Head of Business Development & Sales

Introduction

Saab UK is part of Scandinavia's largest defence company, bringing together the best of Swedish and British innovation. Saab offers world-leading solutions and services in defence, aviation, space, and civil security to keep people and society safe. Our UK presence has been growing at pace, meaning we can offer a wide range of opportunities for personal fulfilment and career growth. We currently employ over 600 people across eight sites in the UK, and our specialisations include software engineering, underwater robotics, radars, AI, and armed forces training.

The Role :

We are seeking a Head of Business Development (BD) & Sales to join Saab UK's BD team, working closely with Saab UK's Land Systems operating division.

This role specifically focuses on Saab's Barracuda and Tactical Support Solutions portfolio. Reporting directly to the Vice President Business Development and work closely with Head of Barracuda UK and wider BD & sales team. The Head of BD & Sales Survivability and Infrastructure acts as the Customer Sales Responsible (CSR) for their prospects.

Stakeholder engagement at all levels within the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is essential to this role. Therefore, applicants will need to have had prior involvement in running large campaigns and stakeholder management. As this is an important role within the Land Systems team and will represent Saab's continued relationship building with the UK MOD therefore, the individual will be required to have an intricate understanding of Land operations and ideally will have come from a British Army background, with a demonstrable understanding of the product portfolio, or of comparable products.

The Head of BD & Sales is also responsible for creating the winning strategy and determining the market price working closely with the Product Sales Responsible (PSR). To support this and to build Saab's position within the UK market, the Head of BD & Sales conducts business intelligence, as part of the Competitive and Market Intelligence (CMI) process, and business development work.

Applicants must be capable of establishing and maintaining effective relationships with key stakeholders from Programme leads, Original Equipment Manufacturers and End Users; in each case creating an effective narrative and having an ability to identify opportunities and progress them to secure sales.

Key Responsibilities :

Win business through product sales for the Barracuda Camouflage and Deployable Infrastructure portfolio of products.

Acquire and maintain relevant product knowledge.

Establish and maintain customer relationships, including key influencers and gate keepers (for example, with Dstl).

Establish and maintain relevant Business Unit networks.

Establish and maintain relations with other Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) for Business-to-Business opportunities.

Sales engagement with potential customers and partners, leading opportunity and need identification.

Organise and participate at exhibitions and other customer-facing events in close cooperation with the Saab UK Business Development Event Coordinator.

Support a wide range of events, briefings and demonstrations to expand brand and product awareness, leading to increasing Order Intake.

Lead the Win Business process, including securing internal-to-Saab approvals and preparing responses to Requests for Quotation and routine proposals.

Conduct market, customer and competitor analysis in order to develop business.

Maintain, evaluate and manage market networks and consultants.

Identify, prioritise and qualify new business opportunities and leads.

Establish, maintain and update all opportunities in the Customer Relationship Management tool.

Create business-winning strategies for each opportunity.

Collaborate with Saab's sales and product personnel for respective projects.

Participate and support contract and commercial negotiations, acting as the bridge across the entire span between the capability requirements of the end user, and the engineering realities of Production (specialist Commercial, Financial and Production personnel are available to assist and support).

Synchronize with other Saab stakeholders in relevant cases.

Complete routine reporting including weekly reporting to Saab UK Director of Business Development and Sales.

Work in alignment with Saab's policies and directives.

Contribution to Barracuda plans including the Long-Term Order Intake Plan and to lesson identification.

Skills and Experience :

Experience and understanding of the UK Defence, acquisition process and budgets.

Leadership and teamwork skills including effective prioritisation and time management.

Experience of marketing and sales or other relevant sectors.

Experience working with Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) or wider acquisition; commercial, business development or sales experience would also be desirable.

Experience running large campaigns and stakeholder management.

Experience in contributing to a multi-disciplinary team in a fast-paced, high-pressure, deadline-driven environment, to achieve KPIs and Objectives, including within a matrix management context.

Excellent communication, negotiation and stakeholder management skills within both defence and industry communities to establish and maintain trusted relationships.

Effective prioritisation and time management.

Excellent written and spoken communication skills in English.

A UK driving licence.

As a National Security Vetting clearance is required for this role, applicants will be required to hold National Security Vetting clearance to SC level or have the ability to gain it