Sales/Bid Manager (all gender)

Ascendance Ft

Toulouse

On-site

EUR 69,180 - 92,240

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

Career booster: versatility, training opportunities, internal mobility

Health insurance

Restaurant tickets

Holiday pay bonus

Public transportation allowance

Teleworking policy

Flexible working environment

Company events

Job summary

A leading aerospace company is seeking an Aviation Equipment Sales Bid Manager based in Toulouse. This role involves managing high-value contracts for hybrid-electric aircraft products, developing customer relationships, and ensuring proposal accuracy and profitability. The ideal candidate has over 10 years of B2B sales experience in the aerospace sector, a Master's degree, and fluency in both English and French. Attractive benefits include health insurance and a flexible working environment.

Qualifications

10+ years of experience in B2B sales or bid management within Aerospace/Aviation or Defence sectors.
Proven experience structuring and negotiating multi-year supply contracts.
Fluent command of both English and French.

Responsibilities

Deliver all sales proposals from Qualification to Contract Signature.
Ensure technical compliance, commercial viability, and legal accuracy of bids.
Develop cost models and profitability analyses for each bid.

Skills

Commercial Leadership

Negotiation & Influence

Entrepreneurial Mindset

Effective Communication

Education

Master’s degree in Business, Engineering, Aviation Management, or a related field

Job description

Your role : 🔎

The Aviation Equipment Sales Bid Manager is responsible for securing high-value contracts for our STERNA products - most notably on our Hybrid Pack product - within the hybrid‑electric aircraft market. Customers will range from eVTOL manufacturers, General Aviation turboprop aircraft manufacturers, Regional aircraft manufacturers, Commercial aircraft manufacturers.

Based in Toulouse, you will serve as the core commercial link between our engineering capacity and customer needs (OEMs, integrators, and airlines). This role requires applying your technical understanding of hybrid‑electric & battery technology and your contract expertise to structure profitable proposals. You report directly to the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and execute a critical function within the company's growth strategy.

Your core responsibilities range from:

Strategizing and delivering all sales proposals from Qualification to Contract Signature.
Ensuring technical compliance, commercial viability, and legal accuracy of every bid.
Managing the bid lifecycle and collaborating actively with the Engineering, Finance, and Production teams.

Your main missions will be :

YOU DEVELOP AND NURTURE CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP

You are fully in charge of customer accounts and you handle them from A to Z to make sure to detect any commercial opportunity and then transform it.

YOU ARE THE BID ARCHITECT

You own the bid qualification process, defining the clear win strategies, competitive positioning, and all offer pricing structures in collaboration with the CCO.
You develop detailed bid project plans, managing internal resources, timelines, and budgets to ensure the timely submission of fully compliant proposals.

YOU CRAFT WINNING PROPOSALS & DRIVE INTERNAL ALIGNMENT

You structure, write, and coordinate all aspects of the commercial and technical proposals, ensuring strict alignment with the customer’s Request for Proposal (RFP/RFI) and company objectives.
You act as the main point of contact for customer clarifications during the bid process, managing Q&A sessions and site visits.
You chair internal "Gate Reviews" to secure executive approval at key decision points, articulating all bid risks, mitigation plans, and market potential.
You review and negotiate all contract terms and conditions (T&Cs) and legal caveats, acting as the primary liaison with the legal department and CCO throughout the negotiation phase.

YOU SECURE THE DEAL PROFITABILITY

You develop cost models and profitability analyses (P&L) for each bid, ensuring proposals are commercially sound and achieve defined margin targets.

YOU SIGN DEALS

That’s always the goal isn’t it?

Where do we stand?

Founded on Ascendance’s strong values, the whole team is involved in creating both innovative products to decarbonize aviation and an accurate company structure to support its fast development.

Our hybrid pack technology is already commercialized with development contracts already signed and ongoing.

Sky's our limit, we are looking forward to the first flight of ATEA and delivering our first STERNA hybrid‑electric propulsion systems as part of our contracts!

The job has been made for you if you have:

A Master’s degree in Business, Engineering, Aviation Management, or a related technical field.
10+ years of experience in B2B sales or bid management within the Aerospace/Aviation or Defence sectors
Aerospace Knowledge: Demonstrated understanding of the aerospace procurement cycle, regulatory frameworks (EASA, FAA), and certification processes (DO-160, DO-311, etc.).
Technical Domain Expertise: Functional knowledge of aerospace equipment, hybrid electric propulsion systems, battery technology (Li-ion, solid-state), or critical avionics equipment.
Contractual Acumen: Proven experience structuring and negotiating multi-year supply contracts (e.g., long‑term agreements, non‑recurring engineering costs, warranty terms).
Language Proficiency: Fluent command of both English (mandatory) and French (preferred).

Behaviour / Soft Skills

Commercial Leadership: You possess the ability to command cross‑functional bid teams (technical, legal, finance) and drive consensus under pressure and tight deadlines.
Negotiation & Influence: You demonstrate strong negotiation skills with the ability to manage commercial discussions and maintain customer relationships.
Entrepreneurial Mindset: You are comfortable and effective in a startup environment; you are proactive, resourceful, and operate with significant autonomy.
Communication: You have effective written and verbal communication skills across both technical and executive audiences.

We are meant to work together if you :

You are willing to contribute to the development of the company