Introduction
Saab in UK is growing rapidly, with over 500 colleagues across eight sites. We bring together Swedish heritage and British expertise to drive innovation in areas such as software engineering, underwater robotics, radars, AI, and armed forces training. Joining Saab in UK means contributing to the security and resilience of society while building a career with real scope for personal and professional growth.
What you will be part of:
Explore a wealth of possibilities. Take on challenges, create smart inventions, and grow beyond. This is a place for curious minds, brave pioneers, and everyone in between. Together, we achieve the extraordinary, each bringing our unique perspectives. Your part matters.
Saab is a leading defence and security company with an enduring mission, to help nations keep their people and society safe. Empowered by its 26,000 talented people, Saab constantly pushes the boundaries of technology to create a safer and more sustainable world.
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.
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 for their prospects.
Stakeholder engagement at all levels within the Ministry of Defence 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. 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 process, and business development work.
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
Maintain, evaluate and manage market networks and consultants
Identify, prioritise and qualify new business opportunities
Establish, maintain and update all opportunities in the CRM 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)
Complete routine reporting
Deliver on Key Performance Indicators in accordance with annual goals set during the Individual Performance Management process
Contribution to Barracuda plans including the Long-Term Order Intake Plan and to lesson identification
Travel around to different customer sites and UK offices required
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.
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