Business Development Manager at Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

About the job:

• The CSIR has a vacancy for a Business Development Manager within the Business Development and Commercialisation (BD&C) office that supports the Advanced Production and Security Division.
• The incumbent will undertake local and international business development activities within designated areas for the respective market-facing sector clusters of Defence and Security throughout the business development lifecycle (ie. pre-leads to leads to prospects to secured sales) as per frameworks, guidelines and processes set out by the business development and commercialisation office.
• This will involve industry-specific market and sector analysis, identification of key and strategic clients, development of critical partnerships and the packaging and de-risking of business opportunities that are offered by the division.
• They will furthermore manage customer satisfaction and represent client interests in specific domains in project delivery. 
• The position reports to the Business Development and Commercialisation Executive of the Division. The position is based in Pretoria and the incumbent will be expected to spend significant time at the CSIR campus engaging with the different clusters.

Key responsibilities:

Business Development Leadership

• Grow business in designated areas (Defence and Security cluster with support work performed when and as required in the Manufacturing and Mining clusters) through the business development lifecycle by performing, and not limited to, the following activities:
• Analysis and application of industry value chains, including product development value chains and respective applications of digital twinning solutions;
• Market intelligence and analysis;
• Business case origination;
• Investment analysis;
• Requirements analysis;
• Classification of leads and prospects;
• Assessment and maturity auditing of Divisional capabilities applicable to requirements from leads and prospects in the designated areas;
• Assessment, gap analysis and technology evaluation of cluster technologies in line with market requirements;
• Identify clients and opportunities for the existing technology portfolio within designated areas;
• Business case evaluation for licensing of technologies;
• High-level packaging and de-risking of market opportunities;

Development of principle agreements and incorporation and negotiation of the following terms and conditions:

• Liabilities, securities and insurance;
• Third party agreements;
• IP and exploitation;
• Governance and regulatory approvals;
• Breach and termination stipulations;
• Payment and delivery terms.
• Developing and costing of proposals in conjunction with the relevant CSIR Impact Area teams, external partners, and clients/funders;
• Internal and external stakeholder analysis;

Securing contracts in the following domain initiatives:

• RD&I Partnerships
• Technology Platforms
• Joint Development Partnerships
• External grants
• Innovation investments through a variety of innovation funders (Technology Innovation Agency, Industrial Development Council, Development Bank of SA, etc )
• Commercialisation investments with application in direct & indirect commercialisation opportunities
• Grow diversification income for the designated areas (private, public and international) through specific revenue streams (eg. contract R&D, royalty income);
• Pipeline development and management for the designated areas (leads to prospects to secured sales) with set targets;
• Leading of technology transfer initiatives for the designated areas;

Application of systems approach on converting requirements to solutions through:

• Research & requirement definitions;
• Solution definitions & conceptualisation;
• Solutions development;
• Test evaluations & qualifications; and
• Solution integration and acceptance.
• Internal and external stakeholder management.

Additional Business Development Office Projects

• Monthly and quarterly reporting of all activities of the office within the designated areas.
• Updating the existing suite of BD&C processes, frameworks and guidelines and establishment of new process that may be required.
• Provision of reporting information at CSIR level.
• BD&C strategy and plans.
• Strategic research and development programs and related plans.

Qualifications, skills and experience:

• A Bachelors degree in engineering with at least ten years experience in research and technology development within the Defence and/or Security sector.
• Masters degree in the engineering domain, MBA or post-graduate business development qualification will be an added advantage;
• Demonstrated success in business development
• Evidence of solid domain expertise in:
• Business development lifecycle activities;
• System engineering and system integration;
• International contract negotiations, and
• Working interfaces of a research technology organisation.
• Evidence of high-level stakeholder management, and industry domain related networks.
• Experience in the following areas:
• Contract management
• Systems engineering
• Project management
• Process management
• Capability development
• Marketing of capabilities 
• Market analysis
• Track  record in the formulation and securing of contract R&D contracts.
• Competence in:
• Business acumen
• Financial management
• Enterprise risk management
• Domain related technical knowledge and know-how
• Complexity management
• Strategy implementation
• Dealing with abstract concepts

Closing date: 14 April 2026