Director, Business Development - Inspection & Defence

Job description

At ClearSpace, we believe in reusability, in affordability driving disruption, and that no progress is real unless it is sustainable. Our company was founded in 2018 out of the realization that in-orbit servicing and space debris removal are vital services for the future of space exploration and operations. Today ClearSpace has assembled an expert engineering team and is leading the way toward sustainable space operations. From a garage in Switzerland, we now operate across UK and Europe, and are working with world-leading institutions and companies to bring our dream of a sustainable space ecosystem to life. We are looking for a Business Development Director - Inspection & Defence to join our team who will work on both our current missions and future projects. The Role The Business Development Director - Defence & Sales will interact across broad levels of customer leadership, company representatives, industry and academia. The successful candidate is a experienced professional and an effective business leader with a high sense of urgency and natural ability to garner top performance from others within and outside their organisation. The focussed outcome for the leader is to partner with The ClearSpace commercial team to shape, develop and secure an enduring pipeline of services and technology sales. ClearSpace wants a creative thinking team member to lead this effort Key responsibilities Build a sustainable business backlog and create a wide customer base inside and outside the space sector. Produce a sales strategy and business capture plans; ensure effective pipeline and CRM management. Drive customer engagement, maintain key relationships, and personally support major accounts. Promote ClearSpace’s name and reputation, the outcome is to position ClearSpace as the lead in Active Debris Removal, in-orbit inspection and life extension across orbits. Identify market opportunities and develop plans to capture them Cohere and oversee major government and defence bids and proposals across target markets, including opportunity, risk, and financial analysis Partner with the Managing Director to develop a market intelligence function and develop a pipeline tracking system. Support development of strategic and annual operating plans Build and manage partnerships across industry, academia, NATO, defence and the wider global space ecosystem. Develop ClearSpace as a teaming partner of choice and manage teaming agreements during bid and capture stages. Promote ClearSpace’s culture and contribute to the legacy of ClearSpace Develop and present executive level briefings and presentations on business cases that support growth in existing and new markets. Enhance and sustain relationships with customer groups, the outcome is that ClearSpace is the first person they call. Ability to travel regularly, both domestically and internationally, to support customers and partners across key markets Gain and maintain the highest level of security clearance required in relevant jurisdictions (including UK, US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand) Must Have Experience managing captures across multiple national governments and allied organisations Deep customer relationships and understanding across government customers, NATO and industry Familiarity with NATO and allied procurement organisations and processes Demonstrated success navigating the international sales and export processes Strong track record in complex capture, commercial management, and meeting sales targets Experience in competitive analysis, price‑to‑win strategies, and synthesizing market intelligence Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills; executive presence and influence Information about our data processing is set out in our candidate data privacy notice.