Business Development Manager (Transport)

Reports to:  Senior Business Development Manager

Please note, we may look to interview before the advert close date due to the critical nature of the role. The advert will close if a suitable candidate is found before the deadline.

 The Challenge: The Catapult is organised into three Mission areas: Beyond Earth, Autonomous and Connected Earth, and Resilient Earth. Each Mission is tasked with developing a strategic portfolio of interventions which represent the highest opportunity for growth in the space sector. These interventions have been designed to lower the barriers to growth for UK businesses. The Catapult uses its products and services to deliver these interventions and to achieve market impact.

The Catapult’s business development team are responsible for engaging with customers, businesses, government organisations and the wider space sector to support the delivery of Mission objectives. Through our Mission strategy development, the Catapult has identified the following key market areas to support UK business growth: Utilities and Infrastructure, Transport, Telecommunications and Digital Technologies, Defence and Security, Healthcare and Financial Services. In addition, there are opportunities for the Catapult across a variety of funding agencies. These markets are the focus of our business development team.

As Business Development Manager (BDM): Transport you will work within the Transport sales team and play an important role of delivering against the sales plan for your market area, to hit your annual revenue target.  You will work with customers in the Transport sector area to understand their requirements and use the Catapult’s products and services to fulfil their needs. You will represent the Catapult externally at events and trade shows promoting opportunities to work with the Catapult.

We are looking for a collaborative, commercially minded professional ready to accelerate their career within the space economy.

Key Responsibilities:

• Build strong relationships with stakeholders in the Transport sector, capturing capabilities and requirements and reporting these through Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.

• Drive sales opportunities identified through the sales plan for the Transport sector.

• Represent the Catapult at industry events and trade shows to promote the organisation’s core capabilities.

• Help refine the Catapult’s value propositions by gathering feedback from customers on what is and isn't working in the current market.

• Work collaboratively with technical and business growth teams to build opportunities in response to customer requirements.

• Manage internal qualification of your opportunities to ensure alignment to Mission objectives.

• Facilitate the smooth transition of opportunities from the initial bid stage through to delivery.

• Support the development of high-quality marketing collateral and engagement materials, ensuring the tone and technical language are tailored for the specific audience.

• Produce reports and updates on all business development activities and track progress against KPIs

 Skills and experience:

• Proven experience in a Business Development or Sales role within the Transport sector for this role, with a track record of identifying leads and nurturing them through a structured sales pipeline.

• Experience of securing sales contracts and funding streams.

• A foundational understanding of the Space Sector or satellite applications, with the curiosity to stay updated on emerging industry trends.

• Experience assisting in the development of commercial opportunities and complex sales.

• Ability to build and sustain professional relationships with diverse stakeholders.

• Skilled at drafting persuasive proposals and pitches, with the ability to tailor technical content to meet specific customer needs and highlight the Catapult’s strengths.

• Confident to present to groups and participating in public speaking opportunities.

• A natural collaborator, experience of working effectively across different departments (Technical, Marketing, Finance) to get a deal over the line.

• Proactive in identifying new business leads through research, networking, and initial customer outreach.

• Proven ability to coordinate the various "moving parts" of a business development opportunity, ensuring all internal stakeholders provide the necessary input.

 About us & 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 any individual, 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.  If you believe you can deliver in this role then we want to hear from you.

We offer a hybrid policy which is designed around collaboration, one 'anchor' day per week working with your direct team and another flexible day per week to be spent collaborating or working with other colleagues.

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.

At Satellite Applications Catapult, we're committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workforce. We welcome candidates from all corners of the globe, but due to legal and logistical considerations, we want to be transparent about the potential visa-related challenges that could arise. Our ability to offer sponsorship will depend on the level of interest for our roles and salary level.

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.