Background to the role

Helping people, animals and the planet by supporting alternative protein companies to scale.

The Good Food Institute Europe is an independent nonprofit and think tank helping to build a more sustainable, secure and just food system by diversifying protein production. 

We champion the science, policies and investment needed to make plant-based, fermentation-made and cultivated (made from cells) meat delicious, affordable and accessible across Europe. 

By advancing plant-based foods, cultivating meat from cells and producing ingredients through fermentation, we can boost food security, meet our climate targets and support nature-friendly farming. GFI Europe is powered by philanthropy. Please check out the rest of our website, our 2024 highlights post, and recent editions of our monthly newsletter to find out more about who we are and what we do.

We are at an exciting stage in our growth and are looking for a Commercialisation Manager to join our Industry team.

As the alternative protein sector matures, companies across Europe face critical challenges in scaling from innovation to mainstream markets – slowing the sector’s ability to deliver its full potential impact on climate targets, biodiversity, public health and beyond. In this role, you will identify those barriers and lead initiatives that accelerate commercialisation—working with both startups and corporates to ensure alternative proteins can scale in ways that are technically feasible, economically viable, and supported by strong market demand. Our motivation, priority, and the purpose of this role is not industry profit, but the creation of a more sustainable, secure and just food system.

How you will make a difference

Reporting to the Head of Industry, you will:

• Set the strategy for GFI Europe’s commercialisation work, identifying and pursuing the top priorities for mission impact, with a focus on helping the alternative protein sector scale successfully and ensuring markets are ready to absorb these innovations. 
• Engage with alternative protein companies to understand their commercialisation challenges and translate these into open-access research, resources, or initiatives that benefit the sector as a whole, particularly startups and entrepreneurs who might otherwise not have access to such resources.
• Conduct research and analyses – both in-house and with external partners – on key scaling topics (eg, business models, go-to-market strategies, cost drivers, etc). 
• Develop publicly available resources, tools, and guidance to support companies in navigating scale-up challenges. 
• Build relationships with corporates across the food value chain (eg, manufacturers, ingredient and equipment suppliers, retailers, etc) and collaborate with them on initiatives that drive demand across the ecosystem and scale up the alternative protein supply chain. 
• Map key commercialisation activities and developments across Europe, identify synergies, and foster collaboration among stakeholders across the industry.
• Represent GFI Europe at conferences and events to showcase insights, inspire action, and convene stakeholders around scaling alternative proteins.
• Collaborate with colleagues across the international network of GFI affiliates on commercialisation activities, including working closely with GFI Europe’s Infrastructure Investment Manager and Policy Manager, focused on scaling. 
• Comply with GFI Europe’s private benefit guidelines by focusing on activities that support the entire alternative protein ecosystem and not serving as a consultant to individual companies. 
• Perform other tasks as required as a member of our small, nimble team.

Who we’re looking for

The core skills and attributes needed to excel in the role are:

• A passion for GFI’s philosophy and mission.
• Strategic thinking and innovation mindset: Adept at developing creative solutions to structural or systemic barriers, particularly when data is scarce.
• Relevant experience: Proven experience in commercial strategy and/or operations, business development, corporate innovation, management consulting, investment strategies (e.g. venture capital, private equity, investment banking, blended finance, impact investment) or other relevant areas.
• Commercial expertise: Strong understanding of business models, unit economics, cost drivers, and financing strategies, with the ability to assess commercial viability.
• Excellent people skills: Persuasive and engaging interpersonal skills; the ability to build effective working relationships with stakeholders of all levels in an organisation. 
• Communication skills: Strong written, verbal and presentation skills. 
• Ownership and initiative: The ability to take ownership, manage multiple projects simultaneously, and drive outcomes forward independently.
• Tech savviness: Comfort using various software tools and platforms in a remote workplace, and a willingness to learn and experiment with new systems. Training and support in Google Workspace, Asana, Salesforce and other key tools will be provided. 
• An affinity with our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, and with maintaining our welcoming and supportive culture.
• Comfort working remotely and in a rapidly evolving organisation.
• Our team’s common language is English, so you’ll need to be confident working in English.

It would be an advantage to have some or all of the following attributes, but none of them are prerequisites, and we welcome applications from candidates without any or all of them:

• Experience working in the food, biotech, or climate tech sectors.
• Experience supporting companies or technologies at the scaling stage. 
• Fluency in an additional European language, other than English.

We want the best people and we know that building a diverse, inclusive workplace leads to stronger, happier, more productive and resilient teams. We strongly encourage people of every ethnicity, orientation, age, gender, origin, socio-economic background, and ability to apply.  Because we value a diverse workplace, we prioritise an inclusive culture free from discrimination and harassment during the application process and after you join the team.

Benefits and the fine print

• Terms of employment: Full-time (flexible hours), permanent. Requests for part-time arrangements can be considered (minimum 30 hours per week).
• Location: We can consider applicants in any of the following countries where we can currently employ people: Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Sweden and the UK. This is a remote role, and you will be able to work from home, or anywhere you choose. We are happy to consider supporting costs for co-working to enable you to work from an office if you wish. The whole GFI Europe team aims to get together in person approximately twice per year for around 3-5 days at a time. Travel costs will be covered by GFI Europe within our travel policy.
• Salary and benefits: The salary and benefits package for all of our roles are researched and benchmarked based on similar nonprofit roles in the country/location of hire. Due to capacity, we cannot complete that research for every country in advance, but approximate indicative ranges (total annual amounts received in gross salary plus benefits including home-working allowance) are likely to be:
  • €4,492-€5,482 gross/month*. This range is an example based on a hire in the Netherlands and will be adjusted to match our benchmarking of the successful applicant’s country of work. *in addition to 8% holiday pay if based in The Netherlands. 
• Right to work requirements: The successful candidate must, by the start of the employment, have permission to work in the country where they are based, and be able to travel within the EU.
• Compliance: All work will be designed to advance the field as a whole and will not provide tailored commercial consulting or preferential benefits to any one company.
• Application Deadline: Sunday 28 September 2025, 11.59pm CEST. We will get back to all candidates after that date, no matter the outcome of their application. You should expect to hear back from us within around two weeks of the deadline.

Application process

Dates and times of assignments and video calls can be arranged to fit around your commitments. Please note that we are ideally aiming for a quick turnaround of this hiring round, so please let us know if we should be aware of any capacity issues on your side. We are planning on making a final offer the first week of November.

We want you to have every opportunity to shine and show us your talents – we are happy to make all the reasonable adjustments that we possibly can to make sure the assessment process works for you. Email us at europe-hiring@gfi.org

We really look forward to hearing from you!

Any questions?

You’ll find the answer to a wide range of questions in relation to this role by checking out the pre-recorded Q&A session with Carlotte (the Hiring Manager) and Alex (the Managing Director) below. If you have any other questions about this role, feel free to reach out to us at europe-hiring@gfi.org.

If you’ve read this far but decided not to apply, please share this job description with someone else in your network who you think might be a good fit for the role! Thank you.