Business Development Executive - EU Public Sector & NATO

🌍We’re making security suck less for developers & CISOs
Security tools interrupt teams, slow releases, and turn security into a bottleneck. Aikido builds developer-first products that cut real risk without getting in the way of shipping. Founded in 2022 by third-time founders, with $85M in the bank.
Aikido Strategic & Defense (ASD), our public sector and defense unit, is hiring its first Business Development Executive (EU Public Sector, Defense & NATO). This is a zero-to-one, quota-carrying mandate: you drive and close out our first revenue in the region, then turn those wins into a repeatable motion.
You will be measured on closed revenue first. Strategy, positioning, and partner work exist because they are how deals close here, not as a substitute for closing them. A team comes later, once the number is proven. This is a cyber-first role: developer tooling experience helps, but it is not what earns credibility in an MoD cyber unit.
Who You Will Sell To:
Government and defense institutions themselves, not the defense industrial base: ministries of defense, national cyber commands and CERTs, public agencies, and NATO bodies like the NCI Agency. Three profiles, three entry points: 

• In-house developers: The Aikido core platform, mapped to sovereign and mission outcomes.

• Few developers, GSI delivery team: Core platform plus supply chain security, sold through the integrator shipping the code.

• MoD and national cyber units: Autonomous pentesting, Box, and the offensive portfolio alongside defensive coverage. Cyber risk buyers, not engineering buyers.

• Drive and Close Out Our First Revenue: Carry the number and own the full cycle, from first touch through security review and procurement to signature. You source your pipeline and close it.

• Localize the ASD Strategy: Turn our global strategy into EU positioning and account plans that hold up with sovereign buyers.

• Define Joint GTM With Partners: Build go-to-market plans with GSIs, regional partners, and distributors holding government frameworks, and hold them accountable for pipeline.

• Navigate Public Procurement: Lead tenders, RFPs, and RFIs, and build the executive relationships behind them, from CISOs and national cyber leadership to procurement directors. Forecast accurately in HubSpot.

• Be Part of the Conversation: Operate inside the circles where European defense and cyber decisions get shaped. Credibility here is a deliverable, not a nice-to-have. What 

We Are Looking For:

• Cybersecurity Depth First: Credible on both sides of the house, AppSec and supply chain on defense, pentesting and adversary tradecraft on offense, with a view on how AI is reshaping both.

• You Speak Acronym: Fluent in the language of this customer base and alive to the nuances here: budget and program cycles, classification boundaries, competing coalition and national interests, and when a slow process means caution, not disinterest.

• A Closer, Not Just an Opener: 8 to 12 years selling cybersecurity into the EU public sector, defense, or NATO, with a personally attributable record of closing 6- and 7-figure deals. Deep knowledge of government purchasing frameworks and partner-led models. A Network You Can Use Day One: Relationships across European MoDs, national cyber agencies, NATO bodies, or the partners serving them. 

• Clearance, Languages, Location: Eligibility to obtain EU/NATO clearance; an active clearance is not required. Fluent English, with French, German, or Dutch a major plus. Based in Europe near government hubs, Brussels preferred. 

Why This Matters to Us
These institutions protect citizens and support warfighters. The software they run on is a live target, and insecure code here lands on real people, not a risk register. If you want real impact, this is the seat. If it is just another territory, it is not. 

What You Can Expect

• A founding mandate for ASD in Europe with direct access to leadership. Short decision lines, big ownership, room to ship fast. 

• Compensation and equity benchmarked to the mandate rather than the title, with real upside on the deals you close. 

• Latitude on how you present yourself in the market. High trust, flexible hours, zero corporate BS. We hire for talent, drive, and potential. Everything else is noise.