Business Development Manager

Startup Atlas; Amsterdam; Hybrid; EUR 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Lleverage.ai is seeking a Business Development Manager to open new markets, forge strategic partnerships, and own key accounts from Amsterdam. You will drive growth with autonomy, equity, and direct access to the founding team.

You'll map industries, design entry strategies, and nurture long-term relationships with wholesalers, distributors, and manufacturers. Fluency in English and Dutch is required; German is a plus.

Qualifications

• Commercial mindset with a track record of building growth from scratch.
• Self-starter who identifies opportunity and executes plans.
• Excellent relationship builder who earns trust fast and partners effectively.
• Comfort with ambiguity; opens new markets without a playbook.
• Commercially sharp and consultative; uses data to guide priorities.
• Fluent in English and Dutch; German a plus; based in Amsterdam.

Responsibilities

• Open new markets by researching and creating entry strategies.
• Build strategic partnerships with industry networks and channels.
• Own full commercial cycle from outreach to close.
• Grow existing client relationships with upsell opportunities.
• Think and act like an owner; collaborate with leadership on growth scenarios.

Skills

Commercial mindset

Self-starter

Relationship building

Ambiguity tolerance

Consultative selling

English & Dutch fluency

Amsterdam based

6-10 years experience

Job description

The AI solution for companies that make, move, and sell physical products. Automates operational processes like order processing, invoice processing, and customer support within existing ERP systems.

Business Development Manager role at Lleverage.ai focused on opening new markets, building strategic partnerships, owning new business, and growing existing relationships in the AI automation space for wholesalers, distributors, and manufacturers. The position offers full autonomy, meaningful equity, and is based on-site in Amsterdam with a salary range of €80,000 - €120,000 per year.

Job Description

Business Development Manager

• On-site
• Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

We only hire the top 1% — no exceptions. If that's you, we'd love to hear from you.

About us

Hey there! We're Lleverage.ai, and we're on a mission to help operations teams of wholesalers, distributors, and manufacturers automate their back-office processes and achieve real ROI from AI.

We're a team of entrepreneurs and innovators who believe the future of work is 80% creativity, strategy, and human interaction, because AI takes care of the rest. If that sounds like something you want to help build, we'd love to have you on board!

Why this role exists

We have a product that industry veterans call the best AI platform on the market. We have customers in wholesale, distribution, and manufacturing seeing real operational results. Now we need to scale, not just by selling harder, but by opening doors that don't exist yet.

New industries. New partnership models. New channels nobody has cracked yet. This role is for someone who sees those white spaces and gets energised, not overwhelmed. Someone who figures things out, moves fast, and makes things happen without waiting to be told how.

About the role

This is not a classic sales role. We're looking for a builder with a commercial brain and an enormous drive, someone who combines hustle, strategic creativity, and genuine curiosity about what makes businesses tick.

You might come from a classic sales background, or you might have built your commercial instincts in a completely different arena. What matters far more than your CV is your drive, your entrepreneurial instinct, and the kind of work ethic that makes people wonder how you get so much done.

In a single day you might: map a new industry vertical for outreach opportunities, run a consultative discovery call with a Head of Operations at a mid-market distributor, develop a partnership proposal for a new channel, follow up on an active deal in scoping, and draft a business case for entering a completely new market.

You won't have a large team behind you. You will have full autonomy, meaningful equity, direct access to the founding team, and the freedom to experiment with what works.

What you'll do

Open new markets. Research and develop entry strategies for industries and segments where Lleverage isn't active yet. Approach key players, map pain points, and build a foothold before anyone else does.

Build strategic partnerships. Identify and develop partnerships and channels that give you access to clusters of companies that need what we do, whether that's industry networks, investor communities, or referral relationships with trusted advisors. Design creative incentive structures that turn relationships into recurring pipeline.

Own new business. Run the full commercial cycle on strategic new accounts — from first outreach through consultative discovery, scoping, negotiation, and close. Manage your own pipeline and close deals that genuinely move the needle.

Grow existing relationships. Stay close to clients and partners after the deal. Identify upsell and cross-sell opportunities, conduct regular check-ins, and proactively bring insights and ideas that create long-term value.

Think and act like an owner. Work directly with the leadership team to develop growth scenarios and build business cases for new opportunities. Analyse what's working, build repeatable processes, and never stop looking for a smarter way in.

Job requirements

What we’re looking for

• You have a commercial mindset and a track record of making things happen — but that doesn't have to mean years of quota-carrying sales experience. Maybe you've built something yourself. Maybe you've been the person who always found a way to grow a customer base, a community, or a business from scratch. Maybe you've never had the title but you've always done the job.
• You're a self-starter who doesn't wait for a brief. You identify the opportunity, build the plan, and execute without someone looking over your shoulder.
• You're an excellent relationship builder. You win trust fast, communicate with confidence at all levels, and genuinely enjoy the process of turning a cold conversation into a long-term partnership.
• You're energised by ambiguity. New markets with no playbook, industries you haven't worked in before, channels nobody has tried — these excite you rather than stop you.
• You're commercially sharp and consultative. You understand that the best outcomes come from genuinely understanding someone's pain, not pitching a product. You listen well and use data to shape your priorities.
• You speak English and Dutch fluently. German is a big plus. You're based in Amsterdam.
• 6-10 years experience.

Nice to haves

Experience in B2B sales, partnerships, or business development. Background in SaaS, AI, or process automation. Networks in manufacturing, wholesale, distribution or the PE indsutry. Familiarity with ERP environments like SAP or Business Central. Previous entrepreneurial experience, built something, ran something, grew something.

Why Lleverage?

Change the world, literally. Traditional industries are sitting on a massive AI opportunity and most of them haven't been reached yet. You'll be the one opening those doors.

Work, learn, have fun. We're building one of the strongest commercial teams in Europe. You'll work directly with the founding team, surrounded by exceptional talent, and genuinely enjoy the people around you.

Build a unique network. Lleverage.ai is a global top AI brand. You'll connect with industry leaders and some of the most important operators in tech and traditional industry.

Get autonomy and ownership. You design the approach, build the relationships, own the results, and grow with the company.

Compensation. Competitive salary depending on experience, strong bonus structure (fi we win you win), and an excellent share package that makes this genuinely worth betting on.