Senior Business Development Manager Sustainability

Mérieux NutriSciences | Blonk; Rotterdam; Hybrid; EUR 61,380 - 71,424; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Personal development budget

Bonus scheme

Pension scheme

Job summary

An environmental consultancy based in Rotterdam is seeking a Senior Business Developer to drive B2B sales of sustainability solutions. The role involves establishing client rapport, developing proposals, and managing the sales process from start to finish. Ideal candidates will have 6-8 years of commercial experience in sales or business development, specific to the agri-food or sustainability sectors, and a proactive, customer-oriented mindset. This full-time position offers a hybrid working environment and an attractive salary of EUR 5,500–6,400 per month plus benefits.

Qualifications

• 6-8 years of commercial experience from sales to business development.
• Experience in the agri-food, sustainability, or LCA sector.
• Strong skills in negotiation and closing service deals.

Responsibilities

• Present capabilities and offerings to clients.
• Research and develop proposal documents.
• Negotiate distributor agreements and software licenses.
• Develop and maintain client relationships.
• Attend relevant conferences and industry events.

Skills

Commercial experience

Experience in agri-food or sustainability

Relationship building

English proficiency

Proactive mindset

Job description

Mérieux NutriSciences | Blonk, part of Mérieux NutriSciences group. Established in 1999 by Hans Blonk, we have been pioneering environmental footprinting and LCA in the agri-food sector for over 25 years. Our mission? To enable a sustainable, healthy future for our planet. Our team includes top experts in LCA, crop management, animal production systems, software development, and sustainability research.

Together with our clients, we transform insight into action, helping to shape a sustainable agri-food system that benefits future generations. We believe in transparency, teamwork, and integrity, delivering honest, science-based solutions to sustainability frontrunners.

About the role

Mérieux NutriSciences | Blonk provides expert advice to our customers on the environmental footprint of agri-food products using an Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach. The company has 3 key divisions: consultancy, database products and software products.

As a Senior Business Developer you will be responsible for the B2B sales of our most promising sustainability solutions; database and software services targeted at sustainability experts as well as IT and SaaS platforms. Our expert data and software product development teams will support you in creating new business proposals, but you will own the entire business development process and the lead. In your daily work you will expand our business and will be the first point of contact for prospects and leads. You will be responsible for establishing customer rapport, initiating the first contacts, assessing the viability of potential client cases, providing creative solutions, and owning the sales process from start to finish.

Your creativity and customer-oriented mindset will play a big role in this. You will establish networks with industry specialists and SaaS providers, maintain relationships with our key customers, and play a major role in negotiating new deals.

This role reports to the Commercial Director of Blonk, who is part of Blonk’s global Management Team. The Commercial Team consists of marketeer(s) and sales / business development colleagues and currently is composed of 5 persons.

This is a full-time role (min. 36 hours) based in Rotterdam Alexander. Our team works hybrid, with office attendance 2 days per week minimum. Very limited international travel might be included.

What Will You Do

• Present Mérieux NutriSciences | Blonk’s capabilities and offerings to current and potential new clients; these mainly include LCA software providers and SaaS platforms (such as CSRD SaaS platforms, ERP systems expanding into sustainability as well as LCA platforms). Most of the buying persona’s will be sustainability data managers as well as product owners or CEOs/founders of relatively new SaaS or LCA software providers worldwide
• Research the functional requirements of an opportunity, and scope and develop a detailed, precise and practical proposal document, together with the data/software teams
• Act as a liaison between the Sales team and the data/software team
• Negotiate distributor agreements for our database products, software License Agreements, developer license deals for SaaS platforms, EULAs (user agreements), SLAs and the occasional agro-food client with their own footprinting tool
• Set, review and update pricing models for database and software solutions
• Develop and maintain client relationships over time
• Attend relevant conferences and industry events
• Coach commercial team peers in creating (new) customer relationship within their expertise

About you

• You bring 6-8 years of commercial experience (from sales or procurement to partnership management, key account management and/or business development). If you’ve worked with SaaS and data solutions, that’s a plus!
• Your professional focus includes experience in the agri-food, sustainability, or LCA sector.
• Turning market and partner needs into meaningful solutions excites you. You know how to lead business development and collaborate effectively with internal and external stakeholders.
• You’re energetic, authentic, proactive, and commercially driven - someone who takes initiative and makes things happen.
• You’re confident in closing service deals and enjoy building relationships at all seniority levels.
• English is your strong suit (spoken and written). If you speak Dutch or another European language, that’s a great advantage.
• You have a hands-on mentality and don’t hesitate to reach out and grow your network.
• Being curious, you’re motivated to learn the basics of LCA and adapt quickly in a growing organization where not everything is set in stone.
• Organization and efficiency come naturally to you, and you combine a customer-focused mindset with a collaborative spirit. You enjoy working in a team but are equally comfortable working independently.

You will get extra points for:

• Product and project management experience
• You have coached or supervised junior colleagues
• Experience in facilitating workshops for customers both online and offline

What is in it for you?

• Strong contribution to a more sustainable society by helping key market players improve their environmental footprint.
• Working with highly talented and engaged professionals in a stimulating and informal working environment.
• Plenty of room for own leadership and initiative, as well as abundant opportunities for personal and professional development (supported with a personal development budget).
• Attractive salary of EUR 5,500-6,400 per month (gross, based on 40 hours per week) + holiday allowance + bonus + pension scheme.
• Contract for 36-40 hours per week.
• Hybrid working environment (opportunity to work from home 2-3 days a week with reimbursements) and flexible working hours