Business Developer
You own new business: you find clients stuck on outdated systems, get to the real problem and turn it into a success together with the team.
About the role
Why this role exists
Bonsai is a Software Operating Partner. We build bespoke software for Europe's industrial backbone: the honest alternative to SaaS lock-in and billing by the hour. The client owns the code, the data and the system. We take on genuinely big builds for big organisations: custom ERPs that replace SAP, Exact and AFAS, and AI workers that take over whole back-office roles.
With Bonsai you build for the long term. The client you win over could run their whole business for the next twenty years on a system you helped shape. Forget a stopgap package; this is the foundation a company leans on. That's no sales line. It's an honour, and a responsibility.
The role
What you'll do
You're never out there alone: a multidisciplinary team of engineers, data scientists, econometricians and designers builds alongside you. The people who understand the business are the ones who build it.
- Find clients: spot, approach and visit companies in fresh produce, food, manufacturing and logistics that are stuck on outdated systems.
- Get to the real question: dig until you know which process causes the friction, what it's costing them and what a fix would be worth. Always pushing towards facts and figures.
- Turn it into a proposal: shape the client's question into a specific offer for our services (Custom ERP) and products (the Virtual Workforce), put in the client's own words.
- Lay a foundation: your job goes past selling a project. You help shape a foundation that holds up for twenty years.
- Make it work with the client: stay involved until they see results and come back for the next step.
- Think alongside us on the business: feed back on positioning and pricing from what you hear in the market.
The boundary
What you won't do
- Sell hot air: you promise nothing we can't deliver.
- Wait for the client: the initiative sits with you.
- Let half-finished work out the door: no scrappy email, no rough proposal.
- Hide behind jargon or smooth talk.
- Look after yourself at the team's expense.
Your profile
What you bring
- Decisive: you pick up the phone, you take the risk, you keep hold of the initiative.
- You understand software and can explain a complex solution in the client's language.
- Honest and direct: people always know where they stand with you.
- A team player who answers to the group.
- Fluent Dutch, ideally English as well.
- You decide on facts and can build a business case.
A plus, not a requirement
- Experience in B2B sales, consultancy or tech sales.
- A network in the larger Dutch SME or mid-market, preferably in fresh produce, food, manufacturing or logistics.
- Experience drafting proposals or quotes.
What we offer
Working at Bonsai
- Your own client portfolio and real responsibility, from start to finish.
- Work you're proud of: systems that large companies run on for twenty years.
- A multidisciplinary team under one roof; you're never on your own.
- AI that carries the story, used in earnest rather than as a gimmick.
- Hybrid working from Rotterdam.
- Market-rate salary plus performance bonus.
The process
How your application unfolds
Questionnaire
A short questionnaire of 3 to 5 minutes.
Intro call
A 30-minute conversation with our recruiter.
Case
A technical or practical case of 1 to 2 hours.
Final round
A closing conversation with the team, 45 to 60 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Good to know
Do you work remotely or in the office?
Hybrid. Our base is Rotterdam (Westblaak), where we see each other regularly. Beyond that you're free to work where you're productive.
Do I have to meet every requirement to apply?
No. If you recognise yourself in the role and most of the points, apply. We look at what you can do and how fast you learn, not at a checklist.
Which language do you work in?
Dutch in the office and with clients. Some of our work and documentation is in English. For most roles, fluent Dutch ranges from a strong advantage to a firm requirement.
Which AI tools do you use yourselves?
Claude Code, ChatGPT, Copilot and Figma, among others. We automate our own work as fanatically as the client's.
How quickly will I hear back after applying?
Usually within a few working days. The whole process, from questionnaire to final round, typically takes two to three weeks.
I don't see a matching role. Can I still apply?
Yes. Send an open application to talent@bonsaisoftware.nl and tell us what you'd like to build.
Other openings