Capability Lead

Greenjets; Milton Keynes; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Greenjets in Milton Keynes is seeking a Capability and Growth Lead to translate customer needs into strong partnerships, better products and real business opportunities. You will spend time with customers, partners and users to understand the problems they are trying to solve.

You will then work with our engineering, product and commercial teams to decide how Greenjets can help. A big part of the role is making good choices.

Qualifications

• Experience with government, military or defence customers preferred.
• Ability to understand a customer problem and explain it clearly.
• Experience developing new business opportunities or partnerships.
• Strong commercial awareness and understanding of complex organisations buying products and services.
• Confidence to challenge assumptions and ask direct questions.

Responsibilities

• Build a deep understanding of customers, their work and problems to solve.
• Develop trusted relationships with customers, government organisations, industry partners and technology companies.
• Turn customer conversations into clear needs and practical requirements.
• Identify new business opportunities and assess their worth.
• Explain opportunities with customer need, proposed solution, risks and next steps.
• Plan trials and demonstrations to test ideas.
• Gather evidence from trials, feedback and market activity.
• Collaborate with Engineering and Product to align priorities with demand.
• Coordinate teams before recommending to proceed, pause or stop.
• Handover defined opportunities to Commercial for pricing and contracts.
• Keep records of customer needs, opportunities, partnerships, risks and decisions.
• Provide senior leaders with concise updates.
• Travel regularly to meet customers, partners, and support international opportunities.

Skills

Customer insights

Stakeholder management

Opportunity assessment

Partnership development

Engagement skills

Job description

About Us

Greenjets is an innovative engineering company developing high-performance propulsion systems for the aviation market. Our work spans research and development, engine production, aircraft systems, technical integration and flight testing. We are committed to delivering high-grade engineering and best-in-class propulsion for unmanned aircraft.

About Us

Greenjets is an innovative engineering company developing high-performance propulsion systems for the aviation market. Our work spans research and development, engine production, aircraft systems, technical integration and flight testing. We are committed to delivering high-grade engineering and best-in-class propulsion for unmanned aircraft.

We do things differently. We move fast, we experiment and we adopt technologies that push beyond the current state of the art. Our aim is to go further, faster and more efficiently, while keeping costs competitive.

All our propulsion systems are designed, developed and manufactured in the UK. We focus on high-quality, reliable and cost-effective products supported by a robust, secure and ethical supply chain.

About The Job

We are looking for a Capability and Growth Lead to help us understand what customers need and turn those needs into strong partnerships, better products and real business opportunities.

You will spend time with customers, partners and users to understand the problems they are trying to solve. You will then work with our engineering, product and commercial teams to decide how Greenjets can help.

A big part of the role is making good choices. You will help us focus on opportunities with real potential and step away from ideas that are unlikely to go anywhere.

You will shape and assess new opportunities, but you will not be responsible for pricing, contracts or project delivery. Commercial will handle contracts and Programmes will manage delivery. You will stay involved to make sure the original customer need remains clear.

What You'll Do

• Build a strong understanding of our customers, their work and the problems they need to solve.
• Develop trusted relationships with customers, government organisations, industry partners and technology companies.
• Turn customer conversations into clear needs and practical requirements.
• Identify new business opportunities and assess whether they are worth pursuing.
• Explain each opportunity clearly, including the customer need, our proposed solution, the risks and the next steps.
• Help plan trials and demonstrations that test whether an idea works.
• Gather evidence from trials, customer feedback and market activity.
• Work with Engineering and Product to make sure development priorities reflect genuine customer demand.
• Bring the right teams together before recommending whether to proceed, pause or stop.
• Hand well-defined opportunities to Commercial for pricing and contract discussions.
• Support the handover of confirmed work to the Programmes team.
• Keep clear records of customer needs, opportunities, partnerships, risks and decisions.
• Provide short, useful updates to senior leaders.
• Travel regularly to meet customers and partners, attend trials and support international opportunities.

Desirable Qualifications, Experience & Attributes

You may come from defence, aviation, engineering, government, business development, strategic partnerships or another technical industry.

We Are Looking For Someone With

• Experience working with government, military, defence or technical customers.
• The ability to understand a customer problem and explain it clearly.
• Experience developing new business opportunities or partnerships.
• Good commercial awareness and an understanding of how complex organisations buy products and services.
• The confidence to ask direct questions and challenge weak assumptions.
• The judgement to recognise which opportunities deserve time and investment.
• The ability to work well with engineering, product, commercial and delivery teams.
• Strong relationship-building and influencing skills.
• Clear written and verbal communication.
• A practical, organised and evidence-led approach.
• The confidence to recommend stopping work when an opportunity is not strong enough.
• The willingness to travel regularly in the UK and overseas.

Above all, we are looking for someone who listens carefully, builds trust and turns complicated customer needs into clear action.