Business Development Manager

Innovation Consultant for selling value propositions in food innovation

NIZO is a private and independent company with 100+ employees and its headquarters located in Ede, the Netherlands. As one of the world’s leading companies in contract research for better food and health, the focus of NIZO is on the development and application of innovations for global food and health benefit markets. NIZO’s wide-ranging expertise helps their customers to successfully meet today’s fast and radically changing consumer demands. From managing the protein transition or delivering real health benefits to maintaining food safety and scaling up to industrial production. Through multidisciplinary teams and unique pilot production plant facilities, they bring all the expertise together to deliver real innovations with cost and time-to-market savings. With these expertise and services NIZO supports customers through the entire innovation process: from R&D to (pilot) production. Customers range from start-ups to internationally operating large companies. To strengthen the Commercial Team, we are searching for an energetic and results driven Business Development Manager.

Position

• Responsible for business development and sales of contract research in the food industry
• Realising agreed order intakes of contract research and sales margin
• Making and implementing commercial plans in line with the NIZO growth strategy and business- and customer plans
• Monitoring the progress of projects to secure customer satisfaction
• Building strategic relationships with current and new customers
• Initiating and managing relationships at R&D management level of large companies and CEO level of start-ups and SME companies
• Propagating the NIZO propositions, identify valuable leads and offer appropriate project proposals to customers
• Continuously monitoring market developments and specific customer needs; linking NIZO expertise to the (international) food sector
• Working together with NIZO experts, Project Managers and Marketing
• Reporting to the CEO/CCO and active member of the Commercial Team.

Profile

• BSc or MSc degree in Food Technology or related studies
• A dynamic, inspiring and creative environment with state-of-the-art facilities, where you can develop your personal skills in commerce 
• (Senior) experience in consultative sales and/or business development; experience with contract research is an advantage
• Capable of identifying R&D needs at customers and translating such needs into commercially sound project proposals
• Actual network in the international food business and passionate to accelerate key innovation issues
• Good communication and leadership skills, comfortable working in an international business environment with regular travelling
• Personal skills: commercial savviness, pro-active, well-developed sense for valuable opportunities and conceptual thinking, results driven and perseverance, pragmatic attitude and team player.

Our offer

• Become part of a well-established and internationally recognized organization
• A key position in developing  and selling scientifically interesting and state-of-the-art research projects in food and health
• A team of professional colleagues, where high performance goes hand in hand with an informal working atmosphere with short lines of communication  
• A good salary and attractive secondary conditions, such as a pension plan, flexibility to work from home and ample holidays
• A stimulating and creative environment from which you can really contribute to the development of better, healthier and sustainably produced food
• Developing knowledge is our core business. That applies to you too, with us you may become the best in your field

More information

For more information contact Nikolaas Vles, CEO (nikolaas.vles@nizo.com). You can ONLY apply for this position by uploading your CV via our job portal, together with a brief motivational letter.