Business Development Manager

Sprout Group; Christchurch; On-site; NZD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Jora New Zealand, a Christchurch-based deep tech company, seeks a business development lead to convert an existing pipeline into signed agreements and to forge relationships across New Zealand and internationally.

You will help shape the commercial strategy as the business scales, collaborating with the founder in a role that blends science, strategy and sales. Relocation to Christchurch is welcome for the right candidate.

Qualifications

• Two to five years of relevant commercial, analytical, or business development experience.
• Genuine technical literacy and comfort with complex products.
• Strong relationship-building skills for senior-level interactions.
• Able to operate in an early-stage, build-from-scratch environment.
• Christchurch-based or willing to relocate.

Responsibilities

• Convert existing pipeline into signed agreements.
• Build new relationships across NZ and internationally.
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Skills

Commercial experience

Analytical thinking

Relationship building

Technical literacy

Relocation readiness

Job description

Jora New Zealand will close on 9th September 2026. Thank you for being with us, we are cheering you on as you continue your career journey.

A well-funded Christchurch-based deep tech company is producing critical minerals locally, replacing carbon-intensive imports across some of the world's most important industries. The science works and the funding is in place. Now they need someone to take it to market.

This is their first commercial hire.

The Role

You will be the business development lead working directly alongside the founder. Your job is to convert existing pipeline into signed agreements, build new relationships across NZ and internationally, and help shape the commercial strategy as the business scales.

The role sits at the intersection of science, strategy, and sales. You do not need to be a scientist, but you need enough technical literacy to hold a credible conversation with engineers, procurement managers, and operations leads. You need enough commercial instinct to know how to move a relationship toward a close. And you need the kind of analytical thinking that lets you map a market, prioritise your time, and explain your reasoning clearly.

What We Are Looking For

We are not being prescriptive about background. What matters is the combination of skills rather than the industry you came from.

You might have come from consulting or strategy and moved into a commercial role. You might have a science or engineering degree and spent the last few years in technical sales or business development. You might have been inside the NZ startup ecosystem in a venture or commercialisation role and are ready to get into the market yourself.

What we know we need:

• Two to five years of relevant commercial, analytical, or business development experience
• Genuine technical literacy - you do not need a PhD, but you need to be comfortable with complex products
• Strong relationship-building skills and the confidence to represent a company at a senior level
• Comfortable building from scratch in an early-stage environment
• Christchurch-based, or genuinely open to relocating