Business Development Manager, Construction & Utilities

Job description

The Role The Business Development Manager will own customer opportunities from initial engagement through to contract award, mobilisation and account growth. You will build senior customer relationships, understand operational problems, shape commercially viable drone-service solutions and coordinate internal teams to deliver proposals, demonstrations, paid trials, tenders and long-term contracts. This is not a transactional sales role. Sales cycles are often complex and involve operational, technical, regulatory, procurement, legal and senior executive stakeholders. You will need to create momentum, maintain commercial discipline and convert early-stage customer interest into dependable, recurring services. Key Responsibilities Own and grow relationships with major construction companies, utilities, infrastructure owners and engineering partners. Develop new opportunities through targeted outbound activity, partnerships, industry networks, events and inbound leads. Engage senior stakeholders including Project Directors, Asset Managers, Survey Leads, Innovation Leads, Engineering teams, Digital teams and procurement functions. Manage opportunities from qualification through discovery, demonstration, proposal, negotiation and contract award. Build account plans for priority customers and identify opportunities for multi-site, multi-region and multi-year expansion. Lead customer meetings, workshops, demonstrations, site visits and paid trials. Understand customer operations and translate their requirements into clear commercial and operational propositions. Develop proposals, pricing models, business cases and negotiation strategies. Lead or support responses to RFIs, PQQs, RFPs, ITTs and framework opportunities. Coordinate colleagues across Flight Operations, Regulation, Technology, Product, Finance and Legal. Maintain accurate forecasts, pipeline information and next steps within HubSpot. Manage the commercial handover into delivery and retain oversight during mobilisation. Ensure that customer commitments, operational scope, pricing and service levels remain aligned. Identify and manage commercial, contractual and delivery risks. Represent Skyports at relevant industry events, customer forums and site visits. Provide market intelligence on customers, competitors, procurement routes and emerging use cases. Initial Market Priorities The role will support and develop opportunities across: Managed drone-in-a-box services for recurring construction monitoring. Regular aerial progress capture, mapping and reporting across major construction programmes. Powerline and linear-infrastructure inspection. Detailed RGB and thermal inspection of electricity network assets. LiDAR corridor mapping, vegetation analysis and safety-clearance surveys. Automated and remotely operated inspection services for utility sites. Infrastructure surveying and geospatial data capture. Expansion of successful trials into multi-site and multi-year managed-service agreements. Existing and developing opportunities across the UK, Europe and the United States. The focus is on repeatable managed services rather than one-off drone surveys. What Success Looks Like Within the first 6 to 12 months, you will have: Taken clear ownership of the Construction and Utilities pipeline. Built a focused, well-qualified pipeline capable of supporting the agreed annual revenue target. Established trusted relationships across priority customer accounts. Progressed existing opportunities through clear and agreed commercial next steps. Generated new opportunities across target construction and utilities accounts. Delivered several customer demonstrations, paid trials or proofs of concept. Secured meaningful new business, including at least one multi-site or multi-year contract. Converted early customer activity into credible routes to recurring revenue. Built clear account plans for priority customers. Improved CRM discipline, forecasting accuracy and commercial reporting. Created a repeatable sales approach for construction monitoring and utility inspection services. About You Essential At least three years of experience in business development, account management, consultative sales or commercial delivery. Experience selling into construction, utilities, infrastructure, engineering or another complex B2B market. Evidence of managing long, multi-stakeholder sales cycles. Strong commercial judgement and negotiation skills. The ability to build credibility with operational teams, technical specialists and senior executives. Confidence developing proposals, pricing models and customer business cases. Experience working through formal procurement, tender or framework processes. Strong written and verbal communication skills. Highly organised and able to manage several significant opportunities simultaneously. Disciplined use of CRM and forecasting processes. Willingness to travel across the UK, Europe and occasionally further afield. The right to work in the UK. Desirable Experience in drone services, surveying, inspection, geospatial technology, aviation or remote operations. Existing relationships within major contractors, electricity networks, utilities or infrastructure operators. Understanding of construction progress monitoring, asset inspection or linear-infrastructure operations. Knowledge of RGB imagery, thermal inspection, LiDAR or geospatial data. Experience converting proofs of concept or innovation projects into recurring service contracts. Familiarity with HubSpot or another CRM platform. Experience working closely with operational, regulatory or technical delivery teams. Confidence building commercial models in Excel and producing executive-quality customer presentations. What We Offer Competitive salary and commission. Ownership of a strategically important growth market. An established customer base and active opportunity pipeline. Direct exposure to senior leaders and major international customers. Significant autonomy over market strategy and commercial execution. Access to Skyports’ London office and Westcott operations base near Aylesbury. The opportunity to work alongside experienced aviation, regulatory, technical and operational teams. Clear progression into a senior commercial or vertical-leadership role. Hybrid working and regular UK and European travel Job Title: Business Development Manager, Construction & Utilities Location: London, Or Aylesbury, UK Department: Commercial Type: Permanent, Full time About Us: Founded in 2018, Skyports is at the forefront of the Advanced Air Mobility revolution, developing and operating cutting-edge infrastructure for electric air taxis and leveraging drone technology to transform business operations across industries. Our business is split into two key areas: Skyports Drone Services uses drones to streamline logistics, capture data, and enhance operational efficiency, with a focus on rural deliveries, surveying, surveillance, and maritime services. Skyports Infrastructure plays a vital role in the Urban Air Mobility ecosystem, designing, building, owning, and operating vertiports that enable eVTOL operators to take off and land in cities around the world. With our presence in this dynamic, high-growth industry, there has never been a more exciting time to be part of our mission to reshape the future of air mobility.