Strategic Business Development Lead, Continental Europe

Second Front Systems•Washington, DC

4d•Remote

About The Position

Second Front Systems is seeking a hunter-oriented, market-signal-driven Strategic Business Development Lead to establish its commercial organization in continental Europe. This individual-contributor role is the company’s inaugural dedicated hire for the region and reports directly to the Head of EMEA. The role operates in a nascent market without an inherited playbook and is responsible for creating qualified pipeline, opening target accounts, qualifying buying paths, and closing net-new deals across commercial software vendors, government customers, and regulated enterprises. The successful candidate will test target customer profiles and buying paths through direct prospecting, named-account work, and live opportunities. They will identify lighthouse customers that can establish credible European proof points and enable a repeatable commercial motion across priority continental markets. The position requires mapping mission needs, buyers, budgets, procurement routes, and decision criteria in government and defense pursuits, while distinguishing genuine revenue opportunities from access or activity and maintaining disciplined pipeline management, account planning, and forecasting. The role serves as a primary route to European market entry and scaled commercial revenue. This is a full-time, remote position based in the EU. Candidates must reside in the EU and already have valid work authorization; sponsorship is not available. Applicants may be based anywhere in the EU, with particular interest in candidates in the Netherlands or Denmark. Regular travel across continental Europe is expected. Compensation is designated in EUR.

Requirements

At least 7 years of business development, enterprise sales, or capture experience, including complex B2B and B2G technology sales across European markets.
Demonstrated track record of personally opening accounts and creating net-new pipeline in commercial software, cloud, infrastructure, or technology deals spanning commercial and government buyers.
Strong hunter profile, with evidence of closing complex deals and distinguishing genuine revenue opportunity from access and activity.
Experience selling technically demanding enterprise products to both commercial and government customers.
Commercial exposure to European defense, govtech, or regulated industries, or to technology vendors selling into those markets.
Ability to operate across multiple European procurement cultures and work fluently with commercial executives, technical evaluators, and government decision-makers.
Credible network in at least one relevant European ecosystem, with clear capacity to expand beyond it.
Strong CRM, qualification, account-planning, and forecasting discipline.
Fluent English.
Willingness to travel regularly across continental Europe.
EU residency with valid work authorization.

Nice To Haves

Existing relationships within the European defense, NATO, or allied-government ecosystem.
Fluency in an additional European language relevant to a priority continental market, such as French, German, Dutch, or a Nordic language.
Prior experience as an early or first commercial hire opening a new market or region for a startup or scale-up.
Existing government security clearance or eligibility.

Responsibilities

Own opportunities from initial contact through contract signature, qualifying budget and procurement authority before investing in discovery.
Build qualified pipeline across commercial software vendors, government entities, and regulated enterprises.
Run named-account coverage through direct prospecting, referrals, and partner channels.
Map government and defense pursuits, including mission needs, buyer roles, budget cycles, procurement vehicles, and decision criteria.
Identify European lighthouse customers that can establish accreditable proof points and unlock adjacent accounts.
Validate ideal customer profiles, pricing, and buying paths through live opportunities.
Assess routes to revenue through hyperscalers, sovereign cloud providers, primes, and systems integrators.
Coordinate with continental technical and delivery teams as qualified opportunities move through discovery and evaluation.
Translate quarterly business targets into regional deployment roadmaps, accounting for export-control review and customer security-clearance gates.
Align the sales pipeline with operations capacity and surface resource constraints early enough to protect contract fulfillment and accreditation schedules.
Keep go-to-market messaging aligned with the company’s compliance posture, system hardening, and government contract standards.