Business Development Executive

IBM

IBM

Sales & Business Development

California, USA · Texas City, TX, USA

Posted on May 6, 2026
Introduction

At IBM Global Sales, we bring together innovation, collaboration, and expertise to help clients solve their most complex business challenges. Working across industries and geographies, you’ll partner with colleagues, clients, and partners to co-create solutions that drive digital transformation and lasting impact.Success in Global Sales is built on curiosity, empathy, and collaboration. You’ll connect technical understanding with strong people skills, building trusted relationships and shaping solutions that improve business and society. With world-class onboarding, continuous learning, and a supportive culture, IBM offers the tools and opportunities to grow your career. Join us and be part of a global team that’s passionate about driving innovation and making a difference.

Your role and responsibilities

As a Business Development Leader, you will drive strategic opportunities requiring long-term engagement and creativity in structuring non-traditional business models and partnerships. You will position IBM as a trusted partner in advancing AI and digital transformation, creating tangible and intangible value through creative structuring and partnerships. Your primary responsibilities will include: • Drive Strategic Opportunities: Drive strategic opportunities that require long-term engagement and creativity in structuring non-traditional business models and partnerships by bringing together IBM Technology, Consulting, and Research. • Position IBM as Trusted Partner: Position IBM as a trusted partner in advancing AI and digital transformation, creating tangible and intangible value through creative structuring and partnerships. • Leverage Patterns to Scale: Leverage patterns to scale across markets and industries, creating repeatable and sustainable business models. • Create Value through Partnerships: Create tangible and intangible value through creative structuring and partnerships, driving business growth and expansion. • Advance Digital Transformation: Advance digital transformation by bringing together IBM Technology, Consulting, and Research to drive business innovation and growth.

Required education
Bachelor's Degree
Preferred education
Master's Degree
Required technical and professional expertise

Your Role and Responsibilities

Job Overview

In this role, you will be a key member of a high-performing team responsible for driving

business development and client engagement across strategic initiatives. You will collaborate

closely with senior leadership, technical subject matter experts, and cross-functional stakeholders

to translate opportunities into measurable business outcomes for IBM. You will drive early

market shaping activities by identifying emerging opportunities and positioning IBM as a

strategic partner before formal deal cycles begin.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design and land transformative initiatives that secure IBM’s differentiation in emerging

categories like Sovereign AI ensuring long-term market relevance.

• Convert bespoke pilots and innovation-led partnerships into repeatable, programmatic

growth engines that can be scaled across the regional GTM fabric.

• Execute with discipline and ownership, working across leadership, sales, consulting, and

technology teams to move opportunities from strategy to outcomes.

Required Skills:

• Proven track record in business development, strategic alliances, management consulting,

investment banking, or the tech venture ecosystem, with a focus on AI, data and

automation.

• Collaborate with IBM technical teams to position AI, Data, Automation, and Hybrid

Cloud solutions within partnership engagements.

• Deep experience engaging with C-suite leaders and collaborating cross-functionally

across all management tiers to oversee complex agreements and partnerships.

• Ability to lead multifaceted, cross-functional programs and drive influence among global

stakeholders and C-level executives within matrixed corporate structures.

• Experience architecting scaled partnership models, negotiating novel, first-of-its-kind

deals, and scaling business development initiatives from initial pilot to full maturity.

• Orchestrate ecosystem partnerships across enterprises, startups, and industry stakeholders

to accelerate market adoption of IBM solutions.

Preferred technical and professional experience

Preferred Skills:

• Advanced degree, such as an MBA or equivalent.

• Demonstrated success in leading cross-functional teams, fostering internal cohesion, and

managing relationships with country-level leadership and diverse external stakeholders.

• Specialized expertise in key technology verticals—including Enterprise AI and Cloud—

complemented by a deep understanding of the Indian venture capital and digital native

landscape.

• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to navigate ambiguity, manage shifting

priorities, and drive organizational change across all functions and seniority levels.

• Experience converting innovation-led pilots into scalable programs and repeatable

growth frameworks.

Years of Experience:
10 - 15

ABOUT BUSINESS UNIT

IBM has a global presence, operating in more than 175 countries with a broad-based geographic distribution of revenue. The company’s Global Markets organization is a strategic sales business unit that manages IBM’s global footprint, working closely with dedicated country-based operating units to serve clients locally. These country teams have client relationship managers who lead integrated teams of consultants, solution specialists and delivery professionals to enable clients’ growth and innovation. By complementing local expertise with global experience and digital capabilities, IBM builds deep and broad-based client relationships. This local management focus fosters speed in supporting clients, addressing new markets and making investments in emerging opportunities. Additionally, the Global Markets organization serves clients with expertise in their industry as well as through the products and services that IBM and partners supply. IBM is also expanding its reach to new and existing clients through digital marketplaces.

YOUR LIFE @ IBM

In a world where technology never stands still, we understand that, dedication to our clients success, innovation that matters, and trust and personal responsibility in all our relationships, lives in what we do as IBMers as we strive to be the catalyst that makes the world work better.

Being an IBMer means you’ll be able to learn and develop yourself and your career, you’ll be encouraged to be courageous and experiment everyday, all whilst having continuous trust and support in an environment where everyone can thrive whatever their personal or professional background.

Our IBMers are growth minded, always staying curious, open to feedback and learning new information and skills to constantly transform themselves and our company. They are trusted to provide on-going feedback to help other IBMers grow, as well as collaborate with colleagues keeping in mind a team focused approach to include different perspectives to drive exceptional outcomes for our customers. The courage our IBMers have to make critical decisions everyday is essential to IBM becoming the catalyst for progress, always embracing challenges with resources they have to hand, a can-do attitude and always striving for an outcome focused approach within everything that they do.

Are you ready to be an IBMer?

ABOUT IBM

IBM’s greatest invention is the IBMer. We believe that through the application of intelligence, reason and science, we can improve business, society and the human condition, bringing the power of an open hybrid cloud and AI strategy to life for our clients and partners around the world.

Restlessly reinventing since 1911, we are not only one of the largest corporate organizations in the world, we’re also one of the biggest technology and consulting employers, with many of the Fortune 500 companies relying on the IBM Cloud to run their business.

At IBM, we pride ourselves on being an early adopter of artificial intelligence, quantum computing and blockchain. Now it’s time for you to join us on our journey to being a responsible technology innovator and a force for good in the world.

IBM is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, pregnancy, disability, neurodivergence, age, or other characteristics protected by the applicable law. IBM is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.

OTHER RELEVANT JOB DETAILS

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