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Commercial Graduate Scheme

Our Commercial Graduate Scheme in the UK is the perfect opportunity for proactive and open-minded graduates looking to kickstart their career in a challenging work environment.

This two-year programme is designed to stretch and equip you with the skills, competencies, and experience necessary to succeed in a commercial role, while also supporting your personal development. From day one, you'll have real responsibilities, working on and leading commercial, and business development projects. You'll analyse markets and trends to identify growth opportunities and build relationships with different parts of our business and the wider BASF team.

As you progress through the programme, you'll gain experience working directly in our different businesses, where you'll develop commercial skills, including customer relationship management, negotiation, and understanding different customer models. You'll be supported by both line managers and a mentor throughout your journey.

To be successful in this programme and in a commercial sales role, we're looking for graduates who have a minimum of a 2:1 level/qualification and have completed a year out in industry as part of their course. But it's not just your education and experience that matter; your personality is just as important. We need graduates who are proactive, open-minded, and have a desire to learn. You should also have excellent communication and interpersonal skills to build rapport with others and collaborate effectively as part of a team.

We asked Himangi, Henry and Will to tell us what they enjoyed about the Commercial Graduate programme. Have a listen to what they have to say about their experiences.

Himangi
Commercial Graduate 2021

Henry
Commercial Graduate 2022

Will
Commercial Graduate 2023

Some words from our colleagues, giving an insight into each of the rotations offered in the Commercial Graduate Programme at BASF in the UK.

Darren Budd, Commercial Director UK & Ireland

In our Industrial Businesses area you'll have an opportunity to be at the forefront of driving positive change in the industry. As part of this team, you will have the chance to actively contribute to BASF's sustainability goals, and innovation efforts by collaborating with external stakeholders such as government bodies, startups, and universities. You will not only develop great skills but also have the chance to contribute to the organisation of impactful events like the Innovation Collaboration Day.

Jane Kitchen, Senior Campaign Manager, Agricultural Solutions

The rotation with the Agricultural Solutions team offers an excellent opportunity to contribute to sustainability and innovation initiatives, collaborate with external stakeholders, and gain invaluable experience. As part of the scheme, you will support campaign managers with demand creation activities and conduct market analysis focused on growers and distributors' perceptions. Moreover, you will have the chance to lead and shape events while learning about the dynamic agricultural environment on-the-job.

Michael Gowan, Head of Sales, BTC UK

In BTC, BASF’s in-house distributor, you will have the opportunity to gain commercial experience with customers across a wide range of industries. Combining project-based work with supporting our day-to-day business activities, this rotation will enable you to gain real life experience in the fast-paced chemical distribution sector.

Natalie Wong, Marketing and Portfolio Lead, Automotive Refinish

The rotation within Automotive Refinish Coatings offers graduates the unique opportunity to gain firsthand experience within the automotive industry. As part of this close-knit team, you will have the chance to partner with external stakeholders such as leading distributors, editorial teams, and industry associations while contributing to on-going projects within the marketing, communications, sales, and product teams ahead of much-anticipated product launches like the new Glasurit Commercial Vehicle Biomass Balance portfolio.

Wayne Brown, Managing Director, Chemetall Ltd

A brand-new opportunity for 2024 is the rotation within Chemetall Ltd, a leading supplier of applied surface treatments and part of BASF’s Coatings division. This rotation offers new perspectives on different industries such as Aerospace, Automotive and General Industrial etc.). You will be supporting our sales team in analysing market and new business development opportunities. Additionally, you’ll have the opportunity to go out into our market place to understand how Chemetall operates, meet our team at our Milton Keynes head office and work with multi-disciplinary teams.

Interested?

Sorry, applications are not open at the moment.

Please check back later in the year to apply.
Looking forward to hearing from you.

Interested? Want to find out more?

Published 31 January 2024