SmartDev is looking for a Business Development Manager - an individual contributor with excellent solution selling skills who can create solid and AI competence sales funnels and drive sustainable, predictable growth in the APAC region.
We need a BDM as a hybrid player who can translate complex AI capabilities into tangible business outcomes. You will identify, prospect, and close enterprise deals for custom AI solutions. Unlike a standard SaaS BDM, you must be comfortable discussing data pipelines, model accuracy, and ethical AI with CTOs while building a value-based ROI case for CMOs and CDOs.
Strategic Business Development (70%)
- Identify and target high-potential enterprise accounts across Media, Fintech, and Logistics.
- Build a 12-month pipeline in AI solution opportunities.
- Lead consultative discovery: Map client pain points (e.g., manual data entry, churn prediction, document processing) to AI solution blueprints.
- Structure and negotiate complex contracts (POCs, pilot-to-production, managed services).
- Develop strategic partnerships with SI partners, cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP), and tech vendors.
Solution & Technical Acumen (20%)
- Collaborate with Solution Architects to scope technical feasibility and effort estimates.
- Translate technical differentiators (e.g., fine-tuned vs. RAG-based LLM) into competitive business advantages.
- Educate prospects on AI risks (hallucinations, data privacy, bias) and our mitigation strategies.
Internal Collaboration (10%)
- Act as the voice of the customer to influence product roadmaps.
- Work with Marketing to create AI-specific sales collateral (case studies, ROI calculators).
- Provide feedback on pricing models (consumption-based, outcome-based, subscription).
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Pipeline generation; Won deals; Pilot-to-production conversion rate; Average deal cycle.
Must-Have:
- 5+ years in B2B solution sales or business development, with at least 2 years selling AI, ML, or data science services.
- Proven track record closing five-figure to six-figure solution deals (not just SaaS licenses).
- Ability to articulate AI concepts (supervised vs. unsupervised learning, token pricing, fine-tuning).
- Experience selling to a mix of technical (CTO, CDO) and business (COO, GM) personas.
- Hunter mentality – comfortable with cold outreach, relationship mapping, and negotiation.
Nice-to-Have:
- Experience with cloud AI services (Azure AI, SageMaker, Vertex AI).
- Familiarity with data privacy regulations (GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA) in AI context.
- Existing networks in Media, Fintech, and Logistics.
The Person:
- Straight-talking with a genuine focus on delivery and building great relationships.
- A natural problem solver with full accountability and responsibility for business.
- Understands the value of transparency and ensures key stakeholders have full visibility of the sales pipelines and expected performance, creating contingency plans to mitigate risks and shortfalls.
- Able to work autonomously and as part of a collaborative team.