Strategic Defense Sales Lead for MODs & Armed Forces

Alta Ares; Paris; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Alta Ares in Paris is seeking a Defense Sales & Business Development lead to own the pipeline across French MOD, procurement agencies, and armed forces. You will drive qualification, shaping opportunities, proposals, and contract negotiations to win multi-million programs.

You'll build trusted relationships with military users and primes, map European defense markets, and help shape requirements for tenders while coordinating with engineering and product teams.

Qualifications

• 5-10 years of experience in defense sales, business development, capture management, or program engagement.
• Strong track record selling to MODs, procurement agencies, or armed forces.
• Experience in defense tech companies, primes, or neoprimes (e.g., Anduril, Helsing, Palantir, Shield AI, or equivalent).
• Deep understanding of defense procurement cycles and bidding processes.
• Demonstrated ability to close complex deals in multi-stakeholder environments.
• Experience working with drones, C-UAS, ISR, AI autonomy, or adjacent systems is a major plus.

Responsibilities

• Own the sales pipeline across French MOD, procurement agencies, and armed forces.
• Lead qualification, opportunity shaping, proposal management, and contract negotiations.
• Identify and drive multi-million programs across ISR, C-UAS, autonomy, and AI.
• Establish a repeatable sales motion with clear forecasting and metrics.
• Convert tactical demos and pilot deployments into scalable contracts.
• Build trusted relationships with military users, procurement officers, and program managers.
• Engage with primes, neoprimes, integrators, and defense engineering firms.
• Develop and manage channel partnerships where relevant.
• Conduct regular on-site visits, field demos, and customer workshops across Europe.
• Map European defense markets: budgets, procurement cycles, capability gaps.
• Shape requirements for upcoming tenders and influence capability roadmaps.
• Provide competitive intelligence and product feedback to engineering & founders.
• Support localization strategies for key European countries.
• Work closely with Engineering, Product, and Operations teams to align demos, deployments, and delivery.
• Help refine pricing strategy, sales collateral, and customer-facing documentation.
• Contribute to showcasing Alta Ares at major defense exhibitions (Eurosatory, DSEI, MSPO, IDEX, etc.)

Skills

Hunter profile

Deal making

Relationship building

Security culture

Entrepreneurial spirit

Bilingual English + French

Job description

Alta Ares in Paris is seeking a Defense Sales & Business Development lead to own the pipeline across French MOD, procurement agencies, and armed forces. You will drive qualification, shaping opportunities, proposals, and contract negotiations to win multi-million programs.

You'll build trusted relationships with military users and primes, map European defense markets, and help shape requirements for tenders while coordinating with engineering and product teams.