Defence Sales Leader, Germany — Space Tech

Dawn Aerospace; Deutschland; On-site; USD 159,853 - 205,525; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity incentive plan

Executive compensation package

Job summary

Dawn Aerospace seeks a Head of Defence Sales to lead Germany’s strategic rollout, engaging government, industry partners, and premier contractors. You will translate customer needs into viable proposals and expand Dawn’s presence across civil, security, and research sectors.

You will build and manage senior-level relationships, navigate multi-stakeholder negotiations, and align regional efforts with Dawn’s global roadmap, reporting to the Chief Revenue Officer in Delft.

Qualifications

• 10-15 years of experience in business development, sales, or mission management in aerospace, aviation, deep-tech, or a closely related sector.
• Established network with major stakeholders, including Rheinmetall, OHB, DEU SpCmd, BAAINBw and DLR.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and negotiation skills with a customer-first mindset.
• Proven track record leading complex, long-cycle programmes involving government, institutional, or prime contractor stakeholders.
• University degree in management, business, or a related field.
• In-depth knowledge of local regulations.
• Ability to work independently and make strategic decisions.
• Fluency in German and English (written and spoken).

Responsibilities

• Own the commercial rollout for Dawn Aerospace in Germany and be accountable for signed contract value, pipeline quality, and long-term market position.
• Engage directly with prospective customers and industry partners to understand their challenges and identify where Dawn can deliver value. Identify, qualify, and prioritize opportunities in commercial, national security, and research sectors.
• Understand and articulate the technical capabilities of the Dawn products. Translate customer needs into technically viable and cost-effective mission or vehicle acquisition proposals.
• Activate and expand senior-level relationships across major government programs, prime contractors, and research institutions.
• Lead complex, multi-stakeholder deal cycles involving high-volume component and services sales, and sovereign capability development.
• Establish Dawn Aerospace as a recognized capability within German national security, civil, and research agencies.
• Identify and establish strategic operating locations, partners, and facilities for sovereign operations.
• Drive negotiation of commercial, technical, and governance terms alongside legal, engineering, and operations teams.
• Feed regional market intelligence directly into Dawn Aerospace’s global product roadmap and fleet-expansion strategy.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Negotiation

German language

English language

Strategic thinking

Education

University degree in management or business

Tools

HubSpot

Job description

Dawn Aerospace builds reusable, high-cadence space transportation systems. Since 2021, we have delivered non-toxic, refuellable propulsion systems to customers globally, with hardware now operating on over 50 spacecraft. Concurrently, our rocket-powered spaceplanes are actively breaking aviation records and being delivered to government programs across the USA and Europe.

We have achieved these goals through a culture of relentless innovation and a drive to deliver results for our customers, while expanding the value we all get from space.

The Role

To support our expansion in Germany, we are establishing a presence in Dusseldorf or Bremen and are seeking a talented Head of Defence Sale in Germany to lead this strategic initiative. This is a unique opportunity to combine technical insight with strategic commercial leadership in one of the most exciting and fast-growing sectors of the space industry.

This role reports to the Chief Revenue Office, based in Delft, The Netherlands.

Key Responsibilities

RegionalBusinessDevelopment

• Own the commercialrolloutfor Dawn Aerospacein Germanyand be accountable for signed contract value, pipeline quality, and long-term market position.
• Engage directly with prospective customers and industry partners to understand their challenges andidentifywhere Dawn can deliver value.Identify, qualify, and prioritize opportunities in commercial,national security, andresearch sectors.
• Understand and articulate the technical capabilities of theDawn products. Translate customer needs into technicallyviableand cost-effective missionor vehicle acquisition proposals.
• Activate and expand senior-level relationships across major government programs, prime contractors, and research institutions.
• Lead complex, multi-stakeholder deal cycles involvinghigh-volume component and services sales, and sovereign capability development.
  
  

Strategic Growth

• Establish Dawn Aerospace as a recognized capability withinGermannational security, civil, and researchagencies.
• Identifyandestablishstrategic operating locations, partners, and facilities forsovereign operations.
• Drive negotiation of commercial, technical, and governance terms alongside legal, engineering, and operations teams.
• Feed regional market intelligence directly intoDawn Aerospace’s globalproduct roadmapand fleet-expansion strategy.
  
  

Requirements

• 10-15years of experience in business development,sales,or mission management in aerospace,aviation, deep-tech,or a closely related sector.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a German national security clearance (Ü2/Ü3)
• Established Network with major stakeholders, including Rheinmetall, OHB, DEU SpCmd, BAAINBw and DLR
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and negotiation skills with a customer-first mindset
• Proventrack recordleading complex, long-cycle programmes involving government, institutional, or prime contractor stakeholders.
• University degree in management, business, or a related field.
• In-depth knowledge of local regulations.
• Ability to work independently and make strategic decisions.
• Fluency in German and English (written and spoken).
  
  

Preferred Skills

• Experience working directly with customers in aerospace research,defense, or government space agencies.
• An existing or past security clearance in Germany or other NATO country
• Background working with primes, Tier-1 suppliers, or sovereign capability programmes.
• A strong understanding of general aerospace principles such asflightmechanics,mission planning,and project lifecycles.
• FamiliaritywithHubSpot, or similar CRMsuite.
• Ability and willingness to travel both domestically and internationally
• Experience in leadership roles.
  
  

What We Offer

• A senior roleestablishinga new category of scalable and sustainable space transportation, focused on delivering solutions to empower German and European strength and resilience.
• A fast-paced, collaborative team environment with a shared vision for the future of space access.
• This role offers a competitive executive compensation package, including participation in Dawn Aerospace’s equity incentive plan. This is a unique opportunity to join a high-growth space startup at an early stage and share in the creation of substantial long-term value, with equity structured to reflect the seniority, responsibility, and market-building impact of the role.
  
  

Diversity & Inclusion

At Dawn Aerospace, we believe that diverse teams build better solutions. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where people of all backgrounds, identities, and experiences are valued and supported to do their best work.

About Dawn Aerospace

Dawn Aerospace is a space transportation company with a purpose.

Our Mission Is To Enable The Next Generation Of Space Users By Providing More Sustainable And Scalable Ways To Access And Move Around In Space. We Believe This Access, In The Form Of a Transportation Network, Will Fundamentally Change What’s Possible From Space. We Currently Focus On Three Areas Of Space Transportation

• In-space propulsion We're a leading supplier of turnkey green propulsion systems for various classes of satellites. Our systems utilise safe, accessible propellants and we have over 170 of these propulsion units on more than 40 operational satellites already. A further 200 units are in production.
• In-space servicing Coupled with our propulsion expertise, we are ensuring that our customers' satellites are refuellable. In the coming years, Dawn will offer a refueling service to enable life extension of customer satellites. This new market is aligned with our sustainability goal to ensue a clean and safe space for everyone!
• Spaceplane We are developing the fastest and highest-flying aircraft ever to take off from a runway, combining the extreme performance of rocket propulsion with the reusability of conventional airplanes to enable high-frequency, low-cost access to sub-orbital space.
  
  

Our international teams are distributed across four locations: the Netherlands, France, New Zealand, and the USA.

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