Job Description
Business Development & Communications Associate
Amsterdam | 40 hours (0.8 FTE possible) | 1-year contract (with view to extend) | Salary: €40,306.08 gross year
Laterite is rebuilding how we win work — and how we tell our story.
In 2026, we are redesigning our Business Development & Communications (BDC) function from the ground up.
Not tweaking it. Rebuilding it.
We are moving away from coordination-heavy workflows and toward sharper judgment, stronger positioning, and more deliberate use of AI. We want our proposals to be clearer. Our communications more human. Our events more intentional. Our systems lighter.
This role sits at the centre of that shift.
We are not hiring someone to “manage content.”
We are hiring someone to help shape how Laterite shows up in the world.
You will work directly with the BDC Manager to translate complex research, analytics, and AI for social impact into communication that is confident, compelling, and grounded. You will help ensure that our work doesn’t just meet technical standards — it resonates.
If you enjoy owning problems, structuring complexity, and helping technically strong teams communicate with clarity and purpose, this role is for you.
Who We Are
Laterite is a data, research and analytics firm working on complex development challenges.
We partner with universities, global think tanks, international NGOs, multilateral donors, and government ministries. Our clients include the World Bank, USAID, TechnoServe, the Mastercard Foundation, and others.
We operate across the Netherlands, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, and Peru. Our team includes 90+ full-time staff and more than 2,000 enumerators.
We believe impact is long-term. It requires being embedded in context. It requires building local teams and strong data systems. It requires trust.
We are deliberate about building a collaborative, high-trust working environment where people grow over time — and where autonomy is real.
The Environment You’re Stepping Into
You will join a small BDC team in Amsterdam — currently three people in a 14-person office.
This is not a layered communications department. It’s a lean team with influence. We sit close to leadership. We work directly with research managers and partners. We are in the room when positioning decisions are made.
The environment is: High-trust |Direct | Low on bureaucracy | High on accountability
You will not be micromanaged. But you will be expected to think, to question, and to improve what you inherit.
This role requires judgment — not just execution.
What You’ll Be Responsible For
1. Shaping Laterite’s Voice
We do technically rigorous work. But we don’t want our communications to read like compliance documents.
Your role is to help us sound like who we are: rigorous, thoughtful, and grounded — but accessible.
You will lead the creation of newsletters, social media content, short narratives, and case studies. More importantly, you will apply editorial judgment. You’ll decide what to emphasise, what to cut, and how to frame our work in ways that make sense beyond our immediate technical circle.
We are operationalising a communications handbook — but we do not want a rulebook. We want a baseline. You will stress-test it against real projects and refine it over time.
This role requires taste. Not just grammar.
2. Strengthening Proposals and Positioning
Proposals are not administrative exercises. They are strategic documents.
You will work alongside technical leads on high-stakes submissions — helping structure arguments, sharpen narrative flow, improve visual clarity, and ensure that our strengths feel integrated rather than appended.
During intense submission periods, you’ll help drive momentum. When needed, you will be the person who brings structure to a chaotic draft and helps move it toward a coherent, persuasive document.
Over time, research leads should begin to seek your input early — not because they have to, but because they see value in your perspective.
You will become a “critical friend” to technical teams.
3. Making Outreach and Events Intentional
Conferences and stakeholder meetings should not be passive activities.
Before events, you will help teams think through positioning: who we want to speak to, what story we want to tell, and why it matters. During events, you will capture moments that can become communication assets. Afterwards, you will help translate engagement into follow-up.
We care about return on attention — not just attendance.
4. Building Systems That Scale
We care deeply about quality. But we don’t believe in heavy processes for their own sake.
You will help improve templates, asset libraries, and workflows so that quality improves without adding friction. You will experiment thoughtfully with AI tools — always keeping human judgment at the centre.
We expect you to take ownership of specific initiatives from concept to execution. This is a building role, not a maintenance role.
What You Bring
You bring 3–5 years of professional experience in the development sector, ideally in roles requiring structured thinking, strong writing, and comfort working under deadline pressure. You understand how donor-funded projects operate and what high-quality proposals and reports require.
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.
You are visually confident. Canva proficiency is essential. 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.
You are practically fluent in AI tools such as ChatGPT (or similar), using them to structure drafts, improve workflows, summarise complex content, and generate options — while keeping human judgment central.
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 expected.
You are organised and comfortable using tools like Slack, Asana, Notion, and shared document platforms to manage multiple parallel deadlines without losing attention to detail.
You are based in (or willing to relocate to) Amsterdam and have the existing right to work in the EU.
Most importantly, you operate well in a high-trust environment. You take ownership, exercise judgment, and know when to push for stronger framing — 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:
- Our external communication feels measurably sharper — less like reporting, more like storytelling.
- Technical teams seek your input early because they value your ability to structure and strengthen their thinking.
- At least two core workflows feel lighter and more effective than before.
- You are confidently managing the day-to-day flow of communications without the BDC Manager acting as a bottleneck.
- An event or campaign has led to visible engagement or follow-up that we can point to.
- We don’t expect you to transform everything overnight. We do expect ownership, judgment, and progress.
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 €40,306.08 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.
