Business Development Executive

NestAI; Stockholms kommun; On-site; SEK 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

NestAI, a European AI lab for defence, is seeking a Business Development Executive to drive regional growth and oversee the local office. You will actively identify, pursue, and close new opportunities while building strong customer relationships with government, partners, and industry players.

You will travel regularly, engage with customers, and represent NestAI's interests, delivering tangible business outcomes and forecasting accurately in a fast-evolving regional market.

Qualifications

• Experience in commercial or business development within defence/aerospace or deep tech/enterprise software.
• Ability to manage multi-stakeholder relationships, navigate long sales cycles, and close large deals.
• Experience as a trusted advisor to key accounts, partners, and government bodies.
• Independent, self-driven, with urgency; able to remove friction and push deals to completion.
• Strategic thinker able to manage daily regional office operations and logistics.
• Excellent negotiation, presentation, and interpersonal skills; fluent in English and Swedish.
• Willing to travel regularly across the region.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute an aggressive regional business development strategy.
• Identify, qualify, pursue, and close opportunities in the assigned region.
• Maintain customer engagement through travel, meetings, demos, and industry events.
• Nurture and manage strategic relationships with key accounts, government partners, and industry players.
• Manage the regional office operations and culture.
• Represent the company in the region and forecast pipelines.
• Drive opportunities to completion with urgency.
• Monitor market developments and competitor activity to identify growth avenues.

Skills

Defence/Aerospace experience

Deep Tech/Enterprise Software

Stakeholder management

Long sales cycles

Trusted advisor

Independence & urgency

Strategic positioning

Negotiation skills

English & Swedish

Travel readiness

Job description

NestAI is a European AI lab for defence delivering the adaptive operating system for modern battlefield operations. We develop adaptive intelligence for unmanned and command systems: AI that continuously learns from operational data and adapts to changing conditions.

NestOS is our open, modular, and interoperable platform that enables this at scale and keeps capability evolution under sovereign European control. Founded in 2025 by Peter Sarlin, whose previous company Silo AI became Europe's largest AI acquisition, NestAI brings together over 150 engineers and scientists and partners with leading European defence forces and industry.

Role Description

We are looking for a Business Development Executive to drive strategic growth and regional commercial execution.

This is a hands-on commercial leadership role with responsibility for both business development and the day-to-day management of the regional office. The successful candidate is expected to lead from the front by actively identifying, pursuing, and converting business opportunities while building and maintaining strong customer relationships.

This is not a role focused solely on coordination or administration; it requires a highly proactive, commercially driven individual who is prepared to engage directly with customers, partners, government stakeholders, and industry representatives to generate tangible business outcomes. The role demands urgency, persistence, and a strong execution mindset, with an expectation to aggressively pursue growth opportunities and drive regional market expansion.

Day-to-day responsibilities include:

• Develop and execute an aggressive regional business development strategy aligned with company objectives.
• Personally identify, qualify, pursue, and close new business opportunities within the assigned region.
• Maintain a high level of customer engagement through regular travel, meetings, demonstrations, and participation in industry events.
• Nurture, expand, and manage strategic relationships with key accounts, government organizations, and industry partners.
• Manage the regional office, ensuring efficient operations while fostering a high-performance, customer-focused culture.
• Act as the company's senior representative in the region, promoting its interests and protecting its reputation.
• Take ownership of regional sales targets, pipeline development, and opportunity conversion, providing accurate forecasting and regular reporting.
• Demonstrate a bias for action by independently solving problems, removing obstacles, and driving opportunities to completion.
• Continuously monitor market developments, competitor activity, and customer requirements to identify new avenues for growth.

Qualifications

We are looking for a highly capable commercial operator who knows how to navigate complex, enterprise, or government-level ecosystems.

• Proven track record of success in commercial or business development roles within the Defence/Aerospace sector or the Deep Tech/Enterprise Software industry.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multi-stakeholder relationships, navigate long sales cycles, and close large, high-value deals.
• Experience acting as a trusted advisor to key accounts, partners, and government or procurement bodies.
• Highly independent, self-driven, and comfortable operating with urgency. You know how to remove friction, solve problems, and push deals across the finish line.
• Capable of high-level strategic positioning while staying grounded enough to manage daily regional office operations and logistical execution.
• Exceptional negotiation, presentation, and interpersonal skills. Fluent in English and Swedish (professional level).
• Willingness to travel regularly across the region to meet partners, attend trials, and participate in industry expos.

At NestAI, you’ll build meaningful, real-world technology as part of a world-class team of engineers, scientists, and experienced professionals. You’ll work on systems where reliability genuinely matters, contribute to Europe’s security and resilience, and solve problems that demand depth, trust, and craftsmanship.

If you want to build with purpose — and with leading experts in the field — you’ve come to the right place.

Practicalities

Employment is subject to applicable security screening.

NestAI is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all applicants based on their skills, experience, and potential.

We are currently unable to provide visa sponsorship or international relocation support for this position. Candidates must already be based in Sweden or in the EU and have a valid work permit for this region at the time of application.