Associate Director Business Development & Client Relations

At Oaklins Valuation Advisory, we're looking for someone to join the team as Associate Director Business Development & Client Relations.

Help build the leading Disputes & Valuations practice in the Netherlands

Oaklins Nederland is looking for an enterprising Associate Director Business Development & Client Relations who, together with the partner, will be responsible for the commercial development of the Valuation practice.

For this role, we are first and foremost looking for someone who opens doors, builds lasting relationships and knows how to create new assignments. Experience with valuation issues is a bonus, but not decisive.

Our ambition is to take a leading position in the field of valuations in complex situations, including:

• shareholder disputes
• arbitration and litigation
• fairness opinions
• restructuring and WHOA processes
• governance issues
• complex M&A-related valuations

Commercial market development is central to this role. You build lasting relationships with lawyers, arbitration specialists, restructuring advisors, banks, private equity parties, supervisory directors and directors and know how to convert these relationships into concrete assignments. At the same time, you will continue to grow in the content of complex valuation issues, working closely with the Partner Valuations and the team. You are not only responsible for maintaining relationships, but above all for developing a sustainable referral machine and creating new growth opportunities for the practice.

About the position

As Associate Director Business Development & Client Relations, your primary responsibility will be to expand the commercial reach of the Valuations practice. You will build a strong network of referrers, develop new propositions and translate market developments into concrete assignments.

In parallel, you will continue to develop within the field of valuations. You will work on valuation issues and, together with the Partner Valuations, build up more and more substantive expertise.

You will liaise with partners at law firms, arbitration specialists, trustees, restructuring experts, private equity investors and other decision-makers. You understand how complex consulting engagements are created, positioned and won, and you know how to build trust with senior stakeholders over time.

Over time, you will also contribute to strengthening Oaklins' position in the Netherlands and, where relevant, support international growth opportunities through the Oaklins network.

In the coming years, the focus will be on four strategic growth pillars:

1. Disputes & Litigation Support
2. Fairness Opinions
3. Restructuring & Distressed Situations
4. Complex shareholder and governance issues

You will develop and maintain an active network of referrers and decision-makers within these markets and ensure that Oaklins is seen as a leading independent valuation specialist.

Your responsibilities

Commercial market development

• Developing account plans for strategic referral relationships
• Initiating warm introductions and expanding the network of the Valuations practice
• Building relationships with litigation partners, arbitration specialists, restructuring advisors, trustees, PE parties and supervisory directors
• Developing and executing a structural business development program focused on high-quality referral networks
• Identifying market trends and translating them into new propositions

Thought Leadership

• Initiating publications, round tables, seminars and webinars
• Contributing to the positioning of Oaklins as a thought leader in the field of disputes, fairness opinions and restructuring

Substantive involvement

• You will participate in valuation analyses and support expert reports, as required, to further expand your expertise in the field
• You make a substantive contribution to quotations and pitches

Who are you?

You are an experienced business developer who gets energy from building a practice. You know how to develop lasting relationships with senior decision-makers and have proven to be able to generate new assignments. You don't have to be a seasoned valuation specialist; much more important is your commercial instinct, curiosity and ambition to further develop yourself in terms of content.

You bring

• A university degree in law, finance, accountancy, business economics, or a related field
• 5-10 years of relevant experience within corporate finance, valuations, litigation support, restructuring, accountancy or a business legal environment
• A proven track record in business development, account development or relationship management within a professional consulting environment
• An existing network within the legal profession, restructuring, private equity, accountancy or financial services is a great advantage
• Affinity with valuation issues and the ambition to develop further in this area
• Curiosity about complex financial and legal issues
• Understanding of how disputes, arbitrations, fairness opinions and restructurings work in practice
• An entrepreneurial attitude and the ambition to further develop a practice

Success in this role means

• Expanding the network of strategic referrers
• Realizing a structural flow of new assignments
• Increasing the visibility of Oaklins within the legal and financial market
• Organizing high-quality knowledge and network meetings
• Contributing to the further growth of the Valuations practice

Personal characteristics

• Commercially driven, proactive and enterprising
• Strategic, independent and hands-on
• A born networker with a strong sense of empathy
• Reliable and discreet
• Energetic, accessible and at ease in senior environments
• A strong communicator, both one-on-one and for groups
• Able to effectively prioritize and remain resilient under pressure

What do we offer?

• A competitive salary, including 8% holiday allowance and performance bonus
• A pension plan that is paid for 100% by Oaklins
• 25 vacation days for full-time employment
• Flexible working hours and attention to well-being, such as sports during working hours and biweekly chair massages
• An open, informal and collaborative culture
• Short decision-making lines to partners
• Involvement in high-quality national and international business development efforts
• Access to a strong national and international network
• Room for own initiative, building a customer base and personal and professional development
• Direct impact on the growth of an ambitious practice
• An entrepreneurial environment with a lot of freedom and responsibility
• Team-building outings, sporting events and social activities

About Oaklins

Oaklins Netherlands is a leading Corporate Finance advisory firm, specializing in M&A, Debt, ECM and Valuation advisory. We are part of Oaklins International, with more than 900 professionals spread across more than 40 locations worldwide.

In the Netherlands, the team of more than 60 professionals advises entrepreneurs, companies, investors and other stakeholders on complex corporate finance issues. We combine high-quality consulting work with an open, collaborative and entrepreneurial culture.