Business Development Lead - Europe - Engine by Starling

About the Role

The role offers the opportunity to own, manage and lead a European sub‑region, scaling Business Development with the support of a focused central team. As the Sales Lead in Europe, you will be responsible for cultivating relationships at an executive level, overseeing client and partner engagements – including Discovery exercises and seeing programmes through to completion. This position also encompasses the opportunity to become a Client Relationship Director for Engine’s clients within the region, acting as a trusted advisor, partner and executive sponsor, ensuring their needs are heard and fulfilled during both Implementation and Run phases. Our ambition is to build autonomous, highly‑skilled teams, with a deep understanding of the local market, across the Nordics, Southern Europe and Central Eastern Europe. While you will drive deal execution within a defined European cluster, you will apply the central European value proposition and sales playbook consistently.

What you’ll get to do

• Driving and defining the end‑to‑end execution plan of Engine’s market entry in geographies with high potential for digital banking transformation
• Developing and managing senior relationships with banking and ecosystem stakeholders, across your allocated cluster
• Progress and close opportunities using Engine’s established go‑to‑market model, providing executive sponsorship and expertise during commercial and contracting negotiations
• Ensuring consistency across Engine’s messaging, positioning and deal motion across geographies
• Co‑ordinating closely with central Proposition, Solution Architecture and Enablement teams, to develop solutions which resonate strongly with the local market
• Providing structured, region‑specific market feedback
• Scaling a local integrated team in alignment with business pipeline

Requirements

• You possess 8+ years of senior enterprise or platform business development experience, across multiple markets
• You have a track record of closing complex deals, which engage multiple stakeholders across the business
• You have experience operating within centrally governed or matrixed organisations
• Banking or regulated industry exposure is strongly preferred (ideally retail or business banking), with a deep understanding of the challenges relating to bank IT systems, change management and transformation
• You have existing, trusted relationships with bank executives within the region
• You have experience in managing and scaling teams

Your skills

• You possess fluent English language skills, and are fluent in at least one relevant regional European language (French, German, Spanish, Polish or other)
• Speaking a range of European languages is a strong plus
• You are a collaborative and purpose‑focused individual, who provides focus and foresight to a highly skilled team
• You are comfortable inheriting an existing playbook, while offering new approaches to enhance the broader European team’s ways of working
• You have a proven track record of strong stakeholder management across an array of cultures and values
• You are disciplined, resilient, and approach your work in a structured, logical manner

Benefits

• 33 days holiday (including public holidays, which you can take when it works best for you)
• An extra day’s holiday for your birthday
• Annual leave is increased with length of service, and you can choose to buy or sell up to five extra days off
• 16 hours paid volunteering time a year
• Salary sacrifice, company enhanced pension scheme
• Life insurance at 4x your salary & group income protection
• Private Medical Insurance with VitalityHealth including mental health support and cancer care
• Partner benefits include discounts with Waitrose, Mr & M rs Smith and Peloton
• Generous family-friendly policies
• Incentives refer a friend scheme
• Perkbox membership giving access to retail discounts, a wellness platform for physical and mental health, and weekly free and boosted perks
• Access to initiatives like Cycle to Work, Salary Sacrificed Gym partnerships and Electric Vehicle (EV) leasing

Equal Opportunity Statement

Starling is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster diversity & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment at Starling are considered without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.