
✅ Change leadership — retooling mindsets across engineering, procurement, and HSE without breaking throughput.

⚠️ Common Missteps and How to Avoid Them

🚫 Searching for yesterday’s skills
The best candidates won’t be tagged “bio-plastics”, they’re often hidden in adjacent industries.

🚫 Over-indexing on sustainability signalling
Hire builders who can deliver yield, uptime, and cost performance while advancing your sustainability objectives.

🚫 Underestimating culture fit
Risk-averse operating cultures can stall innovation. Rigorous assessment (including DISC profiling) helps prevent costly mismatches.

🧩 Where the Strongest Candidates Come From

🏭 Traditional Chemicals: Shell Chemicals, INEOS, Dow, BASF senior leaders who’ve delivered transformations and plant turnarounds.
🧪 Bio/Industrial Crossover: Pharma and enzyme manufacturing, industrial fermentation scale-up.
🚀 Scale-Up Ecosystems: Growth-stage bio-materials ventures needing enterprise-grade operational discipline.

🧠 A Smarter Way to De-Risk Your Hiring

Our research-led executive search model surfaces full-market talent, not just database profiles.

Two Practical Entry Points

1️⃣ Executive Market Mapping (4–6 weeks)

A fixed-scope intelligence project defining your real talent universe across bio-plastics, bio-adhesives, or bio-solvents, including availability, compensation trends, and move triggers.

2️⃣ Targeted Executive Search (8–12 weeks)

A transparent, auditable process focused on shortlist quality, cultural alignment, and conversion, not volume.

Outcomes Our Clients Value

💡 Confidence in capex gating decisions
⚙️ Faster time-to-leadership impact
🤝 Higher retention and team adoption

🚨 Signals It’s Time to Act

• You’re moving from pilot to commercial production within 12 months
• Your sustainability commitments outpace your current operating capability
• You’re building a new business unit or retooling an existing plant
• Private equity is demanding operational value creation beyond ESG reporting

📞 Ready to Map the Executive Talent You’ll Need?

The shift to bio-based materials won’t wait. The organisations that secure the right leaders today will define the market tomorrow.

👉 Book a confidential discussion with Wyman Bain: wymanbain.com
📧 Email: enquiries@wymanbain.com to request a sample market map outline.