Business Development Manager

This is a highly strategic commercial role responsible for identifying and developing new business opportunities across North America. Working closely with the team (including the founders and US based CEO), you will build
relationships with core technology customers, strategic partners and government organisations to accelerate adoption of Optalysys' technology.

This role combines strategic business development, technical commercialisation and relationship management. Success requires someone who is comfortable engaging both executive decision-makers and highly technical stakeholders, translating complex technology into compelling commercial value.

As one of our first senior commercial hires in the US, you will play a key role in shaping our commercial presence, developing our market strategy and establishing long-term customer relationships.

Responsibilities

Business Development

• Identify, qualify and develop new commercial opportunities across North America.
• Build and maintain a strong pipeline of strategic opportunities aligned with company growth objectives.
• Develop trusted relationships with enterprise customers, government organisations, research institutions and technology partners.
• Identify new market opportunities and emerging applications for Optalysys’ technology.
• Represent Optalysys throughout the full customer engagement lifecycle, from initial conversations through commercial agreements and long-term relationship management.
• Collaborate with internal technical teams to ensure customer requirements are translated into commercial opportunities.

Customer & Partner Relationships

• Develop strategic relationships with key customers, industry partners and technology ecosystems.
• Build partnerships with systems integrators, cloud providers, hardware vendors and research organisations where appropriate.
• Act as a trusted advisor, understanding customer challenges and identifying where Optalysys technology delivers measurable value.
• Ensure an exceptional customer experience throughout all commercial engagements.

Technical Commercialisation

• Work closely with Product, Engineering and Research teams to understand new technologies and communicate their commercial value.
• Gather market feedback to help influence future product development and commercial priorities.
• Translate complex technical concepts into compelling business outcomes for
• technical and non-technical audiences.

Industry Representation

• Represent Optalysys at conferences, exhibitions, customer workshops and industry events.
• Build brand awareness and strengthen the company's reputation within the AI, photonics and high-performance computing communities.
• Develop relationships with industry influencers and strategic stakeholders across the ecosystem.

Requirements

Essential

• Significant experience in Business Development, Strategic Partnerships, Commercial Leadership or Enterprise Sales within deep technology.
• Experience working with AI, photonics, semiconductors, high-performance computing, cloud infrastructure, networking or similar advanced technologies
• Demonstrated success in developing strategic customer relationships and identifying complex commercial opportunities.
• Experience working with technical decision-makers.
• Strong commercial acumen with the ability to understand complex customer challenges.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and negotiation skills.
• Experience working cross-functionally with Product, Engineering and Executive Leadership teams.
• Ability to work independently in a fast-moving, scale-up environment.
• Willingness to travel extensively across North America and internationally.

Desirable

• Experience within photonics, optical computing, or semiconductor technologies.
• Experience working with AI infrastructure, machine learning, or high performance computing environments.
• Existing relationships within enterprise technology, government or research organisations.
• Experience working within venture-backed start-ups or scaling technology businesses.
• Experience building strategic alliances with cloud providers, systems integrators or technology partners.

Personal Attributes
We're looking for someone who is:

• Curious and passionate about emerging technology.
• Commercially minded with a strategic outlook.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and helping shape a growing business.
• Confident building relationships at every level, from engineers to C-suite executives.
• Self-motivated with a proactive, entrepreneurial mindset.
• Collaborative and willing to work across international teams.
• Adaptable, resilient and excited by the pace of a growing deep-tech company.
• Driven by delivering meaningful commercial outcomes rather than simply generating activity.

What Success Looks Like
Within your first 12–18 months you will have:

• Established a strong commercial presence for Optalysys across North America.
• Built a healthy pipeline of strategic opportunities.
• Secured new customer and partner relationships aligned with our growth strategy.
• Increased awareness of Optalysys across key AI and photonics markets.
• Developed lasting relationships with enterprise, government and technology stakeholders.
• Become a trusted commercial advisor within the business, helping shape future market opportunities

Benefits

We offer competitive compensation. The base salary range for this role determined based on location, experience, educational background, and market data.

Salary Range: total compensation goes beyond base salary, it also includes equity, comprehensive health care plan, retirement savings matching program, generous time off, annual performance-based bonus, and other rewards that recognise your impact and contribution.

Benefits eligibility may vary depending on your employment status and location. Optalysys recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, veteran status, and other protected status as required by applicable law.