Business Development & Communications Analyst
Amsterdam | 40 hours (0.8 FTE possible) | €30,600 annual gross salary | 1-year contract (with view to extend)
Laterite is rebuilding how we win work and how we tell our story.
Laterite is changing the way we approach business development and storytelling. In 2026, we are updating our Business Development & Communications (BDC) function to move away from administrative, coordination-heavy workflows. We want to focus instead on sharper professional judgment, better market positioning, the smart use of AI and an increased focus on operational efficiency and spending time where it adds the most value.
Our main goals include clearer proposals, more human communications, and more intentional events. This role is at the centre of that transition: we care more about your drive, intelligence, and ability to optimize systems than your specific degree or years of formal experience.
You will work with the BDC Manager to improve the sourcing, preparation and delivery of proposals, and you will play a supporting role on the communications side. If you enjoy taking the lead on problems, organizing complex information, and helping technical teams speak with more clarity, this role is for you.
Who We Are
Laterite is a global data, research, and analytics firm working on complex development challenges. We partner with universities, global think tanks, international NGOs, multilateral donors, and government ministries to collect data and offer insights into their work. Our clients include the World Bank, TechnoServe and the Mastercard Foundation among many others.
We operate across the Netherlands, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, and Peru, with 90+ full-time staff and more than 2,000 enumerators. We believe meaningful impact requires being on the ground, building local teams, and establishing long-term trust. Our office culture is collaborative and gives people autonomy to grow into their roles.
The Environment You’re Stepping Into
You will join a three-person BDC team in our 14-person Amsterdam office. We are a small team with significant influence that sits close to leadership. We work directly with research managers and partners and are involved whenever major positioning decisions are made, as well as with the delivery of BDC outputs. The environment is direct and low on bureaucracy, but high on individual accountability. We care about each other, and we care about the work that we do. You won’t be micromanaged, but you will be expected to think critically and improve the systems you work with. This role is a good fit for someone who is keen to exercise their own judgment and can own tasks from beginning to end, while being part of broader conversations about the direction of our work. You will not have to do this alone: you will work closely with the BDC Manager and you will be supported by the other experienced Analyst in the team.
What You’ll Be Responsible For
Identifying and Developing New Business Opportunities
We want to be intentional about where we grow. You will help identify and assess new business opportunities across the countries where we work, keeping a close eye on emerging priorities, funding trends, and potential partnerships. This requires developing a strong understanding of the development of research landscape and the organizations that shape it. You'll help us think strategically about where to invest our business development efforts and how to position Laterite in a competitive environment. Over time, you will get a sense of what constitutes a strong opportunity for us, through direct experience and insights from past proposals.
Building Relationships That Matter
Strong business development starts with strong relationships. You will help establish and maintain professional networks with current and prospective clients, partners, and collaborators. Rather than treating outreach as a transactional exercise, you'll focus on building long-term relationships and understanding what different stakeholders value. Over time, you will become a trusted point of contact who helps create opportunities for collaboration and growth.
Strengthening Proposals and Business Development Materials
Winning proposals requires both technical excellence and compelling communication. You will support teams in developing high-quality proposals by bringing structure, clarity, and consistency to the process. This includes drafting sections, coordinating inputs, improving narrative flow, refining presentation, and ensuring submissions are polished and persuasive. You will also work with the rest of the BDC team to create materials that showcase Laterite's expertise, including capacity statements, brochures, and other strategic collateral.
Building Knowledge Systems That Support Growth
Good business development relies on good institutional memory. You will help improve and maintain the systems that allow us to track relationships, learn from past proposals, and work more effectively over time. This includes keeping proposal and relationship management records up to date, refining knowledge management practices, and identifying ways to make information easier to access and use. We value practical systems that support better decisions without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
Requirements
What You Bring
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You have a track record of getting things done and solving complex problems, whether through previous roles, internships, or personal projects. Ideally, you bring 1–3 years of professional experience in communications and/or business development, in roles requiring structured thinking, strong writing, and comfort working under deadline pressure. You thrive in a fast-paced environment where priorities can shift quickly, and you enjoy juggling multiple workstreams without letting details slip. You are a fast learner. You may not know how donor-funded projects operate yet, but you are resourceful enough to figure it out quickly.
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You have an excellent command of English, written and verbal. You can edit dense technical material for clarity and structure, rewrite sections when needed, and adapt tone depending on the audience. You are comfortable refining executive summaries, methodology sections, and ensuring documents read as a coherent narrative rather than stitched-together inputs.
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You are visually confident. Canva proficiency is a great asset. You can build clean slide decks, social graphics, and short publications with strong layout and hierarchy. Experience with Adobe InDesign or Illustrator is a plus.
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You are fluent in AI tools such as Claude, ChatGPT, or similar, using them to structure drafts, improve workflows, summarize complex content, and generate options, while keeping human judgment central.
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You are comfortable working across digital platforms, including LinkedIn and CMS platforms such as WordPress or Squarespace. Experience with Mailchimp or similar email tools is a plus.
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You are highly organized and comfortable using tools like Slack, Confluence, Asana, Notion, and shared document platforms. You can keep track of multiple deadlines, stakeholders, and moving pieces while maintaining a high standard of accuracy and attention to detail.
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You are based in (or willing to relocate to) Amsterdam and have the existing right to work in the EU.
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Most importantly, you operate well in a high-trust environment. You take ownership, exercise good judgment, and know when to push for stronger framing, when to ask questions, and when precision matters more than persuasion.
What success looks like in 6 months
Six months in, we will know this partnership is working if:
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You own the system: Together with the other Analyst, you have taken full command of the proposal management system. At least two core workflows feel lighter, faster, and more effective than before.
- You are a force multiplier: You are confidently managing the day-to-day flow of proposals without the BDC Manager acting as a bottleneck, together with the other BDC Analyst. You figure out what needs to be done and you do it.
- You drive the narrative: Technical teams seek your input early because they value your ability to structure their thinking, enforce deadlines, and ensure our proposals and external communications are measurably sharper.
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You close the loop: You have successfully shepherded a complex proposal or campaign from the initial concept all the way to submission or publication, proving your ability to navigate new challenges and get things done.
We don’t expect you to transform everything overnight. We do expect ownership, judgment, and progress.
Benefits
What’s in it for you?
You will work directly with the BDC Manager and have meaningful influence over the direction of the function. You will join at a rebuilding moment, which means room to shape how things are done.
The salary range for this role will start at €30,600 gross per year, depending on experience and alignment with our internal pay matrix.
We offer a flexible working environment, including remote work options and up to six weeks per year working from another location.
You will have access to an annual learning budget of up to $1,000 and 10 days per year dedicated to professional development.
This is a one-year contract (40 hours per week, with 0.8 FTE possible), with a view to extension.
