Sales Manager - UK&I

Harmattan Ai
London, United Kingdom
On-site

Who this role is best for

Geared toward seasoned defense sales professionals comfortable with strategic customer relationship management and influencing acquisition strategies.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with 5-10 years of selling defense systems to UK state customers and a strong institutional network
    — “An existing, live, senior-level network in the territory. This is the first filter”
  • Candidates with proven leadership experience in managing and growing a sales team
    — “Lead and grow the territory team”

Things to consider

  • Intensive travel is required across the UK&I territory, which may impact work-life balance
    — “Willing to travel intensively across the territory”
  • Must be eligible for national security clearance, which may involve a lengthy vetting process
    — “Eligible for national security clearance in the territory, and willing to go through the process”

How to stand out

  • Highlight your experience in shaping requirements and acquisition strategies pre-competition
    — “A demonstrable record of influencing a requirement or acquisition strategy before a formal competition existed”
  • Emphasize your track record of hitting order intake targets in resource-constrained environments
    — “A track record of carrying and hitting an order intake number in a fast-moving or resource-constrained environment”
  • Demonstrate fluency in national procurement regulations and local content constraints
    — “fluency in national procurement regulation, documentation and local-content constraints”
  • Demonstrate your command of a core language of the territory, ideally with native or professional fluency
    — “Native or fully professional command of at least one core language of the territory”
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · HighDecision Impact · Company

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • owning territory plan
  • building and holding senior-level relationships
  • shaping requirements and acquisition routes
Typical background
sales managementdefense systemsnational security clearance

Skills & requirements

Required

Sales ManagementCustomer RelationshipsPolicy WorkPipeline HygieneForecast AccuracyTerritory Team Leadership

Preferred

Defense SystemsNational Security ClearanceIntensive Travel

Stack & domain

Defense SystemsProcurementNational Security ClearanceRelationship BuildingInfluenceDefense

About the role

Original posting from Harmattan Ai via Ashby

ABOUT US

Harmattan AI is a next-generation defense prime building autonomous and scalable defense systems. Following the close of a $200M Series B, valuing the company at $1.4 billion, we are expanding our teams and capabilities to deliver mission-critical systems to allied forces.

Our work is guided by clear values: building technologies with real-world impact, pursuing excellence in everything we do, setting ambitious goals, and taking on the hardest technical challenges. We operate in a demanding environment where rigor, ownership, and execution are expected.

ABOUT THE ROLE

As Sales Manager, UK&I, you own the territory at the strategic level, customer relationships, the policy work that opens and secures the path to contract, and the order intake. Your capture manager owns the field; you own the direction, the arbitration and the number.

RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Own the territory plan: customer and programme mapping, budget lines, competitive picture, prioritised pursuits, path to contract for each.
  • Build and hold relationships at senior and institutional level: ministries of defence, procurement agencies, service headquarters and end-user commands.
  • Shape requirements, acquisition routes and budget line placement ahead of formal competition.
  • Decide what we pursue and what we walk away from, and defend those calls.
  • Own pipeline hygiene, forecast accuracy and a defensible probability on every opportunity.
  • Set the commercial rhythm across the territory: demonstrations, trials, exercises and industry events, with Marketing and your capture manager.
  • Carry and deliver an annual order intake target.
  • Lead and grow the territory team.

REQUIREMENTS

  • +5-10 years selling complex defence systems to state customers, the majority of it in UK&I.
  • An existing, live, senior-level network in the territory. This is the first filter — without current high-level access in your market, this is not the right role.
  • Ownership of at least one full path to contract, from requirement shaping through acquisition route to signature.
  • A demonstrable record of influencing a requirement or acquisition strategy before a formal competition existed.
  • Experience running captures with local industrial partners, and fluency in national procurement regulation, documentation and local-content constraints.
  • A track record of carrying and hitting an order intake number in a fast-moving or resource-constrained environment.
  • Line management experience, or clear readiness for it.
  • Native or fully professional command of at least one core language of the territory.
  • Eligible for national security clearance in the territory, and willing to go through the process.
  • Willing to travel intensively across the territory.

We look forward to hearing how you can help shape the future of autonomous defense systems at Harmattan AI.

Source: Harmattan Ai careers (Ashby)

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