Help turn research innovations into customer impact!

Are you passionate about sales, customer engagement, and business development? Do you enjoy identifying opportunities, building relationships, and supporting sales teams? If you are looking for a future career opportunity that serves a true purpose and has a real impact, at VTT you can make a difference together with other brilliant minds in our research organisation.

VTT is one of the leading applied research organisations in Europe. What unites us are curiosity, a passion for learning, and a purpose: to solve the biggest challenges of our time and turn them into sustainable growth and well-being. Our cross-disciplinary community of over 2000 brilliant minds from 55+ different nationalities focus on creating impact through science-based innovation. Get to know us further by exploring VTT's tech & infra. 

We are looking for two Sales Development Trainees to strengthen our Commercial Excellence team and support VTT's sales organisation in creating growth through customer-centric commercial practices.

One of the positions will support our Materials and Energy research area, and the other our Digital Systems research area. In your application, you can tell us which area particularly interests you and why.

You will work at the intersection of sales, marketing, CRM, and technology, helping our experts and sales teams connect breakthrough innovations with customer needs. We are looking for candidates who have gained some experience, for example through summer jobs, internships, or work alongside their studies. You can be either a recent graduate or near completing your Master's degree in a technical or commercial/business-related field.

The VTT office location for this position is Espoo.

As a Sales Development Trainee, you will play a key role in developing and managing the sales pipeline by:

• Identifying and qualifying new leads and business opportunities
• Supporting sales teams in prospecting and customer outreach
• Booking meetings and handing out qualified opportunities to sales
• Managing and maintaining high-quality data in lead funnel/CRM platform
• Monitoring lead funnel and campaign performance, such as leads from expos or other events
• Supporting events, exhibitions, and lead follow-up activities
• Utilising digital sales tools such as LinkedIn Sales Navigator, SnapADDY, RocketSearch, PitchBook, and our CRM platform.
• Assisting Content and Bid Management in the preparation of sales materials, offers, and pricing 
• Collaborating with marketing, sales, and research teams to support lead generation and sales activities
• Contributing ideas to improve commercial processes, tools, and reporting

Who we are looking for:

• Goal orientation and passion for sales, customer interaction, and business development
• Strong communication and collaboration skills
• Interest in technology, innovation, and R&D environments, particularly in the fields of Materials and Energy or Digital Systems, and motivation to learn more about the selected area
• A structured and data-driven way of working
• Some relevant work experience, for example from internships, summer jobs, or work alongside your studies
• Experience with CRM systems, especially Salesforce, is considered an advantage
• Ability to work across multidisciplinary teams
• Fluent English skills; Finnish is considered an advantage
• A completed or nearly completed Master’s degree in a technical, commercial, or business-related field

With VTT, you’ll enjoy:

• An opportunity to help turn research into business. You’ll help connect VTT’s technologies and research expertise with potential customers and new business opportunities. Through lead generation, customer outreach, and sales development, you’ll contribute to turning research into commercial innovations and sustainable growth. Read more about our strategy, Chain reaction for growth, and our organisational culture as we build the world’s most meaningful place to work.
• Career opportunities and top-level support. You’ll learn from experienced sales professionals, researchers, and other experts while developing your expertise in commercial excellence, CRM, AI, sales enablement, and modern sales and marketing technologies.
• Meaningful responsibilities in a supportive community. From the start, you’ll contribute to concrete sales development activities and collaborate with colleagues across sales, marketing, and research. We support your professional growth, well-being, and work-life balance through a collaborative working environment and flexible working practices.

Apply now and join our community of brilliant minds!

Please submit your video application through the Recright portal: https://www.recright.com/interview/public/c106bf2005cdfdabe5eb6b163f4ba3c2ba7d by Sunday, 4 October 2026. We will only consider video applications submitted through Recright.

We encourage you to apply as soon as possible, as we will review video applications and may invite candidates to interviews already during the application period. The positions will be filled once the right candidates have been selected.

The monthly salary will depend on the level of your studies and experience, and will be between 2750 € and 3190 €.

Interested and want to know more?

For further information, please contact Sanna Haajanen, Sales Development Lead, +358 400 516 618 on Fri 18.10.26 at 9–10, or on 29.10.26 at 14–15 (Finnish time UTC+3). Other times can also be agreed via email sanna.haajanen@vtt.fi.

The monthly salary will depend on the level of your studies and experience.

We look forward to hearing from you!

About our business areas

Our Materials & Energy business area conducts research across energy and nuclear energy, industrial chemistry, industrial biotechnology and food, advanced bio-based materials, materials intelligence, and regenerative living and transport. Its work spans topics such as the clean energy transition, sustainable and circular materials, biotechnology and food innovations, and future mobility and living environments.

Our Digital Systems business area conducts research across digital infrastructures, physical AI, flexible electronics and human sensing, quantum technologies, microelectronics and photonics, and microfabrication. Its work spans topics such as connectivity and cybersecurity, autonomous systems, sensing and diagnostics, quantum computing and sensing, and next-generation electronics.