Senior Business Developer (m/f/x)

Carl Zeiss Vision International GmbH; Aalen; On-site; EUR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Carl Zeiss Vision International GmbH in Germany seeks a Senior Project Leader for the Blue Rise segment to translate growth ambitions into viable business models across hardware, pharma, software, and digital solutions.

The role enables sustainable revenue growth by driving rapid execution, cross-functional collaboration, and stakeholder alignment in a global, intercultural setting. Leadership is project-based with high ownership and measurable impact.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Business Administration, Engineering, or a comparable field.
• Extensive experience in project leadership, new business development, and strategy execution.

Responsibilities

• Lead projects in building and scaling new business segments across multiple domains.
• Translate strategic opportunities into viable, scalable business models and bring them to market.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams (Regulatory, Quality, Sales, Marketing, Product Management, IT) to ensure compliant execution.
• Assess opportunities, risks, ROI, and make pragmatic decisions in uncertain environments.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Analytical thinking

Hands-on mentality

Stakeholder management

Intercultural competence

English fluency

Willingness to travel

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Business Administration, Engineering, or comparable field

Job description

Your Talent, our Vision – together we see beyond. Your start at ZEISS Vision Care. As a leading manufacturer of ophthalmic lenses, we help people around the world achieve a clearer vision – sustainable and with focus on the future. Our products are as diverse as the career paths we offer, from tailored lenses to award-winning measurement systems. Become part of our team and shape a future in which clear vision and professional success go hand in hand.

Your role Leading projects in building, and scaling new business segments, covering areas such as contact lenses, care products, pharma solutions, and digital offerings. The focus lies on translating strategic opportunities into viable, scalable business models and successfully bringing them to market. Combining strategic thinking with strong execution capability: from developing end-to-end business concepts and innovative commercial models to driving implementation and scaling in an uncertain and fast-changing environment. A key aspect is the ability to assess opportunities, risks, and ROI even with incomplete data and make pragmatic, timely decisions.

Acting as a central orchestrator, the role aligns cross-functional teams (e.g., Regulatory, Quality, Sales, Marketing, Product Management, IT) and ensures that all initiatives are executed in a compliant, efficient, and coordinated way. Leadership is primarily project-based and influence-driven, without direct disciplinary responsibility. Strong entrepreneurial mindset, with high ownership, accountability, and a clear focus on results for engaging with senior stakeholders and representing initiatives at leadership level. Operating in a global and intercultural environment, the position demands the ability to work effectively across regions, build trust-based networks, and lead diverse teams toward common goals. Success is measured by the timely launch and scalable growth of new business models, rapid execution, and their measurable contribution to sustainable profitability and long-term value creation.

The Senior Project Leader New Business – Blue Rise establishes, develops, and scales new business fields within the Blue Rise segment for Carl Zeiss Vision. The position exists to translate strategic growth ambitions into viable, scalable business models across hardware, pharma, software, and digital solutions. The role enables sustainable revenue growth, strengthens portfolio resilience, and accelerates ZEISS Vision Care’s ability to operate successfully in dynamic and uncertain market environments. The position has high organizational visibility and acts as a role model for entrepreneurial leadership within ZEISS.

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Business Administration, Engineering, or comparable field
• Experience Profound years of professional experience in demanding roles, preferably in project leadership, new business development, strategy execution, or innovation-driven environments, ideally combined with experience in regulated industries (e.g. medical devices, pharma, healthcare)
• Strong strategic and analytical thinking combined with exceptional hands-on mentality
• Proven entrepreneurial mindset with high ownership and execution strength to navigate uncertainty and make decisions based on incomplete information
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills
• Strong intercultural competence and experience working with international teams
• Fluency in English and willingness to travel internationally (approx. 20–40%)

Your ZEISS Recruiting Team: Hannah Beutler Step out of your comfort zone, excel and redefine the limits of what is possible. That’s just what our employees are doing every single day – in order to set the pace through our innovations and enable outstanding achievements. After all, behind every successful company are many great fascinating people. In a spacious modern setting full of opportunities for further development, ZEISS employees work in a place where expert knowledge and team spirit reign supreme. All of this is supported by a special ownership structure and the long-term goal of the Carl Zeiss Foundation: to bring science and society into the future together.

Diversity is a part of ZEISS. We look forward to receiving your application regardless of gender, nationality, ethnic and social origin, religion, philosophy of life, disability, age, sexual orientation or identity.