Coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers get grouped into one acronym because the chemistry overlaps. The talent markets don't.
A resin chemist from architectural coatings is not a drop-in for a structural adhesives role. A sales director selling through distribution into industrial coatings sells nothing like one placing high-performance elastomers into tier-one automotive.
Generalist recruiters see four words and one market. We see four markets, and we work all of them.
Where we place across CASE
Coatings
Architectural, industrial, powder, marine and protective. Formulation, technical service, product management and commercial leadership from regional sales to VP.
Adhesives
Structural, pressure-sensitive, hot-melt and water-based. Application engineering, R&D, and the commercial roles that sell a technical product to a technical buyer.
Sealants
Construction, insulating glass, automotive and industrial. Specification-led selling, technical service and product development.
Elastomers
Thermoplastic and thermoset, silicones, and high-performance applications across automotive, industrial and medical.
Across all four: formulation and R&D, technical service, product and market management, business development, plant and operations leadership, and executive appointments up to Managing Director and C-suite.
What makes CASE hiring difficult
The talent pool is smaller than the job spec assumes
Ask for someone with waterborne resin experience, in your region, at your seniority, who will actually move, and you may be describing a few dozen people. That's a mapping problem, not a job-advert problem.
Raw material volatility rewrote the commercial roles
Resin, TiO₂ and solvent pricing turned account management into margin management. The people who can hold price through a cost cycle are not the same people who could hold volume ten years ago.
Regulation moves the technical requirement
Low-VOC, isocyanate substitution, PFAS scrutiny and the shift toward bio-based systems mean a formulator's real value now sits in what they've reformulated, not only what they've formulated.
Consolidation shrinks the map
Every acquisition removes a competitor you could have hired from, and creates a window where good people are unsettled. Knowing which window is open right now is most of the job.
How we run a CASE search
| Stage | What happens | When |
|---|---|---|
| Confidential briefing | A deep dive on the role, the team and what "exceptional" looks like for you. | Day 1 |
| Market mapping | The live CASE market in your geography: who's where, who's ready to move, and who you'd never find on a job board. | Days 2–5 |
| Qualified shortlist | Interviewed, referenced and genuinely interested, with our honest read on each. | Days 6–10 |
| Offer & onboard | Interviews, expectations and counter-offers managed through to a signed contract. | To completion |
Retained for business-critical and confidential leadership hires. Contingent where speed matters and you pay only on success. RPO when you're building a whole function.
CASE hiring across the US and Europe
Coatings and adhesives businesses rarely stop at a border, and neither do the best people in them. We cover the US coast-to-coast, and Europe from London across the UK, DACH, Benelux and the wider chemical corridor. When a US business needs a European commercial lead, or a European group is standing up a US operation, that's the same team, not a referral.
Questions we get asked
Do you recruit technical as well as commercial roles in CASE?
Both. Formulation and R&D, technical service and application engineering, alongside sales, product management and executive leadership.
Do you work retained or contingent for CASE roles?
Both, plus RPO for multi-hire projects. Retained for confidential and business-critical leadership hires; contingent for commercial and technical roles where you pay only on success.
Can you handle a confidential replacement search?
Yes, that is a large part of what retained search exists for. The search runs without the role being advertised and without your business being named until a candidate is qualified and under NDA-equivalent discretion.
What does CASE stand for?
Coatings, Adhesives, Sealants and Elastomers: four related segments of the specialty chemicals industry that share formulation chemistry, particularly polymer and resin technology, but which have distinct customer bases and talent markets.
Which geographies do you cover for CASE?
The United States coast-to-coast, and Europe including the UK, DACH, Benelux and the wider European chemical corridor.
Hiring in CASE this year?
Tell us about the role. A CASE specialist will come back to you within one business day. Every conversation is confidential.
Book a Confidential Briefing →