Business Development Manager - EU

Avon Technologies PLC

2d•$109,000 - $186,000•Remote

About The Position

The Business Development Manager – Europe is responsible for growing Team Wendy’s presence, brand awareness, and revenue across European defense and law enforcement markets. Reporting to the Senior International Business Development Director, Europe & Middle East, the role provides dedicated, in-region engagement with NSPA, NATO, national military organizations, law enforcement agencies, distributors, and end users. The position is intended to close a market coverage gap, ensure early engagement in procurement and modernization cycles, influence future requirements, and build long-term customer relationships that establish Team Wendy head protection solutions as a preferred choice across Europe. The role develops and executes European growth plans, creates demand and influences procurement, manages the regional opportunity pipeline and tenders, develops channel partners, and coordinates with internal teams to deliver regional plans. The position requires extensive travel across Europe, up to 50% of the time. The role may involve direct or indirect access to information, systems, or technologies subject to U.S. Export Control Laws. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the country of employment without visa sponsorship. The anticipated salary range for candidates working in Cleveland, Ohio, is $109,000 to $186,000 annually; the final offer depends on relevant factors including experience and education.

Requirements

At least 5 years of business development or sales experience across European defense, military, law enforcement, or public safety markets.
Demonstrated success developing government customers and winning complex, long-cycle opportunities.
Strong understanding of European defense procurement, tendering, channel structures, and relevant regional institutions.
Fluent English.
Proficiency with CRM systems, pipeline management, forecasting, and structured capture planning.
Demonstrated experience applying corporate compliance and anti-bribery and anti-corruption policies to international business development, partner onboarding, and ongoing partner oversight.
Strong partner management experience, including partner selection, due diligence, onboarding, business planning, performance management, and remediation of coverage or capability gaps.
High ethical standards and ability to operate within strict compliance requirements.
Willingness to travel extensively across Europe, up to 50% of the time.
Valid passport and ability to travel freely within Europe and to the United States.
Must be legally authorized to work in the country of employment without employment visa sponsorship.
Strong strategic selling, market development, and government stakeholder engagement skills.
Ability to create demand and influence complex procurement programs well ahead of formal tenders.
Commercial judgment and disciplined opportunity qualification in long-cycle B2G and B2B environments.
Credibility with military, law enforcement, technical, procurement, and executive audiences.
Strong partner-management, negotiation, presentation, and cross-cultural communication skills.
Working knowledge of compliance frameworks, anti-bribery and anti-corruption policies, partner due diligence, and responsible third-party governance.
Self-directed, collaborative, resilient, and comfortable operating across multiple countries and priorities.
Analytical and data-driven, with a strong commitment to accountability, ethics, and business integrity.
Strategic thinker with strong commercial acumen and a customer-first mindset.

Nice To Haves

Experience across NATO countries.
Existing relationships with defense ministries, armed forces, special operations, law enforcement agencies, procurement bodies, systems integrators, or distributors.
Experience with personal protective equipment, soldier systems, ballistic protection, head protection, or adjacent mission-critical products.
Fluency in one or more European languages in addition to English, such as French, German, Polish, Spanish, or Italian.
Prior military or law enforcement service, or direct experience as an end user of protective equipment.
Knowledge of personal protective equipment, ballistic protection, or head-borne systems.
Familiarity with export control regulations (ITAR/EAR) and EU defense trade requirements.
Ability to obtain or hold a security clearance.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute a focused European business development plan aligned with Team Wendy’s international growth strategy and revenue objectives.
Prioritize NATO member countries based on customer need, procurement activity, competitive position, partner capability, and probability of success.
Build country-level account plans for defense ministries, armed forces, special operations, law enforcement, public safety agencies, and other relevant government stakeholders.
Identify whitespace opportunities and recommend market-entry, product-positioning, and route-to-market strategies.
Engage end users, procurement authorities, technical evaluators, and senior decision-makers early in acquisition cycles to understand requirements and position Team Wendy solutions.
Influence specifications, evaluation criteria, testing plans, and procurement pathways ethically and compliantly.
Build awareness through customer briefings, product demonstrations, field evaluations, helmet shoots, trials, exercises, and targeted industry events.
Translate operational feedback and regional requirements into inputs for product management, marketing, engineering, and commercial teams.
Own the regional opportunity pipeline from identification and qualification through capture, bid submission, negotiation, and handover.
Maintain accurate CRM records, next actions, opportunity values, timing, probability, competitive intelligence, and forecast assumptions.
Monitor defense plans, government budgets, framework agreements, tenders, and NATO-related procurement activity to identify opportunities before formal release.
Develop capture plans for strategic pursuits and coordinate pricing, demonstrations, compliance documentation, proposals, and executive engagement with internal stakeholders.
Identify, assess, onboard, and develop distributors, agents, and strategic partners in coordination with the Senior Director, International Business Development.
Establish partner business plans, opportunity reviews, enablement priorities, and measurable performance expectations.
Ensure clear ownership of end-user relationships and maintain direct customer engagement alongside channel partners.
Address partner coverage or performance gaps and recommend changes to strengthen market access and execution.
Work with the Senior Director, International Business Development and internal bid, product, marketing, legal, trade compliance, customer service, and operations teams to deliver coordinated regional plans.
Provide market intelligence on customer priorities, competitive activity, pricing, regulatory requirements, standards, and procurement trends.
Ensure activities comply with company policies, anti-bribery and anti-corruption requirements, export controls, sanctions, trade regulations, and local laws.
Support due diligence, contract review, pricing approvals, and risk mitigation for partners and opportunities.