Business Development Manager - SME

We have an exciting opportunity for a results driven, experienced SME Business Development Manager who’s looking for a new challenge in a fast-paced environment. You’ll be responsible for driving growth and expanding business opportunities within the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector, identifying potential clients, building strong relationships, and developing strategies to enhance revenue and market presence.

The SME Business Development Manager will deliver significant, impactful revenue growth within SME market activities. You’ll be responsible for the full cycle from identifying and pursuing new business opportunities, including partnerships and market expansion, generating leads, managing a sales pipeline, right through to closing.

Your Responsibilities Will Include:

• Negotiating agreements to secure mutually beneficial and impactful outcomes
• Understanding customer’s technological and strategic roadmaps, needs and requirements
• Developing and maintaining strategic/key account plans
• Collaborating with internal teams to ensure seamless execution of business strategies
• Understanding of procurement processes and supply chain optimization
• Attending networking events, conferences, and industry meetings to enhance business visibility

This position will suit an experienced Business Development Manager with knowledge and understanding of how SMEs operate, including drivers and motivators of key decision makers. You’ll be able to demonstrate your experience in identifying, analysing and executing plans based on market trends and competitor analysis and have proven ability to identify and translate complex customer aspirations into realised outcomes.

We’re looking for somebody who’s:

• Financially literate with good written communication skills and excellent proposal writing skills
• Adept at managing customers’ expectations in line with agreed project deliverables
• Passionate about technology innovation within manufacturing organisations
• Able to engage with internal stakeholders, particularly engineers, to gain and credibly communicate an understanding of technology and engineering opportunities

The position will suit a team player, who leads with humility, honesty and integrity and works with the wider team and business in a collaborative and supportive manner. You will be required to have a full Driving licence.

Desirable skills, competencies and experience:

• Familiarity with, and application of Miller-Heiman sales methodology
• Knowledge of engineering, manufacturing techniques and change management challenges
• A degree (in Business or Engineering), MBA preferred
• Experience of working in an innovation, research and development environment
• Experience of working collaboratively with both public and private partners

About The MTC: The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) is an internationally renowned and respected research and development organisation, bridging the gap between academia and manufacturing, and is home to some of the brightest minds in engineering from around the globe. The MTC's engineers, scientists and technicians work with some of the most advanced manufacturing equipment in the world in a supportive and collegiate environment for the development and demonstration of new technologies on an industrial scale, helping manufacturers of all sizes develop new and innovative processes and technologies.

Established to prove cutting edge manufacturing advances in an agile environment in partnership with industry, academia and other institutions, the MTC works with hundreds of industrial clients across a range of sectors including automotive, aerospace, rail, informatics, food and drink, infrastructure, construction and civil engineering, electronics, oil and gas and defence. The MTC helps businesses thrive by advancing their technological and engineering capabilities to improve their business efficiency, capability and competitiveness.

Supported by one of the largest public sector investments in UK Manufacturing, the MTC's engineering capabilities cover research and development, advanced manufacturing management, factory design and training for the skills of the future. The MTC has world-class facilities in Coventry, Liverpool and Oxford, and is part of the UK's High Value Manufacturing Catapult, supported by Innovate UK.

Reference Checks and Security Checks (where applicable): Due to the nature of our business, all employment is subject to satisfactory references being obtained alongside a level of security clearance checks.