VP Sales – UK Defence & Public Safety

Rowden; Bristol; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A UK engineering powerhouse is seeking a VP Sales to lead the sales team and secure multi-million-pound contracts in defence. The ideal candidate will have a proven record in winning complex tenders, a deep understanding of the UK Defence procurement landscape, and a passion for public safety and national security. Hybrid working is offered, with regular travel to Bristol required.

Benefits

Competitive base salary

Performance-linked OTE

Flexible working model

Qualifications

• Track record of winning complex technical solutions in Defence or adjacent sectors.
• Ability to build relationships and deliver value.
• Desire to lead with a vision for high performance.

Responsibilities

• Lead major bids from first contact to contract award.
• Identify winning strategies and think ahead.
• Foster a culture of trust, urgency, and high performance.

Skills

Winning high-value competitive tenders

Building trust

Understanding of procurement processes

Leadership and coaching

Technical fluency

Job description

Overview

Rowden is building the next UK-headquartered engineering powerhouse. We design and integrate advanced systems that sense, connect, and protect data in environments where fast, informed decision-making is vital. Our mission is to deliver mission advantage to those working to safeguard national security, public safety, and critical infrastructure.

We’re looking for an inspiring and dynamic VP Sales to lead, mentor, and scale a high-performing sales team. This is a senior role with dual focus: leading from the front on major government sales and empowering others to win.

You’ll be an active participant in closing strategic, enterprise-level opportunities while building a strong team culture, providing structured coaching, and helping the team navigate complexity with confidence and creativity. This is an ideal role for someone who can balance the competing demands of steering GTM strategy and getting hands-on with complex deals.

Your Mission

This is a leadership role at the heart of the UK’s next-generation engineering powerhouse. You’ll lead the commercial strategy for multi-million-pound, multi-year systems programmes that shape UK national security and operational advantage.

You’ll shape the strategy around every major deal, form deep industry partnerships, and constantly think about how to position Rowden for the future. You’ll drive exceptional performance across our sales function, bringing pace, clarity, and a deep understanding of what it takes to win.

What Success Looks Like in 12-24 Months

• Secured flagship deals: Secure multi-million-pound programmes, involving complex mission critical solutions that are critical to the future of UK defence and public safety.
• Built winning industry teams: Brought together differentiated consortiums of defence industry and technology specialists to deliver new capabilities.
• Shaped the future roadmap: Partnered with governments and industry peers to influence future requirements, creating the conditions for success well before the tender.
• Established a high-performing sales function: Embedded the right talent, structure and values to drive consistent pace, accountability and refusal to lose across the sales function.

What You’ll Do

• Originate and close: Lead major bids from first contact to contract award, shifting seamlessly between the bid detail and the overall strategy to win. Working hand in glove with our pre-sales engineers to craft complete solutions that separate Rowden from the competition.
• Outthink and outpace: Identify what it will take to win and obsess around every angle. Think two steps ahead to what will win today, what will win tomorrow, and how to position Rowden for both.
• Raise the bar: Foster a culture of trust, urgency, and high performance. Coach others and bring a clear vision for what makes a winning team.
• Embed long-term partnerships: Shape consortiums and commercial models that win. Bring together the best capabilities in the market.

Key skills, experience and behaviours

What You Bring

• A track record of winning, high-value (£10m+) competitive tenders, involving complex technical solutions, in Defence or adjacent sectors.
• Foundational knowledge of systems engineering and/or software development processes and tools.
• Deep understanding of UK Defence and Public Sector procurement processes and frameworks.
• A desire to lead and a clear vision for what makes a high-performing team. You lead by example, setting the bar for pace, pragmatism, and continuous improvement.
• A natural ability to build trust and strong relationships across customers, colleagues and partners, understanding how to deliver value to every relationship.
• Above all: a relentless drive to win.

Mindset & Behaviours

• Mission-focused: You care deeply about the end-user and the impact of your work on public safety and national security.
• Creative and tenacious: You bring original thinking to how we win business and aren't deterred by complex or ambiguous routes to market.
• Technically fluent: While not an engineer, you're able to grasp technical concepts and translate them into compelling customer narratives.
• Hands-on leader: You get stuck in with proposals, negotiations, and strategic discussions, and lead from the front.
• Trusted advisor: You can build trust and influence at C-level across customers and partners.

Additional Details

• Location: UK-based, with hybrid working. Regular travel to Bristol required.
• Clearance: SC clearance required (or ability to obtain); DV desirable.
• Compensation: Competitive base salary with performance-linked OTE.

Working at Rowden

We are committed to building a flexible, inclusive, and enabling company. Our aim is to create a diverse team of talented people with unique skills, experience, and backgrounds, so please apply and come as you are!

We also recognise the importance of flexible working and support this wherever we can. We typically operate a flexible, hybrid-working model, with an average 3 days in the office each week (dependent on the role). We welcome the opportunity to discuss flexibility, part-time working requirements and/or workplace adjustments with all our applicants.

Rowden is a Disability Confident Committed company, and we actively encourage people with disabilities and health conditions to apply for our roles. Please let us know your requirements early on so that we can make sure you have everything you need up front to help make the recruitment process and experience as easy as possible.

Finally, if you feel that you don’t meet all the criteria included above but have transferable skills and relevant experience, we’d still love to hear from you!