Senior Business Development Lead, Nordics

Saronic Saronic · Defense · Denmark · Business Development

Seeking an experienced business development leader to drive growth in the Nordic region, focusing on the Danish defense ecosystem. The role involves shaping regional strategy, building relationships with defense stakeholders, and identifying opportunities to integrate autonomous maritime systems.

What you'd actually do

  1. Identify, develop, and mature opportunities across Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland, with particular emphasis on Danish Defence priorities and operational requirements.
  2. Develop and execute regional growth strategies aligned with Nordic defence modernisation initiatives, maritime security priorities, and NATO capability objectives.
  3. Drive opportunities through the full business development lifecycle, from qualification and capture through proposal development, and negotiation support, working closely with Saronic’s leadership team to progress opportunities through to contract award.
  4. Build trusted relationships with key defence and government stakeholders including organisations such as DALO, the Royal Danish Navy, FMV, the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency, Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command, and related maritime and security authorities.
  5. Represent Saronic in discussions related to autonomous systems, maritime security, naval modernisation, force protection, ISR, logistics, and uncrewed operations.

Skills

Required

  • Bachelor’s degree in Business, International Relations, Political Science, Engineering, Maritime Studies, or a related field.
  • Significant experience in business development, defence sales, government engagement, or maritime capability development within the Nordic defence ecosystem.
  • Strong understanding of Nordic defence procurement organisations and acquisition processes, including familiarity with entities such as DALO, FMV, Forsvarsmateriell, or equivalent agencies.
  • Knowledge of naval operations, maritime security, autonomous systems, or defence technology programmes.
  • Experience building partnerships across government, defence industry, and operational military stakeholders.
  • Strong communication, negotiation, and relationship management skills across multinational environments.
  • Ability to operate independently in a fast-moving and highly collaborative environment.
  • Willingness to travel extensively across the Nordic region, UK, and periodically to Saronic headquarters in Austin, Texas.
  • Ability to obtain and maintain relevant national security clearances within the region.

Nice to have

  • Experience working with Nordic naval or maritime organisations.
  • Familiarity with NATO capability development, maritime autonomy, ISR, or uncrewed systems.
  • Existing network across Nordic defence, naval, and maritime industries.
  • Experience supporting international market entry or establishing regional defence partnerships.

What the JD emphasized

  • Nordic defence procurement
  • regional industrial partnerships
  • Danish defence procurement
  • regional defence procurement processes
  • regional industrial participation expectations
  • Nordic maritime and defence sectors
  • regional defence policy
  • scalable regional business development processes
  • customer engagement frameworks
  • capture strategies
  • national security clearances