Business Development Manager

Astradyne; Puglia; Hybrid; EUR 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Astradyne is seeking a Business Development Manager with space industry experience to drive commercial growth, build a robust pipeline of customers and opportunities, and translate requirements into compelling proposals. This hands-on role combines strategic market development with direct customer engagement, working with engineering and management teams.

Regular travel to Bari and international sites is expected, supported by strong communication and negotiation skills.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of professional experience in business development or similar customer-facing role within the space industry.
• Strong understanding of the space industry and its commercial ecosystem.
• Experience developing customer relationships and originating commercial opportunities.
• Ability to manage complex B2B sales processes involving technical products and multiple stakeholders.
• Sufficient technical understanding to engage credibly with spacecraft engineers, managers and procurement.
• Strong communication, presentation and negotiation skills.
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Ability and willingness to travel regularly across Europe and internationally.
• Proactive, entrepreneurial mindset with ownership.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain a qualified commercial pipeline across European and international space markets.
• Identify target customers, missions and programs where Astradyne's technologies can create significant value.
• Develop relationships with satellite manufacturers, spacecraft integrators, primes, space agencies and NewSpace companies.
• Originate new commercial opportunities through direct outreach, existing industry relationships, conferences and industry events.
• Manage opportunities throughout the commercial cycle, from initial contact and qualification to proposal, negotiation and contract signature.
• Coordinate responses to RFIs, RFQs and other commercial opportunities, working closely with Astradyne's technical teams.
• Prepare and deliver customer presentations, proposals and commercial offers.
• Maintain structured account plans and an accurate view of the commercial pipeline, priorities and expected timelines.
• Gather market intelligence on customer needs, upcoming missions, competitors and industry trends to support Astradyne's product and commercial strategy.
• Represent Astradyne at international conferences, trade shows and customer meetings.
• Support the development of strategic partnerships with industrial and institutional partners.
• Provide customer and market feedback to the product and engineering teams to help guide future product development.

Skills

Business development

Sales

Key account management

Space industry

Customer relationships

B2B sales

English proficiency

Travel readiness

Entrepreneurial mindset

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

Job Description

We are looking for a Business Development Manager with experience in the space industry to drive Astradyne's commercial development and build a strong pipeline of customers and opportunities.

You will own the business development process from identifying target customers and missions to developing relationships, qualifying opportunities, coordinating proposals and supporting commercial negotiations through contract signature.

This is a hands-on role. You will combine strategic market development with direct customer engagement, working closely with Astradyne's engineering and management teams to translate customer requirements into compelling technical and commercial proposals.

The position can be performed on a hybrid basis, with regular travel to Astradyne's headquarters in Bari as well as to customers, partners, conferences and industry events.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and maintain a qualified commercial pipeline across European and international space markets.
• Identify target customers, missions and programs where Astradyne's technologies can create significant value.
• Develop relationships with satellite manufacturers, spacecraft integrators, primes, space agencies and NewSpace companies.
• Originate new commercial opportunities through direct outreach, existing industry relationships, conferences and industry events.
• Manage opportunities throughout the commercial cycle, from initial contact and qualification to proposal, negotiation and contract signature.
• Coordinate responses to RFIs, RFQs and other commercial opportunities, working closely with Astradyne's technical teams.
• Prepare and deliver customer presentations, proposals and commercial offers.
• Maintain structured account plans and an accurate view of the commercial pipeline, priorities and expected timelines.
• Gather market intelligence on customer needs, upcoming missions, competitors and industry trends to support Astradyne's product and commercial strategy.
• Represent Astradyne at international conferences, trade shows and customer meetings.
• Support the development of strategic partnerships with industrial and institutional partners.
• Provide customer and market feedback to the product and engineering teams to help guide future product development.

Essential Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of professional experience, including relevant experience in business development, sales, key account management or a similar customer-facing role within the space industry.
• Strong understanding of the space industry and its commercial ecosystem.
• Demonstrated experience developing customer relationships and originating commercial opportunities.
• Ability to manage complex B2B sales processes involving technical products and multiple stakeholders.
• Sufficient technical understanding to engage credibly with spacecraft engineers, technical managers and procurement teams.
• Strong communication, presentation and negotiation skills.
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Ability and willingness to travel regularly across Europe and internationally.
• Proactive, entrepreneurial mindset with a strong sense of ownership and ability to operate effectively in a fast-growing company.

Preferred Qualifications

• Existing network within the European or international space industry.
• Experience selling spacecraft hardware, subsystems, components or other technically complex products.
• Experience working with satellite manufacturers, spacecraft integrators, primes or space agencies.
• Familiarity with spacecraft power systems, solar arrays, photovoltaics or adjacent spacecraft subsystems.
• Experience managing RFIs, RFQs, proposals and commercial negotiations in the space sector.
• Experience working in a startup, scale-up or other fast-moving technology environment.
• Technical or engineering background.

Benefits

• High responsibility and visibility: take ownership of a critical part of Astradyne's growth.
• Performance-based compensation: Variable compensation linked to commercial performance in addition to base salary.
• Flexible working model: Hybrid / remote working within Europe, combined with regular interaction with the team in Bari.
• International exposure: Work directly with customers, partners and institutions across the global space industry.
• Dynamic environment: Join a young, ambitious deep-tech team where initiative and ownership are strongly encouraged.
• Purpose-driven work: Help bring a new generation of power technologies to spacecraft and missions worldwide.

About Astradyne

Astradyne is an innovative and fast-growing space company developing lightweight, deployable power systems for the next generation of spacecraft.

As we move from technology development into commercialization and scale-up, we are looking for an experienced Business Development Manager to accelerate our commercial growth and expand our presence across the international space market.

Why Astradyne?

Working at Astradyne offers a unique opportunity to:

• Shape our commercial growth: Take a leading role in building Astradyne's customer base and commercial pipeline at a key stage in the company’s development.
• Work with cutting-edge space technology: Bring innovative hardware from qualification and flight heritage into real customer missions.
• Have direct impact: Work closely with company leadership and engineering teams, with significant ownership over commercial strategy and execution.
• Build an international network: Engage with satellite manufacturers, spacecraft integrators, space agencies and emerging space companies across Europe and internationally.

Astradyne is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.