Catalyze Group – The Innovation Consultants – is a leading consulting firm that offers highly specialized services to support early-stage innovators. We collaborate with academics, start-ups, and scale-ups in the field of life sciences & health and green & sustainable innovations. Through our services we accelerate innovations and make sure early-stage technologies reach the market successfully, and that our clients grow into mature successful companies. Core activities of Catalyze Group is to raise funding for our clients through non-dilutive funding, government secured loans and investments (equity). Our business and strategic consultants help our clients with their financial plan, become investor ready, establish strong business cases, business plans, go-to-market strategies and commercial approaches. With our help, we have seen many start-ups become successful companies that reached the market and have become highly attractive for mergers & acquisition exits and/or for continues growth via IPOs. On top of these achievements, we manage several investment funds and have our own fund (Catalyze Capital) through which we actively invest in early-stage technologies. We are passionate about driving innovation in healthcare and sustainability, aiming to make an impact by helping those who are dedicated day in day out to improve care for patients, develop new therapies or make a real impact in the field of sustainability.

We are looking for a:

Strategic Business Consultant

 
As a Strategic Business Consultant in our Strategy Department and venture building team, you will collaborate closely with innovative start-ups and scale-ups, guiding them to become investment-ready, achieve their strategic objectives and build successful ventures. We help our clients with strong business plans, go-to-market strategies, business models, market analysis, and business coaching. Through our services we aim to build successful ventures and make our clients investor ready, e.g. for their next investment round. For our clients and/or our own portfolio of investments you serve as a trusted advisor, you will provide strategic insights and market intelligence to enhance clients' product development and market entry capabilities. You will effectively handle tasks within client assignments, ensuring deliverables such as business plans, strategic roadmaps, and reports are developed to support clients' business, innovation, and governance strategies.

As strategic business consultant you will also work closely with the excellent grant writing teams in the Life Sciences, Health, and Green & Sustainable Innovations sectors. These teams play a crucial role in attracting non-dilutive clients for top innovations all over Europe.  In your role you will also support  these teams in developing high-potential projects, perform market analysis, define business models and company pitches for business-focused grants, such as the EIC Accelerator program, to hone business consulting skills. This position requires you to work as part of a client-assignment team, led by a Senior/Principal Strategy Consultant, to meet the assignment’s and client’s goals.
 

Responsibilities

• Develop business models that suit the company and their products
• Create business plans, investor leaflets and business slide decks tailored to target audiences, including investors, customers and other business
• Coach clients toward successful pitching their business and products to different target audiences
• Develop financing strategies consisting of a mix of non-dilutive and dilutive funding sources
• Advise on financing (dilutive and non-dilutive ) strategy of a company:
• Support clients in their investment strategy
• Challenge the clients cost and budget structure in their financial plan
• Run interactive workshops/ sessions with clients and its stakeholders
• Proactive and flexible approach to deliver a solution for our client’s needs
• Co-create business focused applications such as EIC accelerator projects
• Capable of identifying the root causes for problems and of extracting insights (from data, clients, and text)
• Conducting research and analysis such as product-market fit and competition.
• Report to manager consultancy on progress in assignments as necessary, escalate arising issues when needed.
• Develop expertise and domain-knowledge and consolidate it for the department.
• Manages own time efficiently / Defines priorities

Qualifications

• In-depth knowledge of financial business models, investment analysis, risk management, and a deep understanding of industry challenges and opportunities.
• Minimum of 3-4 years of relevant experience.
• Demonstrated experience in consulting for start-ups and scale-ups, with a track record of helping companies secure funding and achieve growth milestones.
• In-depth knowledge of specific industries such as Life Sciences, Health, Technology, or Green and Sustainable Innovations.
• Experience working with international clients and understanding of global market trends and dynamics.
• Excellent quantitative and qualitative analytical skills with the ability to perform due diligence for investors.
• Preferably prior experience with writing strategic plans and/or business plans.
• Preferably experience with venture debt schemes and loans for companies

 Competences & skills

• Stakeholder management - ability to align stakeholders towards a common goal
• Independence - Ability to work independently on assignments towards successful completion
• Analytical and strategic thinking -  Ability to challenge client on their innovation and development trajectory
• Result driven and highly organized.
• Commercial awareness - focusing on delivering value within set hours
• Service and client oriented with a pro-active attitude.
• Planning & organizing

Offer

• A competitive gross salary based on experience with excellent secondary conditions.
• Permanent position after successful temporary (1-year) appointment.
• Performance based bonus structure
• 8% holiday allowance
• 27 vacation days per year
• Commuting allowance
• Pension plan
• Monthly working from home allowance
• Laptop
• Possibility to work completely location-independent for a maximum of 2 months
• Lease bike plan
• Healthy lunch at the office
• Great colleagues and a pleasant and fun work environment and lots of social activities.
• A professional and dynamic working environment that values independence, entrepreneurship, and self-development.