The market for embodied AI is growing faster than we can keep up with it. Every month, new companies emerge that build robots designed to mimic human hands, and every month there are research groups, teleoperation teams, and simulation studios that have never heard of us. There’s more of the market out there than we’re currently tapping into. That’s exactly what this role is all about.
MANUS works with key accounts, which we serve directly, and channel accounts, which are managed through partners. We’re looking for someone to fill the front end: the companies that aren’t yet customers.
As a Business Development Manager, you’ll be responsible for new business. You’ll identify, qualify, and close the first order. Your focus will be on new business within the verticals MANUS currently serves, as well as exploring markets where we don’t yet have a presence.
Role description
Your role is clearly defined on the back end but broad on the front end. You decide for yourself where to seek out commercial opportunities and which new segments to tap into. You’ll work with a target list of dozens of accounts in fields such as humanoid robotics, embodied AI, teleoperation, simulation & VR training, motion capture, research, biomechanics, life sciences, and defense.
This is a role with a great deal of responsibility: you’ll build the majority of your pipeline yourself through outbound outreach, networking, trade shows, conferences, and the early identification of interesting companies and developments.
Another key aspect of this role is gathering market feedback and translating insights from new markets into concrete input for Product Management. You therefore not only have a commercial drive but also the ability to assess market developments and customer needs and determine where real commercial opportunities lie.
You will report to the Sales Director North America and work closely with the Key Account Manager, Channel Account Manager, Marketing, and Product Management.
Your responsabilities
Build your pipeline
● Build your own pipeline through outbound, networking, and market research; you don’t wait for leads
● Maintain and expand the target list: which companies are new, who is building, and who has secured funding
● Identify new segments and propose them with a solid business case, including the cost of entering them
● Be present where this market comes together: robotics and AI conferences, trade shows, universities, etc.
Qualify and Close
● Qualify rigorously: budget, timeline, decision-makers, and what is technically required
● Ask the right questions to identify the best solution; this is essential for success. In every conversation, provide something of value to the customer
● Set up pilots with success criteria agreed upon and documented in advance; no pilot without a defined outcome
● Close the first order and leave the account in a transferable state: stakeholders mapped, expectations documented, and nothing kept only in your head
● Disengage early when the opportunity is unlikely to work, and do so with a well-founded rationale
Position and competition
● Keep the value proposition sharp against the alternatives: competing gloves, camera-based tracking, and companies considering building it in-house
● Do not compete on price, but on precision, reliability, and the time and data value we deliver to the customer
● Bring market signals back into the organization: pricing pressure, missing functionality, where we are losing deals, and why
Transfer and Collaboration
● Hand over accounts to Key Account Management at the agreed point, without causing disruption for the customer
● Work with Channel to assess whether a new account is better served through a partner rather than directly
● Work with Marketing to align campaigns and materials with the segments you are opening
Discipline and Reporting
● Keep HubSpot fully up to date: accounts, contacts, activities, pipeline, and forecast
● Provide a reliable quarterly forecast, supported by documented evidence rather than intuition
● Consistently document wins/losses, including the competitor and the reason
Your first year
These are the tasks you'll be taking on in your first year. They are intentionally not all scheduled at the same time, but they set the direction for the role.
● A self-built pipeline that stands on its own, rather than relying on inbound leads
● New customers acquired across multiple verticals, not just the most obvious segments
● Pilots running against predefined success criteria, with a demonstrable share progressing to broader deployment
● A handover process that works: accounts are transferred to Key Account Management at the agreed point
● A well-founded proposal for at least one new segment, including a market assessment and the resources required for success
● A complete and up-to-date view of the potential market in HubSpot, including companies that were not on the radar last quarter
● A forecast that the business can reliably plan around
● Win/loss data captured in a way that enables us to learn from it rather than repeat the same mistakes
Our ideal candidate
We’re looking for someone who will take the initiative to identify the next client, initiate the conversation, and see it through to the end. Someone who can distinguish between interest and budget. And, above all, someone who follows through.
An existing network in the robotics, embodied AI, or XR market—or experience with the transition from pilot to large-scale rollout—is a plus.
● Minimum 5 years of experience in new business or business development in technical B2B
● Demonstrated ability to build your own pipeline, rather than relying solely on inbound leads
● Experience opening up new markets, segments, or regions
● Experience with a combined hardware and software licensing model is a plus
● Affinity with robotics, AI, motion capture, XR, or related deep tech; you don’t need to be an engineer, but you do need to be technically credible
● Comfortable speaking with engineers and budget holders, often in the same meeting
● Strong qualification and discipline: keeping the CRM up to date, substantiating forecasts, and documenting win/loss data; HubSpot experience is a plus
● Able to walk away from a deal that isn’t a good fit, and explain why
● Excellent English, both written and spoken; Dutch is a plus
● Willingness to travel internationally approximately 30–40% of the time, including trade shows and conferences
● Comfortable working across time zones and typically being present at our Eindhoven office 3+ days per week
What we offer
