Program Director Growth & Partnerships fte

Program Director Growth & Partnerships (1 fte, 40 hrs/week)

Bright lands Chemelot Campus – Kruimelpad

Bright lands Chemelot Campus is a leading innovation hub in circular materials and chemistry, bringing together companies, knowledge institutes and talent in a unique open ecosystem. Together with Chemelot Industrial Park, it forms one of Europe’s largest research and industrial clusters. The mission is to accelerate innovation by connecting business, research and education to address global challenges in sustainability and health.

Bright lands Chemelot Campus is entering a new phase where external growth, national and international positioning, and strategic partnerships are key to further strengthening our ecosystem and shaping the next stage of campus development. The Program Director Growth & Partnerships will lead the commercial expansion by attracting new companies and ecosystems, and by contributing to the strategic development and market positioning of the campus.

You will drive commercial growth with a focus on acquisition, occupancy and strategic partnerships. You proactively identify, approach and negotiate with prospective companies, translating their needs into compelling propositions for locating on campus. This role reports directly to the CEO.

• Direct growth – actively approach new customers and increase the influx of promising companies.
• Indirect growth – secure funding and collaborations through national and European programmes, consortia and public–private partnerships.

• Proactively identify acquisition opportunities with companies in the Netherlands and abroad.
• Capture industry-wide opportunities by engaging with organisations such as Invest‑NL, Techleap and the Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate Policy.
• Build partnerships that attract start‑ups and scale‑ups through international accelerator programmes, corporate innovation programmes, incubators and venture studios.
• Create new programmes via European and national funding, PPP structures and multi‑year collaborations with corporates to generate campus‑wide funding and strengthen the ecosystem.

• Proactively identify opportunities with companies and ecosystems.
• Approach and convert new companies to establish themselves on Bright lands Chemelot Campus.
• Translate the campus proposition into compelling business cases for corporates, scale‑ups and R&D organisations.
• Drive acquisition efforts with a clear focus on occupancy and revenue generation.
• Lead commercial conversations, negotiations and deal closures with prospective tenants and partners.
• Develop and maintain relationships with external stakeholders, intermediaries and business networks.
• Represent Bright lands in relevant networks, trade missions and events to generate new leads and visibility.
• Initiate partnerships and programmes at a national and European level that support commercial growth and strengthen the ecosystem.
• Help steer the qualitative development of the campus by attracting companies and partners that reinforce its strategic profile and long‑term ambitions.
• Collaborate closely with internal stakeholders such as Real Estate, Business Development, Marketing and Innovation to ensure successful onboarding and alignment.
• Work structurally with the Director Business Development to convert opportunities into concrete contracts.

• Attract new companies and increase campus occupancy.
• Convert leads into concrete business opportunities and signed agreements.
• Strengthen the campus proposition through commercially relevant partnerships.
• Contribute to the strategic positioning and long‑term development of the campus ecosystem in target markets.

• Academic working and thinking level.
• 10+ years of experience in commercial business development, acquisition, partnerships or sales in a complex B2B environment.
• A proven track record of attracting new clients, negotiating deals and closing business.
• Experience with campus development, real estate, innovation environments or knowledge‑intensive ecosystems is a strong plus.
• Affinity with…