Head of Business Development & Strategic Partnerships

Head of Business Development & Strategic Partnerships

Neuronova · Milan, Italy (Hybrid) · Full-time

About Neuronova

Neuronova is a fabless deep-tech company based in Milan, building H1: a fully analog neuromorphic processor for always-on AI at the edge. H1 runs AI inference below 1 µW, orders of magnitude more efficient than digital alternatives, and is validated on silicon. Our first market is audio: earbuds, hearables and smart glasses, where always-on intelligence is limited by the battery. We already work with global leaders in wearables and consumer electronics, and we are backed by leading European deep-tech investors.

Our vision is to bring intelligence to every sensor, enabling new business models, platforms and technologies built on our processor.

The role

We are looking for our first Head of Business Development & Strategic Partnerships. You will lead Neuronova's commercial growth: deepening our relationships with existing customers, expanding our reach into new markets, and bringing H1 into products worldwide. Reporting directly to the CEO, you will own the commercial activity end to end, from the first conversation to the signed contract, and scale the commercial function as the company grows. This is a leadership role with a clear growth path to VP of Sales or Chief Commercial Officer.

What you will do

• Own our strategic accounts: become the day-to-day lead for our existing customers and turn ongoing engagements into long-term commercial relationships.
• Qualify and expand a worldwide pipeline across Europe, the US and Asia, deciding where to focus and which opportunities to pursue.
• Drive design-ins: work with customers' product and engineering teams, and with our technical team, to turn evaluations into design-wins and products in the field.
• Lead negotiations and contracts: draft, negotiate and manage NDAs and evaluation, proof-of-concept, joint development, NRE, licensing and supply agreements, working with our external counsel.
• Evolve our pricing and go-to-market: refine pricing across silicon, software and services, and scale our channel strategy. This means strengthening existing partnerships and opening new routes to market with OEMs, ODMs, distributors, design houses and ecosystem partners.
• Scale adoption: run and evolve our Evaluation Partner Program and our technical marketing, including positioning, collateral, demos and events.
• Lead and coach a junior team member who manages CRM, lead handling and follow-ups, and grow the commercial team as the company scales.
• Be the voice of the customer inside Neuronova, bringing market insight into the product roadmap.

What you bring

• 10+ years in business development, strategic partnerships or technical sales in semiconductors, IP licensing or deep-tech hardware.
• A track record of closing complex B2B deals with large OEMs and taking products from evaluation to design-win.
• Hands-on experience drafting and negotiating commercial agreements such as NDAs, JDAs, licensing, NRE and supply contracts.
• Experience defining pricing and go-to-market strategies for technology products.
• Enough technical depth to lead a first customer call on embedded or edge AI hardware, and to know when to bring in the engineers.
• Fluent English.
• Willingness to travel internationally.
• A builder's mindset. You are comfortable with ambiguity, hands-on, and happy to go from writing a proposal in the morning to running a demo at a trade show in the afternoon.

Nice to have

• Experience in audio, hearables, wearables, smart glasses or always-on sensing.
• Experience in the sensor market.
• A network among consumer electronics OEMs and ODMs.
• A degree in engineering, physics or computer science.
• Previous experience in a startup or scale-up.

What we offer

• Gross annual salary: €80,000 + variable compensation + benefits.
• A foundational role with direct impact on the company's trajectory, working side by side with the CEO, and a clear growth path to VP of Sales or CCO.
• A small, highly technical team working on a genuinely new class of chip.
• Hybrid work: Milan office, with one remote day per week. Candidates relocating to Milan are welcome.

How to apply:

Complete the application form linked here:

https://jet-judge-601.notion.site/0619f8f778394d20989c05dc151ccc44?pvs=105

for details:

alessandro@neuronovatech.com

Neuronova is proudly an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates regardless of gender, age, background or any other personal characteristic.