Business Development Manager

Multiple Access Communications Ltd; Southampton; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee ownership

Private medical insurance

Contributory pension

Flexible working

On-site gym

Volunteer leave

Job summary

MAC Ltd in Southampton is seeking a Business Development Manager to identify markets, engage with customers, and build the commercial engine that drives growth. You’ll work with the MD and leadership team to develop strategies, uncover real requirements, and shape the company’s trajectory in defence, security and space.

You’ll lead discovery-based selling of high-end design services, translating complex technical concepts into customer value, and you’ll travel as needed to build relationships

Qualifications

• Must sell services, not just products, through discovery with customers.
• Experience in defence, security and/or space sectors and knowledge of how they buy.
• Able to absorb complex technical material and translate to customer value.
• Strategic thinker who can influence company direction beyond quarterly targets.

Responsibilities

• Identify and secure new clients across defence, security and space; grow existing accounts.
• Build relationships across industry groups; represent MAC Ltd at trade events.
• Own the pipeline: report value, risk and opportunity to the Board; deliver targets.
• Shape MAC Ltd's growth strategy with market insights and opportunities.
• Develop the commercial infrastructure—CRM, processes, ways of working—to support growth.

Skills

Consultative selling

Defence sector exp

Relationship building

Strategic mindset

Technical curiosity

Long-cycle sales

Integrity

Job description

Multiple Access Communications Limited (MAC Ltd) | Southampton Science Park | Defence, Security & Space

Business Development Manager

As Business Development Manager at MAC Ltd, you're backed by 40 years of world-leading expertise — and trusted to build the future.

Since 1986 we've been solving the hardest problems in wireless communications. Founded by Professor Raymond Steele — one of the founding fathers of modern mobile communications — we've worked on every generation of mobile technology, from early analogue to 5G. Today we apply world-leading expertise in advanced signal processing and software defined radio to difficult challenges in defence, security and space.

Following our 2025 move to employee ownership, we're ambitious for what comes next. We're looking for a Business Development Manager (BDM) to work closely with the Managing Director and leadership team, identifying the markets and customers where our expertise can add most value, and building the commercial engine to drive the business forward.

A different kind of sale

We're not selling a product off the shelf. We sell design services, backed by deep technical expertise, to customers who often need help to articulate what they need. They know they have a challenge somewhere in the radio and electromagnetic spectrum domain, but the shape of the solution, and its quality, emerges by working it through together.

That means the sale is based on discovery. Sitting with a customer, asking the right questions, understanding their world, and helping them see what's possible — that's the heart of this job. If that's the kind of selling you find most rewarding, this role is perfect for you.

Why this role is different

You'll focus on solving real problems.

The best moments in this role happen in the room with a customer, when a vague concern turns into a clearly understood problem MAC Ltd can solve. You'll have world-class engineers alongside you to go deep when needed — but you're the one who creates those conversations and knows how to draw the real requirement out.

You have complete confidence in what you’re selling.

When you tell a customer MAC Ltd will solve their problem, you'll be describing what has actually happened, for forty years, for some of the most demanding customers in defence, security and space. No over‑promising. No hoping delivery catches up. Your reputation and ours are completely aligned.

You’ll shape the next phase of MAC Ltd's journey.

You’ll work directly with Pete, our Managing Director (MD), and the senior leadership team — engineers who trained under Professor Steele and now own the business through our Employee Ownership Trust. You'll report to the MD, present to the Board, and have a genuine voice in our strategic direction and growth plan. This is a seat at the table, not a sales desk in the corner.

You’ll shape the commercial engine.

There are foundations in place — but the BDM role is early in its development, and you'll play the leading role in how it grows. Working closely with the Managing Director, you'll shape the client engagement approach, the pipeline discipline, the industry relationships and MAC Ltd's presence at trade events. If you've ever looked at a company with an outstanding offering and thought “I know what I'd do with that” — here's your chance to make it happen with a business that combines expertise and ambition.

What you'll be doing:

• Identifying and securing new clients across defence, security and space, and growing existing accounts
• Building relationships across industry groups and representing MAC Ltd at trade events
• Owning the pipeline: reporting to the Board on value, risk and opportunity, and delivering agreed targets
• Shaping MAC Ltd's growth strategy with your read on the market landscape and where the opportunities are
• Developing the commercial infrastructure — customer relationship management (CRM), processes, ways of working — that will support MAC Ltd's continued growth

Who you'll be:

• A consultative seller at heart: you've sold services (not just products), and you genuinely enjoy the discovery — working alongside customers to uncover what they actually need and helping them see the value
• Experienced in the defence, security and/or space sectors — how they buy, who the players are, and how long games are won
• Technically curious: you don't need to be an engineer, but you can absorb complex technical material and translate it into what it means for a customer
• A natural relationship‑builder with the patience and resilience that complex, long‑cycle sales demand
• Strategic in outlook — comfortable contributing to company direction, not just chasing this quarter's number
• Straight in your dealings; integrity matters here, both to us and to the customers we serve

What MAC Ltd offers

• Employee ownership. MAC Ltd is 100% owned by its employees through an Employee Ownership Trust. When the company succeeds, you share in it directly — through the EOT and our profit‑sharing scheme
• Competitive salary linked to performance
• Private medical insurance and a competitive 10% contributory pension
• Flexible working around core hours
• A beautiful setting at the University of Southampton Science Park, with discounted on‑site gym, cycle to work scheme, and our trade body, ADS, lifestyle discounts
• Additional paid leave for volunteering

The practicalities

You’ll be based at our offices at Southampton Science Park, with time split between the office and travel as the role requires. You must already have full eligibility to work in the UK and be eligible for SC security clearance (which includes five years' UK residency).