Business Development Manager Data Center; Italy & Iberia

Xylem is a Fortune 500 global water solutions company dedicated to advancing sustainable impact and empowering the people who make water work every day. As a leading water technology company with 23,000 employees operating in over 150 countries, Xylem is at the forefront of addressing the world's most critical water challenges. We invite passionate individuals to join our team, dedicated to exceeding customer expectations through innovative and sustainable solutions.

The Role

We are looking for a Business Development professional to drive growth in the Data Center market by building strategic relationships across the ecosystem, influencing project specifications at an early stage, and positioning the company as a trusted partner for mission-critical infrastructure solutions. This role combines market development, opportunity pipeline ownership, commercial execution, and strategic partnership building to accelerate growth across key Data Center segments.

Key Responsibilities

Ecosystem & Stakeholder Management

• Develop and maintain high-level relationships across the entire value chain:
• Owners & Developers
• Engineering Consultants & Specifiers
• EPC Contractors
• Design & Build Companies
• General Contractors
• Build long-term strategic partnerships to secure preferred vendor positioning.
• Act as a trusted advisor, influencing decision-makers in technically complex environments.
• Represent the company at industry events, forums, and strategic meetings within the Data Center ecosystem.
  

Specification Influence & Technical Positioning

• Engage at early project stages to influence specifications in alignment with the company’s solutions.
• Collaborate closely with the Application Engineering team to:
• Develop tailored technical solutions
• Support project design discussions
• Contribute to technical documentation and specification development
• Ensure alignment with Data Center standards and best practices (e.g., Tier classifications, redundancy concepts, reliability, energy efficiency).
• Support technical workshops, seminars, and training sessions for consultants and key stakeholders.
  

Funnel Ownership & Commercial Execution

• Build, manage, and continuously develop a robust opportunity pipeline across all project phases.
• Ensure disciplined CRM management, accurate forecasting, and structured reporting.
• Qualify opportunities strategically, prioritizing high-value and high-impact projects.
• Lead commercial negotiations in coordination with internal stakeholders.
• Drive contract closure and ensure smooth handover to execution teams.
• Deliver against defined growth and revenue targets.

Strategic Market Development & Growth Acceleration

• Support the definition and evolution of the business development strategy by bringing structured insights from the market, including customer needs, emerging trends, and growth opportunities.
• Identify and unlock new revenue streams across hyperscale, colocation, enterprise, and edge segments.
• Drive market penetration and increase share within mission-critical infrastructure projects.
• Position the company as a strategic technology partner for high-availability and resilient infrastructure solutions.
• Monitor market trends (sustainability, energy efficiency, redundancy standards, uptime requirements, modularity, etc.) and translate them into actionable growth initiatives.

Strategic Partnerships & Joint Ventures

• Identify potential partnership, alliance, and joint venture opportunities within the Data Center ecosystem.
• Evaluate business cases for co-development of market-specific or customized solutions.
• Support negotiation and structuring of partnership agreements.
• Contribute to the development of dedicated product offerings tailored to evolving Data Center requirements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business, Economics, or related field (Engineering background is highly valued).
• 5+ years of experience in Business Development within the Data Center, Critical Infrastructure, or related technical sectors (e.g., power distribution, cooling, building technologies, electrical infrastructure).
• Proven track record in specification-driven sales and complex project environments.
• Strong understanding of Data Center project lifecycle and mission-critical infrastructure dynamics.
• Experience working with Owners, Consultants, EPCs, and General Contractors.
• Proficiency in CRM tools (e.g., Salesforce) and structured pipeline management.
• Excellent negotiation, influencing, and stakeholder management skills.
• Fluent in Italian and English.

Preferred Competencies

• Deep understanding of hyperscale and colocation market dynamics.
• Previous experience in project management.
• Strategic thinking combined with strong execution capability.
• Strong financial acumen and business case evaluation skills.
• Ability to operate in cross-functional and matrix organizations.
• High level of autonomy, accountability, and entrepreneurial mindset.
• Strong analytical and data-driven decision-making capability.

Travel: Up to 75%.

Contract: Full-time, Permanent.

Join the global Xylem team to be a part of innovative technology solutions transforming water usage, conservation, and re-use. Our products impact public utilities, industrial sectors, residential areas, and commercial buildings, with a commitment to providing smart metering, network technologies, and advanced analytics for water, electric, and gas utilities. Partner with us in creating a world where water challenges are met with ingenuity and dedication; where we recognize the power of inclusion and belonging in driving innovation and allowing us to compete more effectively around the world.