Strategic Defence BD Lead — Win, Propose & Grow

Camwebdir; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

On-site social events

Career development opportunities

Job summary

Plextek, based south of Cambridge, is seeking a Defence Business Development Lead to own the full sales lifecycle for defence campaigns, from market insight to revenue recognition. The role demands a commercially astute, technically credible professional with strong relationships across military, prime contractors and government stakeholders.

You will translate advanced engineering capabilities into compelling propositions and shape opportunities with disciplined capture planning, ensuring

Qualifications

• Proven success in defence, security, aerospace or adjacent technology sales, with experience selling complex engineering, R&D, consultancy, systems, services or capability-led solutions.
• Strong understanding of the UK defence ecosystem, including MOD, defence primes, specialist SMEs, procurement routes, innovation funding, frameworks and collaborative bid environments.
• Demonstrable ability to manage the complete sales cycle, including prospecting, qualification, solution shaping, capture, proposal leadership, negotiation, close, handover and account expansion.

Responsibilities

• Build end-to-end defence sales activity, taking ownership from early market engagement through to close, mobilisation and account expansion.
• Develop and execute targeted account plans across defence primes, MOD-facing organisations, innovation frameworks, specialist SMEs and partner ecosystems.
• Translate Plextek’s engineering capabilities into compelling customer propositions across RF, sensing, communications, radar, EW, AI/ML, and low-SWaP tech.
• Build trusted, consultative relationships with technical, commercial, procurement and operational stakeholders.
• Own capture planning for priority opportunities, including stakeholder mapping, win themes, partner strategy, bid/no-bid input, pricing assumptions, proposal coordination and negotiation approach.

Skills

Defence sales

Account management

Stakeholder engagement

Technical credibility

CRM hygiene

Tools

CRM tools

Job description

Plextek, based south of Cambridge, is seeking a Defence Business Development Lead to own the full sales lifecycle for defence campaigns, from market insight to revenue recognition. The role demands a commercially astute, technically credible professional with strong relationships across military, prime contractors and government stakeholders.

You will translate advanced engineering capabilities into compelling propositions and shape opportunities with disciplined capture planning, ensuring