Key Skills

Job Description

Are you passionate about the future of food, agri-tech, and ingredient innovation? Do you enjoy taking an early idea and turning it into a tested venture concept, working hands-on from research through to validation? We are looking for a Freelance Venture Builder to join our Amsterdam based AgriFood venture building domain. You will work on venture building and innovation projects for global corporate clients in the food ingredients space, across business units such as animal nutrition, food solutions, cocoa and chocolate, and protein. As Venture Builder, you will be a hands-on member of the project team, working alongside project leads, designers, and technical specialists. You will own your work streams within the project and carry out the research, analysis, and validation work that takes a venture from first concept to a tested business case. What You Will Do AgriFood Market & Opportunity Research: Analyze market trends, competitive landscapes, emerging technologies, and shifts across food and ingredient value chains. Turn desk research, portfolio analysis, and competitor analysis into clear opportunity areas for the team to pursue. Customer Discovery: Plan and run qualitative and quantitative research with customers and value chain stakeholders to understand their problems, needs, and buying behavior. Venture Design & Validation: Develop new venture concepts for prioritized problems, map key assumptions, and define success metrics. Design and run experiments to test desirability, feasibility, and viability, then draw clear conclusions and recommend next steps. Business Cases & Financial Modeling: Build business cases and financial models in Excel, including P&L projections, and size opportunities based on strategic fit and feasibility. Hands-on Facilitation & Content: Prepare and co-facilitate kick-offs, ideation sprints, discovery workshops, and customer validation sessions. Produce clear presentations, frameworks, and briefs for the project team and client stakeholders. Travel: Occasional travel to client offices in Europe, depending on project needs. What We Are Looking For We are seeking a hands-on builder who combines an understanding of food and ingredients with fast-paced, creative execution: Passion for AgriFood: A strong interest in the food sector is essential. You follow food-system trends, have your own views on ingredient innovation, and understand how technical R&D and production value chains work. Agency / Consulting / Startup Experience: 4–7 years of experience in a strategy consulting firm, innovation agency, corporate venture builder, or startup environment. (candidates coming solely from corporate food company R&D roles without agency, consulting, or startup experience will not fit this profile.) Methodology Fluency: Hands-on experience applying innovation frameworks (Venture Building, Jobs-to-be-Done, Customer Discovery, Desirability/Viability/Feasibility Validation, Lean Startup, Design Thinking) on real projects, ideally including at least one new product, service, or venture taken from idea through to validation. Analytical & Quantitative Skills: You are comfortable with desk research, data analysis, and Excel modeling. You can work through a P&L, build a business case, and turn complex information into clear recommendations. Strong Written Execution: You produce clear, well-structured presentations, research summaries, and briefs that the project team and client can use directly. Team Player: You work well in cross-functional project teams, take ownership of your workstream, and are confident engaging with client stakeholders in workshops, interviews, and review sessions. Languages: Professional business English is mandatory; Dutch is advantageous. Nice to Have: Founder or entrepreneurial experience in food (even a past venture that failed), a technical background in food science, agronomy, or animal nutrition, or formal facilitation training. What We Offer Hands-on Venture Work: Live AgriFood venture building projects for global food and ingredient companies, from early research through to tested concepts. World-Class Innovation Ecosystem: Access to deep global venture-building capabilities, methodology tools, and experienced delivery teams. Flexible Freelance Setup: Project-based work in a hybrid, flexible setup within a fast-moving international team that prioritizes growth and creativity. Why join Creative Dock We are proud of our informal atmosphere. We maintain a flat structure and the working environment is shaped around project teams. We believe in career development. All that matters are your skills and desire to learn more. No diploma will ever secure you a place at Creative Dock. Equal opportunity employer Creative Dock is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Be more with Creative Dock We believe that ideas matter.

Core Responsibilities

Research AgriFood markets, competitors, technologies, and value chains, and conduct customer discovery to identify and validate venture opportunities. Develop concepts, experiments, business cases, and financial models, while facilitating workshops and presenting findings to project teams and clients.

Requirements

Candidates should have 4–7 years of experience in strategy consulting, an innovation agency, corporate venture building, or a startup, along with a strong interest in food and ingredients. They should have hands-on experience with innovation and venture-building methods, strong research and Excel modeling skills, clear written communication, and professional business English; Dutch is advantageous.