Sustenra
Founding Commercial Director
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Primarily remote | Around two days per week | Ideally based near London or Paris
Sustenra is an independent advisory firm working with corporate foundations, philanthropic funders, financial institutions, impact investors and other organisations responsible for complex funded programmes.
We are looking for a senior commercial leader who can originate, win and close high-value advisory work and help build Sustenra's commercial function from an early stage.
The Role
This is a hands-on commercial role. There is no established sales team or inherited pipeline.
You will work directly with Sustenra's three founders to:
- originate and close paid advisory mandates;
- turn founder relationships and warm introductions into qualified opportunities;
- create new opportunities through proactive outreach;
- build relationships with senior decision-makers;
- uncover the problem a prospective client will actually pay to solve;
- translate Sustenra's programme, field and institutional experience into a compelling commercial proposition;
- shape proposals, scopes, pricing and commercial terms;
- lead negotiation and move opportunities through to signed agreement; and
- identify new buyers, partnerships and routes to growth.
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Commercial judgement matters as much as sales ability. This includes knowing when Sustenra should not accept work where doing so could compromise our independence or positioning.
Who we are looking for:
We are particularly interested in people who can demonstrate that they have:
- personally originated and closed significant paid consulting, advisory, professional-services or other complex B2B work;
- taken opportunities from initial conversation through discovery, scope, pricing, negotiation and signature;
- sold complex or intangible expertise to senior decision-makers;
- created business without relying entirely on inbound leads, a major brand or an inherited pipeline; and
- handled fee, scope and objection conversations confidently.
Experience across both private-sector and public, philanthropic, international-development or social-impact environments would be valuable.
An established network is useful, but a network alone is not enough. We are looking for someone who knows how to turn access and conversations into paid work.
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Practical details:
The role will begin at around two days per week and is commission-based rather than salaried, with an initial six-month trial period.
If the relationship works well and Sustenra grows, we expect the role to develop into a larger, potentially full-time leadership position, with potential equity participation for someone who makes a sustained long-term contribution to the business.
How to apply:
Please submit your CV and answer the application questions through LinkedIn. We will ask for specific examples of significant paid work you personally helped originate and close. You do not need to disclose confidential client names or commercially sensitive information.
For the full role description and practical details, please see the Sustenra website.
Closing date:
Friday 28 August 2026, Midnight 12:00AM UK time.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. We encourage early applications and may begin interviews before the closing date.
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