Company: Confidential listed carbon-materials manufacturer
Board base: Kolkata, West Bengal
Sector: Carbon black, conductive carbon and specialty materials
Appointment: Independent Director, Non-Executive
Intended committees: Risk, Safety & Sustainability Committee Chair; member, Audit Committee
Time commitment: 27–34 days annually, including plant and R&D reviews
Application deadline: 17 October 2026
Expected appointment: January 2027
Company context
The company converts carbon-rich feedstocks into reinforcing and specialty materials for tyres, mechanical rubber goods, plastics, coatings, batteries and conductive applications. It operates continuous high-temperature plants with cogeneration and exports to global customers. Feedstock, energy, freight, currency, product mix and environmental performance drive returns.
Market hint: A long-standing eastern India corporate base, multiple domestic plants, major tyre customers and a move into conductive or battery materials may suggest several listed carbon groups. Capacity and ownership are undisclosed.
Board mandate
The director will govern feedstock economics, major-accident prevention, specialty-product investment and transition claims across a cyclical, energy-intensive portfolio.
Strategic priorities
- Integrate feedstock purchase, quality, freight, currency, inventory and product pricing into one margin-risk view.
- Establish critical controls for reactors, furnaces, combustible dust, carbon monoxide, hot oil, gas, pressure, fire, explosions and contractor work.
- Track product quality and yield by feedstock, reactor, grade and customer qualification; prevent volume pressure from increasing off-spec risk.
- Re-underwrite specialty and conductive materials through application evidence, customer qualification, purity, consistency, development time and return.
- Govern emissions, flare, effluent, particulate, waste, heat recovery and continuous-monitoring data with independent anomaly escalation.
- Test cogeneration and energy claims against plant mass/energy balance, export reliability and incremental capital.
- Review tyre and major-customer concentration, qualification, formula pricing, claims and capacity commitments.
- Set rules for feedstock and commodity hedges, counterparty exposure, valuation and unauthorised trading.
- Stage-gate brownfield capacity through feedstock security, environmental headroom, customer demand, utilisation and downside cash.
- Build technical succession in process safety, reactor operation, application science and environmental leadership.
Decisions expected at Board level
- Whether to reduce production after degradation of a critical safety or emissions control.
- Whether specialty-material capex is supported by customer qualification rather than market narrative.
- Whether feedstock inventory and hedge positions protect or amplify margin risk.
- Whether a carbon or circularity claim is supported by a complete mass and energy balance.
- Whether a major customer commitment earns its dedicated capacity and development cost.
Candidate profile
Essential: Former chemicals, carbon, refining, materials, tyre-supply or high-hazard manufacturing CEO/COO/CTO/CFO, safety leader or Board director; feedstock and process economics; major-accident risk; specialty-material capital.
Preferred: conductive materials/batteries, commodity hedging, industrial decarbonisation, global customer qualification, Risk Committee chairing.
Eligibility and conflicts
Active IICA registration with test or exemption evidence is mandatory. Candidates must disclose feedstock suppliers, traders, tyre and materials customers, energy providers, EPC vendors, auditors, carbon-market interests and competitors.
First-year outcomes
- One feedstock-to-product economic risk view.
- Independently verified fatal and major-accident controls.
- Specialty capital tied to qualification and economic return.
- Credible emissions, energy and transition disclosures.
- Technical succession for critical plant and product roles.