Director Commercial Partnerships

Job Title: Director Commercial Partnerships
Team: Strategic Partnerships

Contract: Open-ended

Level: Alchemist
Please refer to our Capability Framework
Location: Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, UK

Apply by: We're interviewing on a rolling basis until we close the role. We advise you to apply early as we may close the role early if we have a sufficient pool of candidates. 

ABOUT US

At Climate-KIC, we are wholeheartedly committed to building a diverse and representative team and an inclusive workplace that values different life experiences and perspectives, and we encourage personal development, learning and growth.

When recruiting, we look to achieve diversity in the candidate pool. We actively encourage applications from underrepresented groups and are happy to consider reasonable adjustments that will foster success in potential employees from diverse backgrounds and life situations. And because our team has differing needs and personal circumstances, we offer a high degree of flexibility to accommodate all working patterns. We’re happy to discuss your situation during the interview and see how best we can support you.

Don’t let Imposter Syndrome stop you from applying!

Climate-KIC (Knowledge and Innovation Community) is Europe’s foremost climate innovation initiative, entrusted by the European Commission to catalyse transformation through innovation. Headquartered in Amsterdam, with circa 160 people distributed all over the EU, Climate-KIC leads and orchestrates innovation with a community of more than 400. Together we conduct activities in 39 countries. We partner with cities, regions, governments and communities with the highest climate action ambition; providing the framework and expert support to holistically manage the complexity of climate change and deliver accelerated climate action.

Climate-KIC operates as a not-for-profit platform working through public-private partnership, wielding both public and private funding. We consist of 3 Legal entities: a Dutch BV Holding company (for profit) with 14 branches in European jurisdictions, providing grant management, innovation orchestration services, and impact investment advisory owned by a Dutch-based foundation with charity status – Climate-KIC International Foundation. Historically, we have been funded by our founder and core funder, the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT), but we are currently transitioning to a multi-funder model.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are seeking a highly strategic and results-driven Commercial Director to lead our commercial business development, revenue growth, and corporate partnerships. The successful candidate will be responsible for developing and executing commercial strategies, developing commercial value propositions and fees-for-service initiatives, managing a portfolio of prospects and key client relationships, driving market expansion, and ensuring the organisation’s financial performance aligns

with its strategic objectives. This role demands natural sales ability and affinity for relationship building and conversion of interest into commitment, strong leadership, excellent stakeholder management, disciplined and a deep understanding of market dynamics.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Planning and Execution:

• Develop and implement comprehensive commercial strategies in collaboration with teams

across the organisation that align with organisational goals.

• Identify new commercial market opportunities and drive strategic initiatives to diversify and

grow revenue streams.

• Oversee market research, competitor analysis, and customer insights to inform strategic

decision-making.

• Work closely with Communications and Marketing and with Community Team colleagues to

develop and implement audience-led marketing strategies for Climate-KIC activities and

programmes across functions

Revenue Growth and Business Development:

• Lead commercial business development efforts to secure new contracts, partnerships, and

revenue-generating opportunities.

• Liaise with delivery team leads and ecosystem builders to identify and capitalise on potential

sales opportunities

• Develop strong relationships with key stakeholders, including customers, partners, and

industry leaders.

• Negotiate contracts and manage high-value commercial agreements to optimise revenue

and profitability.

Client Relationship Management:

• Manage and strengthen relationships with existing commercial clients, ensuring high levels

of satisfaction and retention.

• Act as a key point of contact for high-profile clients and partners.

• Oversee customer engagement strategies and implement initiatives to enhance client

experience.

Operational Excellence:

• Ensure commercial processes, tools, and practices are streamlined and effective.

• Build a culture of disciplined prospects management, relationship cultivation and

appreciation for the impact potential of commercial relationships.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including Finance, Legal, Marketing, and -

Operations to deliver commercial goals.

• Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and provide regular reporting on commercial

performance.

Leadership:

• Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement.

• Adopt a polyarchic style to work with the Leadership Team to provide commercial acumen

and analysis to inform high-level decision-making and communication.

• Work with Cluster Leads to ensure that commerciality lies at the heart of all delivery team

strategies and development plans

Financial and Budget Management:

• Set financial targets and develop strategies to achieve revenue and profitability goals.

• Manage budgets related to commercial operations, ensuring cost efficiency.

Key Working Relationships

• Chief Executive Officer

• Chief Financial Officer

• Climate-KIC Hub Lead

• Leadership Team

• Strategic Partnerships Team and Community Team

• Deal Desk and Programme Management Office

• Delivery teams

• Funders, including EU bodies, national and regional governments, philanthropies and private funders, corporate partners

• Climate-KIC Holding Board and Climate-KIC Foundation Board

ABOUT YOU

Education/Qualifications

Minimum degree qualification ideally in a relevant subject area such as environmental science, sustainable development, international development, economics, business or relevant comparable experience.

Experience

We are looking for candidates with experience in the following:

• At least 10 year’s experience in a commercial or business development role in an international organisation

• Experience of leading a commercial sales team including lead identification, pipeline development, bid/proposal development and conversion

• Proven track record of driving revenue growth and managing key client relationships.

• Strategic partnership and relationship management with senior stakeholders

• Coordinating and writing of high value pitches, funding applications and proposals

• Strategy and Strategic Sales

• Long-term Business Planning

• Communication and pitching

• Securing contracts from multi-territories across Europe

Key Competencies

• Strategic Vision and Execution

• Revenue and Market Expansion

• Customer Relationship Management

• Leadership and Team Development

• Negotiation and Contract Management

• Financial Acumen

• Operational Efficiency

Additional experience in the following would be a benefit:

• Value proposition and concept design

• Working in a holacratic or “team of teams” environment

• Securing contracts from multi-territories globally

Skills

• Strong negotiation, influencing, and stakeholder management skills.

• Excellent strategic thinking, analytical, and problem-solving abilities.

• Exceptional communication and presentation skills.

• Fluency in English, excellent written and verbal communication skills, and any additional European languages are a benefit.

• Strong analytical skills with pronounced attention to detail

• Creatively-minded, good at thinking ‘outside the box’

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to quickly build rapport

with internal and external stakeholders

• Highly motivated and target-driven

• Able to work in an international, distributed, and multicultural team; strong awareness of

other cultures and working practices

• Interest and commitment to tackling climate change and its socio-economic, environmental

impacts

• Familiarity with and proficiency in using Salesforce would be an advantage

Qualities, Personal Style, and Approach

• You devise new ways of achieving results

• You mobilise resources and legitimacy from diverse sources to deliver change

• You manage multiple tasks simultaneously, producing strong results in each

• You are able to manage many different stakeholders

• You persevere despite setbacks, adapting your approach

• You adapt your contribution with refined sense of changing needs.

• You take calculated risks.

• You are at ease with complexity.

• You explore the edges of what is known and what exists

Location

Candidates must have the right to work in the location they’re applying for (I.e. not require visa sponsorship) prior to applying for the position. Ideally, the successful candidate will be based close to one of the EIT Climate KIC offices, but we support fully remote or hybrid forms of working and offer a high degree of flexibility.

To ensure that we can respond to every single applicant, we will close the role once we receive a reasonable pool of candidates to assess.