Growth & New Business Director

Vdv Search; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

VDV Search is seeking a Growth & New Business Director to join our Amsterdam team, bridging strategy and delivery for AI-native platforms. Youll lead a Growth Pod, building strong relationships with senior decision-makers and framing problems in their own numbers to demonstrate commercial impact.

Youll own a commercial target, pursue new logos and expand workstreams inside existing clients, while shaping market propositions with capability leads.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in strategy, consultancy or a digital agency with commercial ownership.
• Proven track record of originating and closing new business through credibility and network.
• Strategic crafting of propositions and client-ready business cases.

Responsibilities

• Own a commercial target and defend a growth pipeline line by line.
• Acquire new logos and expand workstreams within existing clients.
• Develop 2–3 market propositions with capability leads and move deals to value-based models.
• Launch a second European market: UK, Belgium or Germany.
• Represent the business at events, publications and industry circles.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Business development

C-level communication

AI/digital product fluency

Networking across sectors

Job description

VDV Search has recently partnered with a global technology and brand experience company on their search for a Growth & New Business Director to join their Amsterdam team.

They sit between a consultancy and an agency: the strategic depth of the first, and the speed of a team that design, build and run AI-native digital platforms for some of the world's best-known consumer, technology and travel brands.

The role

You'll turn strategic credibility into new business. That means building real relationships with senior decision-makers, framing their problems in their own numbers (margin, retention, cost to serve, time to market), and showing how a concept moves their earnings model.

You won't do it alone. You'll lead a Growth Pod: you, a strategic consultant who sharpens the business case, and a solution builder who turns the idea into a working proof of concept. You pitch something that runs, not a deck. Once the work is landed and stable, you hand it to a client partner and move on to the next opportunity.

What you'll own

• A commercial target and a pipeline you can defend line by line.
• New logos, plus new workstreams inside existing clients.
• The two or three propositions you take to market, shaped with capability leads.
• Moving deals from time-and-materials towards output-based and subscription models.
• Choosing and launching a second European market: the UK, Belgium or Germany.
• Representing the business at events, in publications and in industry circles.

What success looks like

• First 90 days: a target account list and lead propositions agreed, network activation underway, a recommendation on the second market, and a first signed opportunity.
• First year: new logos signed, net new revenue opened in existing clients, at least three concepts taken from idea to funded first phase, and the second market live.

Who you are

• Background: 10+ years in strategy, consultancy or a digital agency, with real commercial ownership. You were shaped by strategy or creative consultancy, not classic sales.
• Track record: new business you personally originated and closed through credibility and network, not volume outreach.
• Strategic craft: you've built strategies and propositions yourself, not only sold work others thought up.
• Senior presence: comfortable with C-level stakeholders, with the diplomacy to match. You're the person colleagues hand the difficult client conversation to.
• Tech fluency: credible on AI and digital products with both clients and engineers, without needing to be technical.
• Network: cross-sector. A network beyond the Netherlands is a plus.
• Language: fluent in Dutch and English.
• Location: based in or near Amsterdam, with regular travel.

Why this role

This is a senior, entrepreneurial role in a company big enough to work with global brands and small enough for your impact to show. You'll get a dedicated Growth Pod, room to shape the propositions you sell, and a waterfront office in Amsterdam.