Strategic Partnerships & Government Relations Manager

Your (space) mission

As the Strategic Partnerships & Government Relations Manager at cosine, you help position our innovative remote sensing and space technologies within Italy’s most influential institutional and strategic organisation. Leveraging your network, reputation and understanding of the Italian space and defence landscape, you create opportunities that can shape the future of cosine Italy.

You work closely with our Remote Sensing Director and act as a trusted ambassador for cosine towards key stakeholders within ASI, the Italian Ministry of Defence, prime contractors and strategic industry partners. Your role is not focused on transactional sales, but on building long-term relationships, identifying strategic opportunities and ensuring cosine is involved in the conversations that matter.

Success in this role means opening doors, building trust and creating pathways towards future collaborations, programmes and bids. Whether it is helping cosine become part of a new institutional initiative, positioning our technologies within defence programmes, or establishing relationships with major industry players, you play a key role in expanding our strategic footprint in Italy.

In a small and growing organisation like cosine Italy, your impact is immediate and visible. You combine strategic thinking with a hands-on mentality and enjoy representing an innovative technology company that develops advanced remote sensing solutions for space and defence applications.

Tasks & responsibilities

In this role you will:

• Develop and maintain relationships with key stakeholders within ASI, the Italian Ministry of Defence and other relevant governmental organisations
• Identify and create strategic opportunities that position cosine for future programmes, partnerships and bid activities
• Represent cosine within the Italian space and defence ecosystem, including industry events, conferences and networking activities
• Establish and strengthen relationships with major industry partners, system integrators and prime contractors
• Advise cosine leadership on developments, opportunities and stakeholder dynamics within the Italian institutional space and defence market

Your profile

We are looking for candidates with the following qualifications:

• An established professional network and strong reputation within the Italian space, aerospace and/or defence sector
• Proven experience working with governmental, institutional or strategic industry stakeholders
• A strong understanding of the Italian space ecosystem, including ASI and relevant defence organisations
• Demonstrated ability to build trusted relationships and open doors at senior decision-making levels
• Comfortable working independently within a small, entrepreneurial organisation with significant autonomy and ownership
• Excellent communication, networking and stakeholder management skills
• Fluent in Italian and English, both written and verbal

What we offer

At cosine, we highly value our employees, and we will support your professional and personal development. We also provide our employees with:

• A unique, international working environment at the intersection of physics and engineering
• The opportunity to deliver end-to-end solutions in autonomous project teams, in close collaboration with customers
• A competitive salary with an annual bonus based on individual and company performance
• 20 days of annual leave (based on full-time employment)
• 13th month salary payment
• Hybrid working options, including the possibility to work partially from home
• A personal development budget
• Initial one-year contract, with the aim of long-term collaboration

About cosine

Founded in 1998, cosine is a world-leading developer of space instrumentation and measurement systems, making the invisible measurable and the complex actionable.

Its expertise spans High-Energy Optics, including optics developed for ESA's future NewAthena X-ray observatory, as well as remote sensing solutions for Earth Observation and planetary science.
With over 25 years of experience and advanced cleanroom and assembly facilities across the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy, cosine brings deep scientific and engineering expertise to some of the most demanding missions in space and on Earth.

What makes cosine a unique place to work is that your work goes end-to-end: from concept and design to building, testing, and delivering hardware that actually flies in space. You work in small, highly skilled teams where you have real ownership and impact, alongside experts in optics, physics, nanofabrication, and systems engineering. 
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cosine is committed to providing an inclusive and equal opportunities work environment where everyone can thrive. As a proud member of the Women in Aerospace community, we recognise the importance of diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity in the workplace.