Business Development Manager

Department: Technology

Team: Open Gateway

Location: London with hybrid working

Position type: Short Term Contract until December 2026 (Inside IR35)

What the hiring manager says

"Mobile technology has changed our lives, the next technology steps in API development and adoption of common APIs towards developers will change the way we work and how developers interact with mobile and fixed networks. We are at the forefront of seeding demand for exposed network capabilities. We have a significant opportunity to understand vertical sector requirements and to collaborate with a number of industries. We want to inform and excite the enterprises of the tremendous functionality afforded by today's mobile networks and to take them on a journey. The role will suit someone with deep experience of opening new doors, managing ongoing relationships and developing win-win outcomes with a complex myriad of external players. You'll need to be adept at managing and mobilising internal teams including legal, product and marketing to ultimately deliver great outcomes for the telecommunications industry.

Henry Calvert, Head of Technology, Group Technology

About the Team

GSMA Fusion was established in July 2024 with the goal of building upon GSMA's successful Open Gateway Initiative. Open Gateway is an industry-wide collaboration (operators, vendors and other players) to standardize and expose operators' network APIs – thereby allowing enterprises to utilises capabilities inherent in the network to launch new services for their customers and to improve their operational processes.

The GSMA Fusion team is a focused cross-functional team comprising Business Development, Legal, Product Management and Project Management. GSMA Fusion's goal is to directly engage with enterprises and industry vertical industry associations to identify demand for services and to provide facilitation that ultimately leads to new sources of demand for mobile operators.

We are fast and nimble, and as a team we support each other to achieve the outcomes required. We are a small team with big ambitions. With a strong spirit of collaboration we are confident of achieving our goal to make an impact to the industries we serve.

About the Role

You will support the GSMA leadership team (CxOs and Senior Directors) to provide the business enterprise experience to seed demand by gaining Market Demand Indicators from enterprises. This is a novel concept for the telecommunications industry – we (and you) will be instrumental in shaping, developing and amplifying the demand coming from key global businesses.

You will lead the engagement with the financial services and commerce industry sector, to educate them on the possibilities afforded by network APIs, to understand their requirements, seek statement of requirements and to develop a pipeline for pilots and demos with sectors partners.

Key Responsibilities

• Engagement with one or more of the Finance Services, eCommerce, Media & Entertainment or Social Media Industry Sectors, including C- Level & Senior Management Executives.

• Develop a pipeline of opportunities for enterprise vertical sector candidates who are willing to work with the Telco industry to publicly state their requirements and to engage with the mobile operators in their key markets.  

• Translate buyer demand from enterprises into 'Market Demand Indicators' which include 'Statements of Requirements' and a pipeline of pilots and demos which allow GSMA to showcase the possibilities advanced network functionalities.

• Utilise every avenue to generate and follow up on leads. Be as comfortable cold-calling as managing an existing enterprise relationship.  

• Convene round-table discussions with a number of sector companies to discuss and align their requirements of the telecommunications sector, to meet common pain points locally or globally.

• Be an industry evangelist for the GSMA Fusion mission.

About You

You will have deep experience of the following activities, preferably performed in a variety of roles:

Business Development/Sales experience: Generate and develop new leads and relationships. Educate enterprises on the power of network APIs, listening to their needs and co-developing solutions that could drive positive outcomes for them and for the telecommunications industry. Experience of selling to, or working with, customers in the one or more of the financial services, eCommerce, Media & entertainment or Social Media sectors is preferable.

Thought leader: Work independently with industry leaders to bring to life specific use-cases and the potential value they could unlock for their businesses within specific industry verticals.

Partnership Development: Cultivate and nurture relationships with key stakeholders, including industry leaders, government agencies, trade associations, and other relevant organisations, to promote collaboration and drive shared initiatives.

Collaboration Facilitation: Facilitate collaborative discussions and workshops among participating companies to identify common challenges, develop innovative solutions, and establish actionable strategies for cost reduction and productivity improvement.

Project Management: Lead cross-functional teams comprised of representatives from legal (including antitrust), marketing, product and project management to execute joint projects and initiatives aimed at achieving mutual objectives.

Capabilities:

• An established track-record focusing on business development, commercial and strategic partnerships within the technology industry in a B2B environment. Strong knowledge of the telecommunications sector preferred.

• Proven track record of successfully driving collaborative projects or initiatives aimed at achieving cost reduction and productivity improvement goals for B2B customers and partners.

• Proven ability to work independently. Will be comfortable acting as an individual contributor and to operate at every level internally and externally.

• Strong experience with the ability to understand commercial motivations of disparate organisations, and to bring multiple parties together around a common framework.

• Exceptional communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build and maintain relationships at all levels of an organisation.

• Significant experience of presenting at CXO level internally and externally. Able to manage multiple internal stakeholder relationships. Deep experience of working with antitrust/legal a key advantage.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with a keen understanding of market dynamics and industry trends.

• Deep experience of working in a matrix organisation co-leading projects with GSMA teams globally. Ability to travel to different markets.

• Outstanding written and oral communications skills.

Contract type

Worker type

Working at the GSMA offers you unparalleled access to the mobile industry. We offer a chance to truly shape the direction of mobile, whatever your role. By joining the GSMA, you will be exposed to a fast-paced rapidly evolving environment, working on global solutions, genuinely fascinating and industry-changing projects and a stimulating and dynamic environment designed to enable you to flourish.

In addition to architect-designed offices and competitive compensation, our benefits include fantastic learning & development opportunities, generous holiday allowances, four additional days off for professional development and many others.

To learn more about the GSMA, visit our career site, our LinkedIn page and our Twitter page.

Being You at the GSMA

We care deeply about diversity, equity and inclusivity and aspire to be the best at it. Your well-being and work/life balance is important, so flexi-time and remote working is available to all staff. We're keen to ensure everyone is equal, represented and connected so we particularly encourage applications from all demographics. The sucess of the GSMA year on year will continue to be contributed by people from all walks of life.

GSMA Values

Our values not only drive our culture – they shape how we work and interact inside and outside our global organisation.

Passionately driven

We approach everything we do with unparalleled capability, tenacity and commitment, knowing that the challenging scale, pace and complexity of our work is what leads to its world-changing impact.

Insightful leaders

We continually develop and engage our expertise, insight and creativity so that we're always ready to respond to the changing landscape with authority, agility and nuance.

Stronger together

We lean on each other so the industry can lean on us, embracing our diversity by actively seeking out perspectives and skill sets beyond our own, fuelling each other's successes and constantly asking how we can help.

Underpinning our values is our collective mindset to show up purposefully as good human beings every day, in every situation. When we're at our best – we are collaborative, considerate and compassionate to others, and we create a safe space for one another to thrive, assuming positive intent in our colleagues. And if we aren't at our best and the pressure is on – we feel free to be ourselves but still remain curious, lean into the tough stuff and we are always respectful to others and accountable for the part we play.