Introduction
At IBM Global Sales, we bring together innovation, collaboration, and expertise to help clients solve their most complex business challenges. Working across industries and geographies, you’ll partner with colleagues, clients, and partners to co-create solutions that drive digital transformation and lasting impact.Success in Global Sales is built on curiosity, empathy, and collaboration. You’ll connect technical understanding with strong people skills, building trusted relationships and shaping solutions that improve business and society. With world-class onboarding, continuous learning, and a supportive culture, IBM offers the tools and opportunities to grow your career. Join us and be part of a global team that’s passionate about driving innovation and making a difference.
Your Role And Responsibilities
IBM is seeking a Business Development Executive to drive strategic growth initiatives across the Americas for IBM Technology. This role is focused on creating new business opportunities and strategic partnerships around AI, hybrid cloud, advanced computing infrastructure, and other emerging technology platforms.
The successful candidate will bring a strong record of building high-value relationships with major private- and public-sector enterprises, and of translating advanced technology capabilities into commercially meaningful partnerships. This person will play a central role in identifying new opportunities, shaping strategic engagements, and positioning IBM’s technology strengths to address client priorities and market needs.
This is a senior, externally facing position for an individual who is comfortable engaging with C-level leaders, public-sector stakeholders, and senior technical teams across IBM.
Key Responsibilities
Business Development & Revenue Growth
- Drive new business development and revenue growth across IBM Technology, with emphasis on AI, hybrid cloud, and advanced computing infrastructure.
- Identify, qualify, and pursue strategy-aligned opportunities that align IBM’s technology capabilities with the priorities of enterprise, public-sector, and institutional clients.
- Build and maintain a strong pipeline of qualified opportunities, including large and complex multi-stakeholder engagements.
- Lead sophisticated business development cycles from prospecting through strategy formation, negotiation, and closure.
Client Relationship Management
- Establish and deepen trusted relationships with senior decision-makers.
- Serve as a strategic advisor by understanding client business objectives and aligning IBM technology solutions to those needs.
- Develop engagement strategies that support long-term collaboration, innovation adoption, and measurable business value.
- Represent IBM in high-level discussions involving technology strategy, innovation partnerships, and future-looking infrastructure priorities.
Strategic Planning & Market Development
- Monitor market trends and identify opportunities related to AI systems, enterprise infrastructure, hybrid cloud, advanced computing, and emerging digital platforms aligned to IBM’s technology strengths and roadmap.
- Help shape go-to-market strategies and partnership approaches for areas where IBM has differentiated technology and innovation strengths.
- Bring external market insight into IBM planning by understanding how clients, institutions, and industries are investing in next-generation computing capabilities.
- Contribute to thought leadership and business development initiatives that strengthen IBM’s market presence in strategic technology domains.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner closely with IBM Research, product teams, engineering, technical sales, and business leaders to shape and execute strategic opportunities.
- Engage deeply with IBM R&D technologists in BU development organizations and IBM Research to align business development strategies with IBM roadmap needs and areas of technology differentiation.
- Work across legal, finance, operations, and executive leadership teams to structure complex agreements and partnership models.
- Translate advanced technical concepts into clear commercial value propositions for both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Support collaborations that span enterprise clients, research institutions, ecosystem partners, and public-sector organizations.
Preferred Education
Bachelor's Degree
Experience
Required technical and professional expertise
- Significant experience in business development, strategic partnerships, technology sales, or related leadership roles in the technology sector.
- Demonstrated success developing and expanding complex relationships across industry, government, and/or academia.
- Proven ability to lead large, high-value engagements involving advanced technologies, innovation programs, or enterprise transformation initiatives.
- Experience working effectively in matrixed organizations and aligning external opportunities with internal product, research, and engineering teams.
- Experience in strategic ecosystem development, collaborative innovation models, or multi-party partnerships is strongly preferred.
Technical & Business Knowledge
- Strong understanding of AI, hybrid cloud, computing infrastructure, and emerging enterprise technology trends.
- Ability to explain technical concepts clearly to both business and technical audiences.
- Strong business judgment and the ability to evaluate strategic fit, partnership value, and long-term growth potential.
- Understanding of how innovation, infrastructure investment, and ecosystem partnerships influence client priorities and market opportunity and align to IBM’s strategic direction.
Skills & Competencies
- Strategic Thinking: Ability to develop long-term business development strategies that align technology capabilities with market opportunity.
- Relationship Building: Strong ability to establish trust and credibility with senior leaders across multiple sectors.
- Executive Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to represent IBM credibly in external and internal forums.
- Technical Credibility: Sufficient technical depth to engage productively in conversations about advanced computing and AI-related technologies.
- Negotiation & Deal Structuring: Ability to shape, advance, and close complex agreements involving multiple stakeholders.
- Collaboration: Proven effectiveness in working across research, product, engineering, sales, and corporate functions in a matrixed environment.
Market Insight: Ability to identify emerging trends and turn them into high-value business opportunities.
