Business Development Manager

IJHQREDMXSW Apply for this position and join us in building Europe’s next generation infrastructure. Our values are rooted in responsibility, readiness, and long term thinking. We believe sovereignty must be designed into systems from the start. Readiness is achieved through capability, not procurement. Autonomy is infrastructure, not a feature. We build with the understanding that modern systems carry long term consequences. That is why we prioritise reliability over novelty, integration over isolation, and sustained capability over short term advantage. Apply for this position Position Role Overview Reports to: Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) The Business Development Manager owns the sales of LUXUAV’s UAV, counter-UAV (C-UAS) and ISR solutions, components and sub-systems to defence, security, government, critical infrastructure and industrial customers in the Benelux, France and wider Europe. The role drives the full sales cycle, from prospecting through tendering, negotiation and closing, and is the primary commercial interface between customers, partners and LUXUAV’s engineering and operations teams. As the company’s first dedicated commercial hire, the role also builds the go-to-market from the ground up (pipeline, sales process, partner network) with significant autonomy and ownership, and the opportunity to shape and lead the future commercial organisation. ‍

Key Responsibilities
• Own the full sales cycle for LUXUAV’s UAV, C-UAS and ISR solutions, components and sub-systems: lead generation, customer needs analysis, solution positioning, proposal and tender preparation, pricing, negotiation and contract closing.
• Build from scratch, qualify and manage a pipeline of opportunities across defence, security and law enforcement, government and institutional, critical infrastructure and industrial customers in the Benelux, France and wider Europe, in line with the company’s commercial targets.
• Develop trusted relationships with armed forces, ministries and procurement agencies, police and civil security services, critical infrastructure operators (energy, airports, ports, telecom), defence primes and system integrators, distributors and channel partners.
• Respond to national and EU defence procurement processes (RFIs, RFPs, framework agreements, joint procurement), coordinating technical, legal and financial inputs.
• Organise (with Marketing) and represent LUXUAV at trade shows, industry events and customer visits, including live flight demonstrations.
• Work closely with Research and Development, Engineering and Operations to translate customer requirements into deliverable offers and ensure a smooth handover after signature; support the Partnerships & Public Funding team with commercial input on publicly funded programmes where relevant.
• Set up the commercial foundations: sales process and playbook, pricing framework, CRM, forecasting and KPIs, sales collateral and partner / channel strategy; report regularly to the executive team on progress against sales objectives (OKRs/KPIs).
• Monitor market, competitor and regulatory developments, feed insights back into product, pricing and go-to-market strategy, and prepare the growth of the commercial team. ‍ Experience & Skills Must have
• 15+ years of experience in sales or business development, including at least 5 years in B2G sales in the defence sector, with a proven track record of closing complex, long-cycle public-sector deals.
• Experience building a commercial function or opening a new market in a start-up / scale-up; hunter mindset, autonomy and resilience.
• Proven experience selling to public authorities in the Benelux, France or wider Europe (defence, interior / security, government agencies or critical infrastructure operators), including public procurement processes and tender responses.
• Strong commercial acumen, negotiation skills and the ability to structure and present technical solutions to senior decision-makers.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and French (both mandatory); German and/or Dutch (Flemish) are strong assets.
• Willingness to travel within Europe (30–40%), discretion with confidential information, eligibility to work in Luxembourg / the EU. Nice to have
• Prior experience selling unmanned systems, counter-UAV, ISR, surveillance or related defence and dual-use technologies.
• Existing network within armed forces, ministries, security services, procurement agencies, defence primes or NATO bodies in the Benelux, France or wider Europe.
• Military or government background, or experience with end users in an operational context.
• Familiarity with EU defence procurement programmes and funding instruments (EDF, EDIP, SAFE, EDA / OCCAR) and with export control regulations.
• National from a NATO member country or one of the following NATO Indo-Pacific partners: Australia, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand or Ukraine. ‍