Business Development Manager (Defence) - Italy & Southern Europe

About the role

The Business Development Manager, Italy & Southern Europe, reports to the Country Leader Italy and the Head of Business Development Southern Europe and supports the Italian market. The role covers business development, sales and capture of defence opportunities, stakeholder management and industrial partnerships.

Key responsibilities

• Manage customer engagement, opportunity development and pipeline growth, and build relationships with the Italian Ministry of Defence, armed forces, procurement bodies, OEMs, industrial partners and academic institutions.
• Shape customer requirements to fit CAE's training and simulation capabilities and develop market intelligence on future capability needs.
• Support country and regional strategies to grow CAE's presence in defence aviation training, mission support and synthetic environments.
• Lead B2G and B2B opportunities from qualification through proposal, negotiation and contract award, and build a long-term pipeline and strategic partnerships.
• Represent CAE at trade shows, conferences and customer events, and support pricing, competitive positioning and win strategies.
• Collaborate with Capture, Bid Management, Programs, Customer Services, Engineering, Product Management, Legal, Finance, Contracts and Executive Leadership, and give strategic market insights.
• Develop, negotiate and implement industrial participation, offset and local partnership strategies, and support long-term industrial relationships.
• Maintain customer, opportunity and market data in CAE CRM, provide reporting and forecasts, and ensure compliance with CAE policies, ethics, export controls and government regulations.

Required profile

• Fluent in Italian and English.
• Experience in business development, sales, capture management or program management within defence and aerospace, including Italian defence programs.
• Knowledge of military aviation operations, training systems, synthetic environments, simulation technologies and defence acquisition; knowledge of defence procurement and capability planning.
• Ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities and work in a matrix organization.
• Willingness to travel extensively within Italy and Southern Europe and occasionally abroad.
• Preferred: former officer or senior NCO in the Italian Air Force, Navy, Army Aviation, Defence Staff or Ministry of Defence, existing networks in the Italian defence ecosystem, and proven success on complex defence opportunities.

What we offer

• Gross annual salary of EUR 55,000 to 70,000 depending on experience, skills and qualifications.
• A regular position with a total rewards package including base pay and benefits.