Business Development Manager
Pubblicato il 23-10-2026 - Cae in Varese
The Business Development Manager, Italy & Southern Europe, reports directly to the Country Leader Italy & Head of Business Development Southern Europe and serves as a key member of the Southern Europe Business Development organization, with primary responsibility for supporting the Italian market.
Business Development
- Drive business development activities for the Italian market while supporting broader Southern Europe growth initiatives under the direction of the Country Leader Italy & Head of Business Development Southern Europe.
- Manage customer engagement, opportunity development, and pipeline growth activities.
- Establish, develop, and strengthen relationships with the Italian Ministry of Defence, Armed Forces, procurement organizations, government stakeholders, OEMs, industrial partners, and academic institutions.
- Identify, shape, and influence customer requirements to align with CAE’s training and simulation capabilities and strategic offerings.
- Develop market intelligence and assess future capability requirements to identify opportunities for early engagement, strategic positioning, and long-term growth.
- Support the development of country and regional strategies to expand CAE’s presence in defence aviation training, mission support, synthetic environments, and related capability domains.
Sales & Capture
- Lead assigned Business-to-Government (B2G) and Business-to-Business (B2B) opportunities from identification and qualification through capture, proposal development, negotiation, and contract award in accordance with CAE governance and Lead-to-Award processes.
- Develop and execute capture strategies to support annual order intake, revenue,
and growth objectives.
- Build and maintain a long-term opportunity pipeline and develop strategic partnerships with key stakeholders and industry partners.
- Represent CAE at trade shows, conferences, customer events, and industry forums.
- Support pricing strategies, competitive positioning, win strategies, and customer engagement plans for strategic pursuits.
Internal Stakeholder Management
- Serve as a business development partner to the Country Leader Italy & Head of Business Development Southern Europe.
- Collaborate with Capture, Bid Management, Programs, Customer Services, Engineering, Product Management, Legal, Finance, Contracts, and Executive Leadership teams.
- Provide strategic market insights and recommendations regarding market trends, customer priorities, competitive activity, and business opportunities.
Industrial Participation & Partnership s
- Develop, negotiate, and support implementation of industrial participation, offset, and local partnership strategies in accordance with customer requirements and national regulations.
- Identify opportunities for cooperation with local industry, defence organizations, research institutions, universities, and training providers.
- Support the development of long-term industrial relationships that strengthen CAE’s position in priority markets and programs.
Reporting & Governance
- Maintain accurate customer, opportunity, capture, and market data within CAE CRM systems.
- Provide reporting, forecasts, and business updates to management and executive stakeholders.
- Ensure compliance with CAE policies, ethics standards, export controls, and applicable government regulations.
Minimum Qualifications
- Fluent in Italian and English.
- Experience in Business Development, Sales, Capture Management, Program Management, or related commercial functions within the defence and aerospace sector.
- Experience supporting or managing opportunities related to Italian defence programs.
- Knowledge of military aviation operations, training systems, synthetic training environments, simulation technologies, and defence acquisition processes.
- Experience developing relationships with government, military, industry, or defence stakeholders.
- Knowledge of defence procurement, capability planning, and acquisition processes.
- Ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities, and operate effectively within a matrix organization.
- Willingness and ability to travel extensively within Italy and Southern Europe and occasionally to other international locations.
Preferred Qualifications
- Previous service as an Officer or Senior Non-Commissioned Officer within the Italian Air Force, Italian Navy, Army Aviation, Defence Staff, or Ministry of Defence.
- Experience in aviation, training, simulation, capability development, acquisition, or operational requirements environments.
- Existing p