Business Development Manager in Sheffield

Are you an experienced Business Development Manager with a background in gas suppression or fire protection? Do you enjoy opening new markets, building long term customer relationships and influencing major projects from the earliest stages? If so, this could be an excellent opportunity to join a well-established international manufacturer with ambitious growth plans across Europe.

We are looking for an entrepreneurial Business Development Manager to drive the growth of an established gas suppression product portfolio throughout Europe. This is a strategic business development role where your focus will be on creating opportunities, building strong industry relationships and increasing market share within the gas suppression sector.

This is not a role focused on maintaining an existing customer base. Instead, you will be responsible for identifying new opportunities, developing strategic partnerships and ensuring the company's products are specified on major projects across multiple industry sectors.

Working across the European market, you will build relationships with consultants, distributors, installers, system integrators and end users, helping to establish long term partnerships that generate sustainable growth. Your target markets will include data centres, computer rooms, logistics facilities, industrial sites and other critical environments where gas suppression systems are specified as part of the overall fire protection strategy.

The Role

Your primary objective will be to increase the specification and sales of gas suppression systems across Europe. You will identify new market opportunities, research emerging sectors and develop strategies that support continued commercial growth. By understanding customer requirements and market trends, you will position the business as a preferred supplier within the fire protection industry.

Networking will play a significant part in the role. You will develop relationships with key decision makers, consultants, end users and industry bodies, creating opportunities to influence projects at an early stage before purchasing decisions have been made.

Working closely with local sales teams throughout Europe, you will support the preparation of proposals, presentations and commercial offers while helping to convert opportunities into long term business. Alongside winning new opportunities, you will also manage strategic customer relationships, identify cross selling opportunities across the wider fire protection portfolio and provide valuable market intelligence to internal product and commercial teams.

The role involves regular international travel of up to 50%, giving you the opportunity to work across multiple European markets and engage with customers operating within a wide variety of industries.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop new business opportunities across the European gas suppression market.
• Build relationships with consultants, distributors, installers, system integrators and major end users.
• Increase product specification opportunities on major projects.
• Develop strategic partnerships that support long term commercial growth.
• Generate leads through networking, customer visits, industry events and business development activity.
• Support local sales teams with commercial opportunities and technical presentations.
• Manage key customer relationships and develop long term account strategies.
• Monitor market activity, competitor developments and emerging opportunities.
• Produce sales forecasts, pipeline updates and business development plans.
• Work collaboratively with technical, customer service and product management teams across Europe.

About You

We're looking for someone who enjoys opening doors rather than waiting for opportunities to arrive. You will already have a proven track record in business development and will be comfortable developing business across multiple European markets. You'll be confident communicating with stakeholders at every level, from technical consultants through to senior decision makers.

Ideally, you will bring strong technical knowledge of gas suppression systems together with a good understanding of how fire protection projects move through the specification and purchasing process. You'll understand the importance of building credibility, developing trust and creating long term commercial relationships that generate repeat business.

Strong organisational skills are essential, as you'll be managing multiple opportunities across different countries while working closely with colleagues throughout Europe. You should be commercially minded, self-motivated and comfortable working independently while remaining a collaborative member of a wider international team.

Experience Required

To be successful in this role you are likely to have experience within one or more of the following:

• Gas suppression systems.
• Fire protection.
• Fire detection.
• Fire safety systems.
• Business development across European markets.
• Knowledge of sectors such as data centres, telecommunications, logistics, warehousing, industrial manufacturing or other critical environments would be highly advantageous.