Business Development Manager
Help turn one of the world's most carbon-intensive supply chains into a local, zero-waste solution.
- Science or engineering background with 3-5 years in B2B sales
- Chemicals, water treatment, construction materials, or minerals experience
- Christchurch-based, comfortable with international travel
Critical minerals underpin almost everything in the modern world: clean water, low-carbon construction, battery technology, and agricultural productivity. Right now, those minerals are mostly imported, carbon-intensive, and exposed to supply chain risk. Aspiring Materials is changing that. They produce high-purity critical minerals using a zero-waste circular process. Their products are direct replacements for carbon-intensive imports, and the industrial buyers who need them are already in conversation.
This is the first commercial hire. The CEO has been carrying the pipeline. Now they need someone to take it over, close it, and build on it.
The Role
This is a full-cycle commercial role. You will inherit live pipeline on day one, including active conversations in water treatment and cement manufacturing, and your job is to convert it. From there, you build. New accounts, new verticals, international offtake and licensing partnerships as the company moves toward its first commercial facility.
Aspiring Materials is not looking for someone who needs a playbook. They want someone who writes one. You will have genuine autonomy to build the commercial function, with a founding team that is invested in your success and clear on what good looks like.
The role involves international travel. The event and market calendar will be mapped with you once you are in the seat.
What You Will Do
Commercial Development
Manage the full sales cycle from prospecting through to signed offtake agreement. Build and maintain a pipeline of target accounts. Represent Aspiring Materials at trade shows, cleantech showcases, and industry events. Initiate international licensing and partnership conversations as the business scales.
Customer Relationships
Own relationships with existing and prospective customers. Translate technical product capability into clear commercial and sustainability value. Maintain relationship quality across all active accounts.
Market Development
Analyse target markets and identify new verticals and geographies. Build business cases for international expansion. Feed customer and market intelligence back into product and technology priorities.
Commercial Infrastructure
Build pipeline tracking, account management rhythms, and proposal frameworks where they do not yet exist. Coordinate with the R&D team on trial scheduling and resource commitments. Contribute to investor-ready commercial materials.
Who We Are Looking For
A scientific or engineering background is important here - chemistry, chemical engineering, process engineering, materials science, or similar. You do not need to be a scientist anymore, but you need enough grounding to hold a credible conversation with a technical buyer.
Three to five years in a B2B commercial role on top of that. BDM, account management, or technical sales, selling into industrial customers in at least one of: water treatment, civil infrastructure, construction materials, mineral or chemical production, or energy.
You are comfortable building from scratch. No inherited territory, no defined playbook, no large team behind you. You treat relationships as the foundation of commercial success, not a shortcut to it. You are motivated by mission and want to see your work matter directly.
Christchurch-based. Open to strong candidates willing to relocate who have existing NZ market connections.
What We Offer
- First commercial hire at a well-backed, pre-revenue deep tech company with real momentum
- Live pipeline and warm relationships to inherit from day one
- Genuine autonomy to build the commercial function your way
- A small, mission-driven team that genuinely likes each other
Interested?
We are not precious about process. If this role sounds like you, or like someone you know, reach out directly or apply. Include a brief note on why Aspiring Materials, and what you have sold or built that is most relevant.
Contact: sam@sproutpeople.co
This is the first commercial hire. The CEO has been carrying the pipeline. Now they need someone to take it over, close it, and build on it.
The Role
This is a full-cycle commercial role. You will inherit live pipeline on day one, including active conversations in water treatment and cement manufacturing, and your job is to convert it. From there, you build. New accounts, new verticals, international offtake and licensing partnerships as the company moves toward its first commercial facility.
Aspiring Materials is not looking for someone who needs a playbook. They want someone who writes one. You will have genuine autonomy to build the commercial function, with a founding team that is invested in your success and clear on what good looks like.
The role involves international travel. The event and market calendar will be mapped with you once you are in the seat.
What You Will Do
Commercial Development
Manage the full sales cycle from prospecting through to signed offtake agreement. Build and maintain a pipeline of target accounts. Represent Aspiring Materials at trade shows, cleantech showcases, and industry events. Initiate international licensing and partnership conversations as the business scales.
Customer Relationships
Own relationships with existing and prospective customers. Translate technical product capability into clear commercial and sustainability value. Maintain relationship quality across all active accounts.
Market Development
Analyse target markets and identify new verticals and geographies. Build business cases for international expansion. Feed customer and market intelligence back into product and technology priorities.
Commercial Infrastructure
Build pipeline tracking, account management rhythms, and proposal frameworks where they do not yet exist. Coordinate with the R&D team on trial scheduling and resource commitments. Contribute to investor-ready commercial materials.
Who We Are Looking For
A scientific or engineering background is important here - chemistry, chemical engineering, process engineering, materials science, or similar. You do not need to be a scientist anymore, but you need enough grounding to hold a credible conversation with a technical buyer.
Three to five years in a B2B commercial role on top of that. BDM, account management, or technical sales, selling into industrial customers in at least one of: water treatment, civil infrastructure, construction materials, mineral or chemical production, or energy.
You are comfortable building from scratch. No inherited territory, no defined playbook, no large team behind you. You treat relationships as the foundation of commercial success, not a shortcut to it. You are motivated by mission and want to see your work matter directly.
Christchurch-based. Open to strong candidates willing to relocate who have existing NZ market connections.
What We Offer
- First commercial hire at a well-backed, pre-revenue deep tech company with real momentum
- Live pipeline and warm relationships to inherit from day one
- Genuine autonomy to build the commercial function your way
- A small, mission-driven team that genuinely likes each other
Interested?
We are not precious about process. If this role sounds like you, or like someone you know, reach out directly or apply. Include a brief note on why Aspiring Materials, and what you have sold or built that is most relevant.
Contact: sam@sproutpeople.co