Vacancy: Chief Commercial & Applications Officer

Wanted: Trailblazer for the Future of Dairy

Out on the frontier of food, Those Vegan Cowboys are forging a new way forward — making real cheese and chocolate without cows, using precision fermentation. The science is strong, the herd is growing, and now we’re lookin’ for a seasoned hand to help lead the ride into the marketplace.

We’re searchin’ for a Chief Commercial & Applications Officer — a commercial trail boss who can bridge the gap between lab and table, turning breakthrough science into partnerships, products, and global impact.

As Those Vegan Cowboys, we’re on a mission to reinvent dairy using precision fermentation, crafting real cheese and chocolate without cows, and without compromising on taste. As we move toward commercialization and long-term partnerships, we are looking for a Chief Commercial & Applications Officer (CCAO) to join our Leadership Team and help guide our journey from groundbreaking science to global impact.

This role is ideal for a senior commercial leader with a strategic mindset, a hands-on attitude and genuine excitement for innovative food technology. You will lead our commercial strategy while also taking responsibility for the Food Science & Application team, bridging the worlds of product development, customer needs and market execution.

Your mission
As Chief Commercial & Applications Officer, you will shape and execute our commercial future. Together with the Leadership Team, you will define market strategy, build meaningful partnerships and bring our cow-free cheese and chocolate innovations to customers around the world.

What you’ll be doing

Food Science & Application Team Leadership

• Lead and mentor the Food Science & Application team, ensuring strong alignment between product development and commercial strategy.
• Support application testing, product iterations and customer-facing demonstrations.
• Translate customer needs into clear guidance for R&D, helping to optimize functionality, performance and product-market fit.

Strategic & Commercial Leadership

• Own and continuously refine the Go-to-Market strategy, in close alignment with our regulatory trajectory and scale-up plans.
• Translate scientific progress into clear commercial opportunities, value propositions and partnership pathways.
• Lead customer engagement from first contact through to long-term relationships and strategic collaborations.
• Act as the main point of contact for customers, partners and key accounts.
• Establish and negotiate commercial partnerships, Letters of Intent (LOIs) and offtake agreements that support long-term growth and scale-up.
• Identify new markets, applications and strategic collaborations, and actively drive business development initiatives.

Marketing & Product Experience

• Provide strategic input for marketing materials, pitch decks and product storytelling, ensuring our science, products and mission are translated into clear and compelling narratives.
• Take the lead in organizing tastings, demos and application showcases across the organization, working closely with Food Science to bring the magic of our cow-free dairy proteins to life for customers, partners and other stakeholders.

Your profile

Who we’re looking for

• A senior commercial leader with experience in food, biotech, fermentation-based ingredients, dairy or innovative food-tech sectors.
• Proven track record in developing and executing Go-to-Market strategies.
• Strong understanding of regulatory landscapes in food or ingredients (experience with dairy, fermentation or novel foods is a big plus).
• Skilled communicator, able to translate complex science into clear and compelling value propositions.
• Experience negotiating partnerships, LOIs and commercial agreements.
• Comfortable leading cross-functional teams, ideally with experience managing Food Science, Application or Product teams.
• Entrepreneurial mindset: hands-on, proactive and energized by building something new.
• Someone who thrives in a dynamic, mission-driven environment.

Why join

Working as a Vegan Cowboy family member (cheesy but true) means excellent career perspectives in a rapidly growing field, your very own cowboy name (yes, it will be used), and proud ownership of a share in the company through our personnel participation program. Most importantly, you’ll help shape the future of dairy – without cows.

Are you our new Chief Commercial & Applications Officer?

Please drop us a note at postoffice@thosevegancowboys.com.

If you have any questions about the vacancy, please contact Chief of Staff Belinda Hunziker (postoffice@thosevegancowboys.com) by mail or phone + 32 (0)9 261 77 00. You’re going to love Belinda, she is awesome.

PS: A note to well-meaning agencies or intermediaries: we prefer the old fashioned personal approach. We will only proceed with direct messages from candidates themselves.