Senior Business Developer Innovation Capacity of Industry

Individual companies can innovate. You make sure an entire sector moves forward together. This is our moment to reinvent Dutch industry. As a business developer Innovation Capacity of Industry, you'll help TNO Vector take the innovation capacity of industry to a higher level.

About this position

The Netherlands' earning capacity, quality of life, and safety all depend on how well our industry manages to renew itself. Isolated pilots aren't enough for that. Sectors as a whole need to develop the capacity to keep innovating.

As a business developer Innovation Capacity of Industry, you'll work on exactly that challenge. You'll immerse yourself in a sector, build relationships with the companies that matter, and help them move forward together. You'll also set up public-private partnerships, organized from the business community's side.

You'll work from TNO Vector and report to the market director.

What will be your role?

Your work starts with building a network at decision-maker level: the companies capable of moving a sector. Through those relationships, you identify where the opportunity for scaling up lies and bring it into TNO. You make sure the right agenda, funding, and expertise come together, and that TNO is well positioned to take on the next steps. In this way, you help translate an opportunity into a mandate in good time, all the way through to the point of decision-making and capital, the moment where scaling up turns from plan into practice.

Think of a supply chain where companies can only become more sustainable if they fairly share the costs, benefits, and risks, as in a biobased chain. Or of the security of supply for sustainable steel, where a party like ProRail can only make progress if the entire chain moves along with it. You make those dependencies visible and help parties reach agreements.

In doing so, you contribute to a sector's innovation capacity, how companies together succeed in continuing to innovate. And you stay involved after the first step has been taken, as an advisor and connector between companies, TNO experts, and the people who carry out the work.

What we expect from you

We're looking for a builder: someone who spots opportunities, knows how to deepen relationships, and turns them into concrete assignments for TNO Vector. You combine strategic insight with commercial instinct and feel at home anywhere from the boardroom to the project floor.

You're a solid conversation partner for companies. You're not afraid to ask probing questions, bring structure, and give direction to a group. You recognize when an opportunity translates into an assignment that makes sense substantively and is financially sustainable. You're also a sounding board for the market director of TNO Vector.

What you bring:

• A university (WO) master's degree, for example in business administration, economics, innovation management, or technology and policy. Candidates with another relevant background are also welcome.
• At least ten years of work experience, for example at TNO, a large industrial company, a start-up or scale-up, or a regional development company.
• Experience with innovation and the public-private domain.
• A proven track record in business development: you recognize opportunities, develop relationships, and close deals.
• Affinity with industrial transformation.
• The ability to connect TNO knowledge to questions from the market.
• Strong communication skills, in both Dutch and English.
• Energy, entrepreneurship, and flexibility.

What you'll get in return

Challenging and varied work with a real impact. And plenty of opportunities as, at TNO, you are in charge of shaping your career. We offer a gross monthly salary between € 6.500,- and € 9.000,- (based on your knowledge and experience), 8% holiday pay, a 13th month bonus of 8.33% and a flex budget (5.58% + € 180). In addition, you will be given every opportunity to develop yourself.

TNO offers optional employee benefits, enabling you to tailor your benefits package to match your personal situation. You may also expect:

• An extremely professional, innovative working environment where colleagues are leading experts in their field.
• The opportunity to attend courses, workshops and conferences, and to receive training and coaching based on your needs.
• 33 days annual leave plus a flexible holiday that can be used on a cultural, religious, or otherwise important day of your choosing (on a full-time basis).
• We offer a comprehensive and flexible mobility plan that also includes full compensation for public transportation for commuting and business travel or a lease car.
• Great social events with your team and other TNO colleagues. That’s how you will get to know a lot of people really quickly.
• Flexible working hours, the possibility to work parttime (32 or 36 hours) and the possibility of working from home.
• A good pension scheme.