Business Developer – Art (Italy)
At Catawiki, every day brings the extraordinary! Whether it’s Daniel Ricciardo’s Formula 1 Car, a Woolly Mammoth’s Skeleton, Lady Gaga's Jumpsuit or Usain Bolt’s running shoe, we encounter exceptional objects every day.
We’re a one-of-a-kind marketplace for buying and selling special objects. Each week, more than 110,000 unique items are auctioned, all carefully curated by our passionate in-house experts.
Having sold over 25 million unique objects, our mission is to become the world’s most popular destination for special objects. As a growing, diverse and sustainable scale-up, we proudly live by three core values. If these values resonate with you, we’d love to explore how you can join us.
- Taking ownership and driving impact
- Being open to change and feedback
- Being passionate about our mission and our customers.
Catawiki is looking for a high-performing Business Developer to accelerate the growth of our Art category in Italy.
Italy is a strategic art market for Catawiki. In this role, you will actively win, negotiate and grow new art sellers across the country. You will lead commercial discussions with galleries, dealers and artists, structure high-value partnerships, and take full ownership of new business in the Italian Art market.
Your success will be measured by GMV growth from new sellers (inbound and outbound), deal quality, and the strength of long-term partnerships you build.
This is a role for a true sales professional: someone who enjoys hunting, negotiating, building pipelines and using data to drive decisions.
Your Mission
Full ownership of a key art market: You are responsible for developing and scaling the Italian seller base. You build the strategy, execute it, and see the direct impact of your actions.
Strong market exposure: You represent Catawiki at art fairs, events and in face-to-face meetings across Italy. You manage budgets and build local market intelligence.
KPIs that matter: Your performance is measured on GMV growth, sell rate, average lot value and quality of acquisitions. You regularly present results and insights to leadership.
International and pragmatic culture: You work in a direct, performance-oriented environment with clear expectations, fast decision-making and space to shape the Art strategy together with our in-house experts.
You will join a team of 8 ambitious Key Account Managers and Business Developers across Europe. The team combines strong commercial focus with deep passion for art.
We value ownership, transparency and results. We challenge each other, share best practices and continuously test new approaches to grow the category. You will work closely with Art Experts and Management to build a strong and scalable Italian portfolio.
What You’ll Do
- Identify, map and prioritise high-potential galleries, dealers and artists across Italy.
- Proactively build and manage your own outbound pipeline (cold calling, email sequencing, direct outreach, seller’s meetings).
- Convert inbound and outbound opportunities into long-term, high-quality partnerships.
- Use data, AI tools and performance insights to prioritise prospects and optimise conversion.
- Own forecasting and revenue reporting for your market.
Collaborate closely with Art Experts on lot strategy, positioning and seller performance improvement. - Structure and negotiate complex commercial agreements, including single-seller auctions and incentive models.
Who You Are
- Strong hunter mindset: proven track record in acquiring new strategic accounts and building pipeline from scratch.
- 5+ years of experience in Sales or Business Development with clear revenue targets and KPI ownership.
- Native Italian speaker, fluent in English, and fluent in at least one additional European language.
- Experience in digital marketplaces or fast-scaling environments.
- Demonstrated experience in growing GMV/revenue and managing structured onboarding processes. Strong analytical mindset: you enjoy working with data and turning metrics into concrete commercial actions.
- Confident negotiator, comfortable closing complex deals with senior stakeholders.
- Highly autonomous, organised and results-driven.
- Comfortable with CRM systems (e.g. HubSpot), data tools (e.g. Looker Studio), Google Workspace and AI tools.
- Based in a major Italian city and willing to travel across the country.
Why You'll Love Working with Us
- Create a visible impact by working at scale in a global organisation serving millions of customers across 80+ categories. In our flat structure, every role has a broad scope and directly impacts both our customers and the business.
- Learn and grow through our Learning & Development initiatives, including clear development plans and mentorship programmes to support your career progression.
- A culture of connection defines us. We’re a passionate, diverse team of 800+ Catawikians representing 60+ nationalities. We foster an inclusive and queer-friendly environment where everyone is encouraged to bring their full self to work.
- Celebrate life’s moments with us. You’ll receive a €100 Catavoucher when you join, a €50 Catavoucher on your birthday, and an extra day off each year to “Pursue Your Passion”. We also offer additional leave for key work anniversaries and important life events. Benefits may vary by location.
Our Offices and Way of Working
Our vibrant offices in Amsterdam, Paris and Lisbon are designed to inspire collaboration. Most Catawikians operate in a hybrid setup, combining office-based and remote work, with a minimum of two days per week in the office, unless a role is explicitly stated as fully remote or fully office-based.
Interested?
Apply with an English CV and Cover Letter. By applying, you agree to Catawiki’s Applicant Privacy Policy. If you’re excited about this role but don’t meet every requirement, we still encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.