Business Development & Sales Manager – Defence

Location: Saffron Walden (CB10) Type: Permanent Hours: 9am - 5:30pm (Monday to Friday) Salary: 90,000 Job Reference: 36251 We are seeking an experienced Business Development and Sales Manager to drive growth for our client within the defence sector by identifying new business opportunities, developing strategic customer relationships and managing the sales process from opportunity through to contract award. Working closely with technical teams, you will help deliver innovative engineering and technology solutions to defence customers while supporting long-term account growth.

Responsibilities

• Identify, develop and secure new business opportunities within the defence sector
• Build and maintain strong relationships with customers, prime contractors, government organisations and industry partners
• Manage the full sales lifecycle, including opportunity qualification, capture planning, proposal development, negotiation and contract award
• Develop account plans to grow existing customer relationships and generate repeat business
• Work collaboratively with engineering and delivery teams to develop customer-focused technical solutions and proposals
• Lead or support bid and proposal activities, ensuring high-quality submissions that meet customer requirements
• Represent the business at customer meetings, industry events, exhibitions and networking opportunities
• Monitor market trends, customer requirements and competitor activity to identify opportunities for growth
• Maintain accurate sales forecasts, pipeline reporting and CRM records
• Ensure a smooth handover of successful projects to delivery teams while maintaining customer relationships to identify future opportunities

Requirements

• Proven experience in business development or sales within the defence, aerospace, security or advanced technology sectors
• Track record of winning new business and managing complex sales opportunities
• Experience managing the full sales process, from lead generation through to contract award
• Strong relationship-building, communication, presentation and negotiation skills
• Commercially minded with the ability to develop customer-focused solutions and value propositions
• Ability to understand technical products or engineering services and communicate their benefits effectively
• Strong organisational skills with experience in pipeline management, forecasting and CRM systems
• Collaborative approach with the ability to work effectively across technical, commercial and project teams
• Existing knowledge of the UK defence market and established industry networks would be advantageous Please contact us as soon as possible for more details or apply below!