Business Developer
About Metabolic
*Please note that Dutch & English language are essential requirements of this position.
Metabolic’s mission is to transition the global economy to a fundamentally sustainable state. We advise governments, businesses, and NGOs on how to adapt to a fast-changing global context. Combining systems thinking and data science, we map and understand local and global systems to assess where to intervene and develop solutions that can dramatically shift how the economy functions.
We are an international and dynamic team of around 100 people who share an ambition for catalyzing a sustainable future. Based in the Netherlands, we work at the cutting edge of sustainability initiatives for a broad range of global clients.
About the Position
We are building out our client engagement team by recruiting a Business Developer to join the Cities & Regions Division. You’ll work with our Division Director, and several team leads, to build and implement the business development strategy and sales plan for the division. Next to this, you’ll be a part of the business development team, in which you’ll work with our Commercial Director and business development colleagues from other consulting divisions.
Business development at Metabolic means building meaningful, long-term relationships with prospects and partners in which we genuinely aim to solve client problems and drive forward impact. Our business development team plays an essential role in helping us maximize our overall impact, by positioning our offerings, connecting with and selecting the right clients for engagement, and securing projects of ambitious scale and scope. In doing so, you will work closely with consultants (especially the division director & team leads) to develop opportunities for us to work with leading organizations on ambitious sustainability projects.
Metabolic Consulting
Metabolic Consulting is part of the larger Metabolic ecosystem, which engages in advising key decision-makers, applied research, creating digital solutions, and venture building. These entities work together to identify, scale, and implement innovative solutions to global problems.
Read more about Metabolic’s impact in our latest impact report.
Cities & Regions Division
You’ll be joining Metabolic’s Cities Division. With +20 colleagues from a wide range of expertise (e.g. architecture, urban design, spatial planning, environmental sciences, sociology, industrial ecology), we support our clients and partners to develop sustainable cities and regions, and transform the way in which we design our living environment.
The focus of the division is anchored in different teams, currently we have three teams: Cities & Regions | Policy & Implementation | Built Environment, each with their own specialization, services, client groups and markets.
We work with EU, National, local and regional governments, in the Netherlands, Europe and North America. We also work with a range of urban professionals: from city governments, ministries, developers, and architects, to urban designers, spatial planners, construction companies and engineers.
Your Profile
We’re looking for someone who is:
- A strategic thinker in a leading role with foundational knowledge in sustainability, circular economy, and systems thinking, especially in relation to the built environment and public sector
- Proactive in identifying, initiating and following up on opportunities
- Understanding of urban planning, the built-environment and the public sector at the local, regional and (inter)national level
- A skilled networker with strong interpersonal skills
- Mission-driven, and getting energized by translating this to solutions for clients
- Communicating with passion and precision, loves a good internal debate, as well as external presentations and pitches
- Connecting the dots between the external stakeholder and our internal expertise and belfies
- Having affinity for training others in skills and capacities for business development
- Capable of digesting new developments in your field (policies, technologies, and approaches) and placing them in the context in which we work.
- Well versed in assessing RFP’s, delivering pitches, bringing in and steering on leads, discovering client needs and matching these to our capabilities
- Experienced in writing proposals and developing value propositions
- Experienced using CRMs (Pipedrive, Hubspot, Salesforce, etc)
Ideally, you have prior experience in a client-facing or business development role. You are a skilled networker who sees opportunity by connecting our mission, problem owners, and solutions (or demand and supply, if you will). You therefore have strong interpersonal skills, and you are energized by helping others find solutions to meaningful sustainability challenges. We are looking for an impact-driven, diligent, and communicative individual who is comfortable working both autonomously and as an integral part of a close-knit, interdisciplinary, international team.
Responsibilities
As a business developer, you’ll operationalize the divisions’ strategy, by developing and implementing sales and acquisition objectives leveraging the defined workflows, together with the division director, commercial director, and team leads. From an operational perspective, the business development team is also responsible for ensuring a robust sales process that makes the most of opportunities. You should be highly organized and well versed in assessing RFP’s, delivering pitches, bringing in and steering on leads, discovering client needs and matching these to our capabilities.
You will be expected to drive proactive business development efforts, keep track of leads and connections, build relationships and consortia, as well as read and write proposals in response to client needs. You will work with content experts to develop new value propositions, identify target audience segments, and lead outreach for new service offerings, clients and geographies.
In addition to managing your own business development activities, you will help build the wider team’s business development skills/capacity, for example through conducting knowledge-sharing sessions and process and asset development. You will work closely in partnership with our existing business development team, interfacing with consulting team leads, marketing, and finance to increase the efficacy of our business development efforts.
You should feel confident about taking on a leading role in client management and be familiar with project management. You enjoy engaging in external-facing thought leadership on sustainability issues, and should be capable of digesting new developments in your field (policies, technologies, and approaches) and placing them in the context in which we work.
The position is a full-time role, based in Amsterdam. This role may involve some international travel.
Requirements
- Fluency in both Dutch and English are essential.
- 3+ years working experience in account management, B2B and/or B2G sales, or business development
- Excellent at external representation
- Foundational knowledge in sustainability, circular economy, and systems thinking
- Excellent communication skills
- Passionate about social and environmental issues
- Highly organized and solution oriented
- Experience with account-based selling and enterprise accounts a plus
- Experience using CRMs (Pipedrive, Hubspot, Salesforce, etc)
- Project management experience a plus
- Existing network of contacts and accounts a strong plus
- For non-EU/EEA applicants: The role is dependent upon obtaining a visa to live and work in the Netherlands. Metabolic is a recognised visa sponsor and may support the successful candidate’s application for a work visa.
Our Offer
Be part of a dynamic, ambitious and multicultural team that is passionate about sustainability and technology that is at the forefront of creating a sustainable future for all. . Collaborate and work alongside world-class experts in the fields of sustainability and circularity from our sister companies in the wider ecosystem. We are growing fast and are very passionate about changing the economy together.
This opportunity will place you in an environment that values people with their own ideas and initiatives. We believe in autonomy, shared decision-making and impact over profit. You will be able to participate in an evolving decentralized governance system and be part of a close-knit community of people with shared interests and a strong company culture.
You will also be encouraged to grow and develop, have time and space to experiment with new ideas and have dedicated time set aside for training and personal development. We are based in Amsterdam, but operate a hybrid working model, giving you the freedom to work both at home and at our vibrant office.
How to apply:
Please submit your CV and letter of motivation in English via the Apply button below.
The deadline for applications is Tuesday, 16th June 2023 , but please note that we will be interviewing on a rolling basis.
In case of questions, please feel free to contact [email protected] .