Expression of Interest - Head of Business Development Defence & Government EMEA

Austal; England; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading maritime company is seeking a dynamic Head of Business Development Defence & Government for the EMEA region. This role requires over 10 years of experience in defense and maritime sales, exceptional leadership skills, and a strong background in relationship management. The ideal candidate will drive business development strategies, ensuring alignment with company objectives while working on key government partnerships. Competitive compensation and a career-defining opportunity await.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in defence, maritime, or shipbuilding sales roles.
• Experience in navigating complex regulatory environments.
• Proven track record in building relationships with key stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Identify and pursue new business opportunities in Defence & Government.
• Lead bid and proposal efforts using cross-functional resources.
• Implement market monitoring processes to deliver actionable insights.

Skills

Commercial acumen

Organizational skills

Regulatory expertise

Communication skills

Negotiation skills

Market analysis

Leadership

Education

Engineering or Business Management degree

Job description

Austal Ships is seeking a dynamic and experienced Head of Business Development Defence & Government – Europe, Middle-East & Africa (EMEA). The ideal candidate will possess exceptional commercial acumen, organizational skills, and regulatory expertise. This role demands the ability to cultivate and sustain positive relationships with regional and global leaders.

In this role, you will prioritize and execute business development strategies in alignment with overall business objectives. You will demonstrate exceptional communication and negotiation skills, maintaining an in-depth understanding of the global Defence and/or Commercial maritime landscape, with a focus on market opportunities and trends.

As the Head of Business Development Defence & Government – EMEA, this role is responsible for delivering the company’s growth strategy by identifying and pursuing new business opportunities across the Defence & Government markets, specifically focused on the Europe, Middle-East & Africa region in support of home market (Australia) exports and drive work into Austal Vietnam and Philippines.

This role involves leading the business development team, building strategic partnerships, and ensuring alignment with the overall business objectives. Critical to the role is continuous market analysis, sales strategy development, and the cultivation of relationships with key clients, to maximise our pWin and the successful delivery of shipbuilding contracts into the business.

Key Responsibilities:

• Identify, assess, and pursue new business opportunities in Defence & Government and Commercial markets, focusing on technology-driven solutions and supporting the operational team in planning and resourcing operational capacity.
• Investigate and support the development of adjacent markets complementary to Austal's core business and provide market insights and support to Austal USA on an ad hoc basis.
• Actively engage in lead generation through networking and direct outreach, converting leads into actionable opportunities with high win probabilities.
• Generate and convert opportunities to support work in Austal Vietnam and Austal Philippines, while also supporting the domestic export agenda, and lead bid and proposal efforts using cross-functional resources to deliver client-oriented, profitable bids.
• Lead bid and proposal efforts utilising multiple cross-functional resources to deliver client orientated, profitable bids. Build and share client insights, understand and communicate their needs, buying habits and expectations within Austal. Analyse, understand and communicate the price to win.
• Build and mature key government relationships to support activities, develop and implement an outreach plan to establish a strategic partnerships network across the supply chain, and identify, qualify, and develop key relationships with country/region-based brokers and consultants to support business-winning activities.
• Implement ongoing market monitoring processes to analyse trends and competitor activities, delivering actionable insights, and work with marketing to produce bi-annual reports on overall trends and insights.
• Facilitate quarterly reviews with delivery centres and General Managers to ensure business development strategies are operationally aligned and reflecting the company’s strategic goals.
• Collaborate with the Business Winning and Finance teams to ensure the maintenance of accurate forecasting and updated pWins to support the company’s strategic goals and aspirations.
• Formulate a holistic, multi-year sales strategy for the market, that is complimentary to the wider regions, commercial market and technology road map.
• Identify growth options and targeted campaigns to enable focussed and aligned activity against specific goals and objectives.
• Strategically assess market trends and competitor strategies to inform long-term business planning and positioning.
• Work with Marketing to design and execute a strategic marketing campaign targeting Defence & Government sectors across the region.

Ideal Background and Experience:

• Over 10 years of experience in defence, maritime, or shipbuilding sales roles, with a proven track record in technology-driven initiatives.
• Proven experience in building and nurturing relationships with customers, government officials, and industry partners across defence and commercial sectors, emphasising Austal's commitment to technology and development.
• Experience in navigating complex, regulated environments, with a strong grasp of regulatory requirements relevant to our core markets.
• Experience working within defence, shipbuilding or related contracting or manufacturing business internationally.
• Engineering or Business Management degree from a leading university.
• Demonstrated business acumen.
• Extensive experience in strategy formulation and execution including interpreting into an operational model.
• High level interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to liaise efficiently and effectively with a wide range of stakeholders i.e., Board of Directors, managers, staff, and government agencies etc.
• Strong organisational, project management, planning and leadership expertise to implement strategies to meet Austal’s goals.

This is a career-defining executive opportunity that will continue to ensure operational excellence, innovation and the strategic growth of this well-established and reputable organisation for years to come.