Business Development Manager

Hartmann Young is working with a fast-growing, profitable European CDMO to appoint a commercially driven Business Development Manager for the Benelux region.

This is a true hunter role, focused on accelerating new customer acquisition across the Netherlands initially, with scope to expand into the wider Benelux and Northern European markets over time. You will open doors, build relationships with ambitious brands and convert customer needs into development and manufacturing opportunities across multiple European production sites.

This is not an account-management position. We are looking for someone who enjoys the chase, is credible in front of founders and senior stakeholders, and can turn early conversations into long-term commercial partnerships.

The opportunity

You will target established nutraceutical, functional food and sports nutrition brands, alongside fast-growing challenger and founder-led businesses with the potential to become tomorrow’s category leaders.

Working closely with the Chief Global Sales Officer, European commercial colleagues, R&D and operational teams, you will represent a broad range of development and manufacturing capabilities. You will act as a trusted innovation partner, understanding customer ambitions and translating them into practical product, formulation and manufacturing solutions.

Key responsibilities

• Proactively identify, approach and win new customers across the Netherlands and wider Benelux region.
• Build a balanced pipeline of larger strategic accounts and smaller, high-potential growth brands.
• Open doors with founders, CEOs, product developers, procurement teams and other senior decision-makers.
• Understand formulations, formats, claims, market trends and customer product ambitions.
• Translate customer requirements into clear development and manufacturing opportunities for European sites.
• Act as the bridge between customers, R&D, product development, operations and commercial teams.
• Partner with the wider European sales organisation on cross-site and multi-format opportunities.
• Maintain a structured, high-quality pipeline and handover process through HubSpot CRM.
• Identify relevant industry events, marketing initiatives and other commercial opportunities to accelerate regional growth.
• Travel regularly across the Netherlands and to European production and commercial sites.

What success looks like

• A strong pipeline of qualified opportunities built within the first three to six months.
• New strategic customer relationships established across the Benelux market.
• Opportunities converted into valuable, long-term manufacturing partnerships.
• Credibility internally as a collaborative commercial partner and externally as a knowledgeable representative of an innovation-led CDMO.
• A clear contribution to the growth of the business across the region.

About you

• Proven new-business sales experience within nutraceuticals, dietary supplements, functional food, sports nutrition or a closely related industry.
• A genuine hunter mentality: resilient, proactive and comfortable with outbound business development.
• Able to engage credibly with both commercial and technical stakeholders.
• Commercially sharp, technically curious and confident discussing product innovation.
• Comfortable navigating longer, development-led CDMO sales cycles.
• Entrepreneurial, self-driven, ambitious and low ego.
• Collaborative and comfortable working across multiple sites, functions and countries.
• Experience using HubSpot or a comparable CRM would be beneficial.

Essential requirements

• Fluent Dutch and English.
• Based in the Netherlands, or able to operate effectively in a hybrid/remote role with significant regional travel.
• Willingness to spend regular time at production sites to develop a deep understanding of the company’s capabilities.

This is an excellent opportunity for a commercially ambitious individual to make a tangible impact within a high-growth European manufacturing business, with genuine autonomy and strong internal support.

For a confidential conversation, please contact Hartmann Young.