(Senior) Sales Manager, European Institutions & NATO
ROLE DESCRIPTION SUMMARY
The incumbent will lead the development and advocacy for products, solutions and investments that will accelerate growth in the Space & Defence, European Institutions & NATO segment. This commercial function is responsible to help customers improve their business by promoting, lobbying and selling relevant solutions from the SES portfolio. The incumbent will also work to raise the visibility of SES in global Institutional/Governmental organizations. In addition, the incumbent is responsible for following up and selectively influencing regulatory developments at both operational (satcom specialists) and strategic levels (ambassadors, National Representatives, Members of Parliment’s etc.). Furthermore, the incumbent will build, cultivate and influence a network within procurement organizations like NCIA and NSPA.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES
Identify, seek, influence and capture new institutional market opportunities (including funding opportunities), by carrying out the following activities:
- Analyse market, trends, customer segmentation and competitor activity, to determine target customer and sales planning per locations, segments and service lines. Provide market intelligence feedback with a particular focus on European Institutions and NATO business
- Assess and validate strategic needs for European Institutions, NATO and anticipate their evolution
- Define strategic sales initiatives for European Institutions and NATO accounts, generate sales leads and close contracts in accordance with set revenue objectives
- Develop sales pipeline forecasting to give a view on demand by existing products and services and new ideas for improvement and innovation to influence investment decisions
- Support commercial proposals and related contracting processes
- Maintain relationships with key officials responsible for decisions related to Institutional programs and opportunities and keep such officials informed regarding SES products, services, interests and capabili-ties
- Identify funding opportunities and work to design public-private partnership models that suit SES business model and support Government vertical to adapt to such requirements
- In coordination with internal teams, serve as contact for government officials and other critical institutional stakeholders including company counterparts, and cultivate high-level contacts and networks in line with SES’s global strategy and opportunities
- Conduct policy analysis and provide business intelligence feedback on key strategic visions of Institu-tional stakeholders and alert SES teams on future business opportunities
The incumbent will also take responsibility for Sales & Business Development activities in relation to institutional customers in Belgium, contributing to the achievement of business targets of Redu Space Services (“RSS”) and SES TechCom departments. In this role, the incumbent will have a dotted reporting line to VP, Sales & Business Development, TechCom, collaborating with commercial and management teams of RSS and TechCom, with main responsibilities as follows:
- Support the setup of business cases and user engagement in areas such as Quantum Safe solution, GovSatCom, +Navigation, Earth Observation and any relevant ESA / EU programs
- Support bid management activities, in collaboration with Business Development teams
- Explore and build synergies between Global Government Europe team and Product & Innovation Business Development activities
- Represent SES’s interests, participating in relevant events and conferences, in coordination with management team
These activities are expected to occupy on average up to 20% of the incumbent’s working time.
COMPETENCIES
- Strong presentation, negotiation and influencing skills where the ability to effectively make commercial offers, negotiate solutions and drive the sales process by personal engagement is key
- Proven ability to understand the business of our customers (and their customers) and able to create in-dustry insights that will position SES as a thought leader and drive the respective customers closer to SES
- Engaging and strong sales profile with perseverance to get the job done
- Strong interpersonal and network skills and the ability to establish and nurture high level business contacts
- High level of personal integrity, and adhere to a strict code of conduct and personal behavior
- Very good commercial judgment and the ability to operate within a sometimes high pressure environ-ment, or under short timeframes
- Diplomatic manner and demonstrated cultural sensitivity
- Problem solving, the ability to respond to different situations, considering a range of possible options within the overall organizational policy to determine what the right solution should be
- Excellent project management and planning skills
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE
- University degree, ideally with legal, commercial, and/or technical background
- 10 years’ experience in working with and lobbying public institutions and governments, preferably in in relation to European Institutions and NATO
- Excellent knowledge of European Union and other institutional structure and processes
- Solid understanding of commercial drivers and needs of the government business
- Demonstrated ability and experience to work with teams to define winning strategies to capture institutional and/or defence markets, either directly or indirectly with system integrators
- Fluency in English and (preferably) French; knowledge of other languages of the EMEA region is an additional asset
- Getting a NATO/EU Secret clearance is mandatory
- Willingness to travel (up to 40% of the time)
SES and its Affiliated Companies are committed to providing fair and equal employment opportunities to all. We are an Equal Opportunity employer and will consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, pregnancy, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, genetic information, protected veteran status, disability, or any other basis protected by local, state, or federal law.
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