Strategic Account Director –Space Sector

This is a fantastic career opportunity and an exciting time for the Satellite Applications Catapult. We are at the forefront of the burgeoning UK Space Industry. Our purpose being to unlock the UK's potential to innovate and drive economic growth through the development and adoption of space data and technologies.  While exploration and space science get the headlines, the application of space to challenges on Earth will have the most significant impact.

More specifically, the Catapult has organised itself into four Mission areas: Beyond Earth, Connected Earth, Autonomous Earth, and Sustainable Earth. Each Mission is tasked with developing a strategic portfolio of Interventions through which projects and services can be designed and delivered to achieve market impact. To align the Missions to the Market, the Catapult has established four strategic accounts as the focal point for engaging customers across four discrete domains: Defence and Security, Government and Public Sector, Private Sector and Space Sector.

The Challenge:

The Strategic Account Director will spearhead the development of a thriving space sector business. This will involve:

• Cultivating industry partnerships: Manage and strengthen relationships with established space industry leaders across various technology areas, including GEO (Geostationary Orbit), EO (Earth Observation), Satcom (Satellite Communications), PNT (Positioning, Navigation & Timing), IOSM (In-Orbit Servicing and Manufacturing), and other key sectors.

• Building a comprehensive network: Identify and forge strategic relationships with high-potential space industry companies across the spectrum, ensuring strong connections within the overall space ecosystem.

• Unlocking space sector opportunities: Proactively identify opportunities to showcase our services and facilities to space industry players, demonstrating how they can benefit from our offerings.

• Driving industry growth: Develop and implement strategies to foster collaboration and growth within the space sector, leveraging our unique capabilities to support innovation and success.

• Championing the Catapult: Become a trusted advisor and advocate for the Catapult within the space industry, promoting the value we bring to space companies and driving mutually beneficial partnerships.

 The Director will secure high-impact partnerships with key space industry players, aligning with the Catapult's Missions.  They will utilize customer insights to tailor our services and further develop the Space Sector Account to meet the evolving needs of the industry. Ensuring their team is fully aligned and empowered to deliver exceptional results in their interactions with space industry partners will be paramount. 

 As the Strategic Accounts Director, you will be responsible for:  

• Creating a sustainable Space Account - Understand the financial targets of the Catapult and build a strategy with your team, which through the Mission Road Maps meets or exceeds annual sales targets for order intake, sales revenue and margin retention. 

• Developing an in-depth understanding of current and emerging trends – Understand the global space industry, including launch vehicle availability, satellite constellations, and space-based services.

• Identifying high-value opportunities - Leverage the Catapult's expertise in specific areas like small satellite technologies, space propulsion, or in-space manufacturing.

• Supporting the positioning of the Catapult as a neutral convenor -  Work with the Chief of External Affairs, solidify our presence as a neutral party to help identify high-impact/ high revenue programmes that demonstrate, develop, and commercialise UK Space supply-chain capability and technology 

• Maximising and developing our technical facilities - Focus on capabilities that address critical challenges faced by the Space Account, such as IOSM testing facilities, advanced clean rooms, or space environment simulation chambers.

• Creating a high performing team - Build a customer focused BD team with ownership for the Account’s entire sales process from opportunity identification, qualification, order capture, sales revenue, and margin retention. You will develop your teams in order that they can see, and take advantage of, the opportunities of tomorrow and you will ensure your teams are excellent collaborators across the business, seeking and responding to feedback continuously. 

• Promoting Space Industry capability - Identify opportunities for the Space industry to raise the visibility of their products and services across the Space Sector Account. 

 You will also: 

• Advocate for the Strategic Account internally and be the voice of the customer inside the Catapult. 

• Build strong relationships with key decision-makers within the Space Industry to understand their priorities and challenges, and identify opportunities for collaboration.

• Develop and maintain strong working relationships with Mission and Intervention leads and other stakeholders across the Catapult to ensure the smooth transition of orders into project delivery.    

• Work with Mission and Intervention leads as the internal customer for achieving Account sales revenue and margins from associated Mission led projects.    

• Collaborate with the CEA and other Catapult Strategic Account Directors / Managers to ensure a joined-up and collaborative approach to managing market engagements.    

• Engage with customers and partners to understand their needs, strategy, priorities, requirements & internal procurement, and contracting processes.

• Create engaging stakeholder presentations and proposals with clear ideas and solutions that meet different audience needs (non-technical customers, external partners, internal stakeholders etc).   

• Be an Effective member of the cross-Catapult Alliance team to ensure the ability to deliver largescale strategic opportunities successful across the Space Sector Account.  

• Engage with Mission business and technical leads to capture both current capabilities and future horizon scanning, understanding the emerging technologies and capabilities relevant to the Space Sector Account.    

• Ensure corporate marketing and communication are optimised for the Space Sector Account, working with the CEA to define clear messaging and focus to drive effective lead generation campaigns. 

• Speak at relevant Domain events to promote Catapult capabilities.    

• Ensure that all activities deliver strong impact with clear routes to revenue and impact generation. 

• Take responsibility for identifying internal conflicts and blockers of progress and helping to resolve them   

Skills and experience required: 

• Proven track record of success in managing strategic accounts within the space industry.

• Deep understanding of the space sector value chain, including launch services, satellite manufacturing, ground segment operations, and downstream applications.

• Understanding of government funding mechanisms for space research and development (e.g., grants, contracts). 

• Strategic Account Management acumen and discipline  

• Excellent leadership, influencing and communications skills, with a strong ability to build long term trusted relationships. 

• Be an experienced public speaker, at ease with presenting to both small and large audiences. 

• Experience of the Domain and of operating successfully within it.     

• Knowledge/experience of the Space sector and the application of satellite technology.  

• Experience in developing creative and client-pleasing solutions to complex business problems. 

• Comfortable at operating at a conceptual level with a clear focus on communicating clear value propositions to senior stakeholders.  

• A team player, skilled and experienced at working within a matrix organisation, maximising the impact of the skills available from supporting departments and resources.  

• Broad knowledge and understanding of the Space supply sector capability and its alignment to the Account across all relevant Domain areas and use cases. 

How we work….

We strive to create a high trust, high performance and inclusive environment that enables team members to bring their whole selves to work – this helps to create the foundations of an innovation culture. Our shared values are critical to this:

• We care - for our people, our partners, and our planet

• We connect - and engage with people and ideas

• We learn - and grow, as people and as an industry

Underpinning this is our belief in great teams, our combined efforts will always deliver outcomes beyond that of anyone providing we are honest through debate, experiment and reflect, and create shared resolutions in support of our purpose. Live these values, work to our principles, take ownership to deliver, and we are certain you will thrive with us.

This job description set outs the skills and experience we think are needed to be able to perform in this job. However, if you believe you can deliver in this role then we want to hear from you.

Important notice for applicants: We use tools to detect plagiarism and the use of AI or chatbots for applicant answers. If plagiarism, AI use (such as ChatGPT) or similar software are found to have been used in your application you will not be considered for this or future roles within the Satellite Applications Catapult. If you need any additional support during the application process, please do reach out and connect. We also invite you to share feedback via Applied.