Defence Sales Manager

Defence Sales Manager Job Reference: SCSS-DSM-AD-0126 Job title: Defence Sales Manager Location: Hybrid (Office in Bedford) Role type: This is a permanent position About us At Hybrid Air Vehicles, we are driven by a single purpose: to Rethink the Skies. We connect the unconnected and offer sustainable solutions to the challenges facing the modern world. Joining our team means contributing to an innovative, values-driven organisation while learning, growing, and helping shape the future of aviation. The opportunity: The Defence Sales Manager role is a unique opportunity to support our growth and expansion. This is a hands-on, delivery focused role, - you will manage and progress sales activity in the defence and security sectors in markets including the UK, EU and US, maintaining and developing relationships, progressing commercial agreements across a range of customers. Due to the nature of the role, applicants selected for interview must be eligible to obtain and hold appropriate UK security clearance, if required. A full job description is available on request (and will also be provided to applicants invited to interview) What you will be doing: Drawing upon your knowledge of working in aerospace, defence or government contracting markets, you will coordinate and lead sales activities and develop a disciplined, structured and repeatable approach to campaign management. Key responsibilities include: Manage Defence sales activity: Oversee daily sales activities in the UK, EU and US defence markets, progressing opportunities from initial enquiry through to contract closure, while supporting and coordinating with geographically dispersed sales personnel. Sales enquiries and CRM stewardship: Maintain accurate records of defence sales opportunities in the CRM system, categorising and prioritising them appropriately. Act as the custodian of defence related sales data to support reporting, pipeline management, and team collaboration. Internal collaboration: Work closely with the Marketing team on campaign planning, coordination and CRM management updates. Coordinate with internal teams to identify and attend defence and security-focused events, exhibitions and trade shows that are likely to generate leads or strengthen existing relationships. Customer account management: Maintain regular engagement with new and existing defence and security customers, building strong, value-driven relationships and supporting repeat business. Feedback and continuous improvement: Document and act upon defence customer and market feedback to support product development, enhancement or refinement and commercial success. Your skills and experience (Essential): We are looking for someone who can demonstrate: Ability to coordinate the full sales process, using a CRM to maintain and develop sales pipelines, applying lead generation and qualification methodologies to support consistent progress. Strong communication and organisation skills with the ability to translate detailed technical or product information into clear, engaging discussions with defence and security customers. Experience in supporting or undertaking people management, or willingness to develop in a line management capacity. Experience contributing to end-to-end sales processes, including pipeline development, opportunity qualification and tracking, contract negotiation, and contract progression. Familiarity with working within structured sales methodologies and campaign-based sales processes. Evidence of continuous professional development relevant to sales, business development, defence, security or aviation. About you: You are a commercially focused professional with experience managing complex and detailed sales environments. You are comfortable working within structured sales processes and will evaluate, prioritise and progress opportunities to ensure resources are focused on high-value prospects that have the greatest impact on business growth. You work collaboratively across teams and bring a strong commitment to upholding organisational values while contributing directly to commercial growth. Benefits - What’s in it for you? As a values-driven, people-focused team, we provide a competitive salary informed by leading industry benchmarks, complemented by a thoughtfully designed benefits package that prioritises employee wellbeing and work-life balance. Our people receive a generous holiday allowance and work shorter Fridays. With hybrid working and flexibility choices available, you will be able to manage your schedule in a way that supports both personal and professional needs. Our Pension and Life Assurance schemes support financial security. We also provide mental, emotional and physical wellbeing support, including an Employee Assistance Programme, a leading private medical Insurance scheme and a health cash plan. Equal opportunities: We welcome applications from all backgrounds and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive. We believe we have a role to play in building not only sustainable aircraft, but a sustainable talent environment that enables us to deliver positive impact at scale. If you need reasonable adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process, please let us know – we’ll do our best to support you. Teams Business Development Locations Bedford Remote status Hybrid Working hours 37.5 Employment Type Full-time Contract duration N/A Bedford About Hybrid Air Vehicles Limited Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) is a UK-based company that has developed Airlander, the world’s most efficient, large aircraft. HAV’s first aircraft will be Airlander 10, an innovative aircraft that delivers ultra-low emissions across cost-effective passenger transport, luxury tourism, logistics, and communications & surveillance use cases, with a clear pathway to zero emissions aviation by 2030. Airlander 10 will carry 100 passengers or 10 tonnes of freight and paves the way for the introduction of larger Airlander variants. These will be aircraft capable of transporting greater payloads over further distances and offering new possibilities for decarbonisation of the hard to abate aviation sector, particularly in freight and logistics which currently account for around 20% of the entire sector’s emissions.