Executive Move

Momentive Taps Dow Veteran for Product-Led Marketing Role

Published: June 12, 2026

2 days ago

LOCATION

Niskayuna
, New York

INDUSTRY

Manufacturing & Industrial

EMPLOYEES
5,300

OPPORTUNITY TYPE

Executive Move

WHAT HAPPENED

Momentive Performance Materials appointed Jim Knaub as Chief Marketing Officer, effective June 1, 2026. Knaub joins externally from Dow, where he spent more than two decades in chemical-industry product marketing, global business, and go-to-market leadership roles.

At Momentive, his remit includes leading global marketing, portfolio positioning, value proposition development, go-to-market strategy, and commercial enablement for the company’s silicones and specialty-solutions business.

WHY IT MATTERS NOW

This is an external CMO move at a global B2B materials company where marketing is closely tied to technical product education, portfolio clarity, and commercial enablement. Knaub’s Dow background appears well matched to Momentive’s current environment: complex product lines, multiple industrial end markets, and sustainability-linked product narratives.

The timing is worth watching because Momentive has recent product-platform activity around HARMONIE beauty and personal-care innovations, NRX tire technology, and NXT silanes, along with customer-facing tools such as MyMomentive and product sample portals. Those activations predate Knaub’s start, but they help show the commercial marketing surface he is stepping into.

SUGGESTED ANGLE

Agencies with B2B technical marketing, product-positioning, and event-led commercialization experience may have the clearest angle. The opportunity is less about broad consumer brand work and more about helping a complex specialty-materials company make technical innovation easier for customers, distributors, and commercial teams to understand and use.

The pitch should lead with Knaub’s Dow product-marketing and GTM background, plus Momentive’s named product platforms such as HARMONIE, NRX, and NXT. Avoid pitching this as a rebrand, agency review, or immediate campaign reset. A stronger angle would focus on portfolio narratives, value proposition systems, technical content, product-launch support, and trade-show storytelling that can support commercial enablement across priority end markets.

CONFIDENCE & CAVEATS

This is best read as an early radar signal around a new product-marketing-oriented CMO and Momentive’s commercial positioning needs, not as evidence of a confirmed agency search. Current partner status remains unclear, and recent product activations should not be attributed to Knaub.

KEY CONTACTS

Jim Knaub

Chief Marketing Officer

Bob Waitt

Chief Commercial Officer

RELEVANT SERVICES

Branding & IdentityContent MarketingExperiential & Events

RELEVANT INDUSTRY

OVERVIEW

Momentive Performance Materials is a global high-performance silicones and specialty-solutions company headquartered in Niskayuna, New York. The company serves industrial and technical markets including automotive, electronics, healthcare, consumer, energy, and industrial applications. Momentive’s portfolio includes product categories such as adhesives, coatings, elastomers, encapsulations, optical bonding, pressure-sensitive adhesives, thermal management materials, and additives. The company is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of KCC Corporation and operates across a broad global footprint with customers in multiple regions.

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