Summary
Orbitworks is building on Loft Orbital’s heritage and aims to mass-manufacture satellites at its Abu Dhabi facility. The Business Development Manager will build and manage a qualified opportunity pipeline, engage customers and partners, and guide opportunities from qualification through proposals and commercial discussions. The role also coordinates proposal inputs across engineering, finance, and operations, supports negotiations, and tracks market and competitor activity. Applicants should have 3–6 years of relevant commercial experience, proposal preparation experience, and strong communication skills; aerospace, government-customer, CRM, and MENA experience are preferred.
The posting
As published on loftorbital.com. Pulled from the employer's site and shown as they wrote it.
Role Overview
The Business Development Manager will play a key role in driving Orbitworks' commercial growth by identifying new business opportunities, developing customer relationships, and converting market interest into revenue. Working closely with engineering, finance, operations, and leadership, you'll coordinate proposals, support commercial negotiations, and ensure customer requirements are translated into commercially viable solutions. This is a hands-on role with ownership of opportunities from initial engagement through to successful commercial outcomes.
What You'll Be Doing
- Build and manage a healthy pipeline of qualified business opportunities.
- Engage prospective customers and strategic partners through meetings, calls, and follow-ups.
- Own and progress sales opportunities from qualification through proposal and commercial discussions.
- Coordinate with engineering, finance, and operations to develop competitive customer proposals.
- Prepare customer-facing presentations, proposals, and executive summaries.
- Track opportunities, actions, and next steps to maintain momentum across the pipeline.
- Support contract discussions and commercial negotiations alongside leadership.
- Identify follow-on business, expansion opportunities, and strategic partnerships.
- Monitor market trends, competitor activity, and customer needs to inform business development strategy.
Key Responsibilities
- Pipeline Development: Build, qualify, and manage business opportunities across priority customers and markets.
- Customer Engagement: Develop trusted relationships and understand customer requirements and decision-making processes.
- Proposal Management: Lead proposal development by coordinating inputs from cross-functional teams.
- Commercial Support: Assist with pricing, contract discussions, and commercial negotiations.
- Relationship Management: Maintain long-term customer and partner relationships while identifying growth opportunities.
- Market Intelligence: Monitor market trends, competitor activity, and industry developments to support commercial strategy.
Must-Have Skills
- 3–6 years of business development, sales, account management, or commercial experience.
- Demonstrated experience managing opportunities through the sales lifecycle.
- Proposal, bid, or tender preparation experience.
- Excellent written, verbal, and presentation communication skills.
- Strong commercial judgement and prioritisation skills.
- Experience collaborating with engineering, finance, operations, and leadership teams.
- Comfortable working in a fast-paced, evolving environment with ambiguity.
- International or cross-cultural business experience.
Nice-to-Have Skills
- Experience in the aerospace, space, or advanced technology industries.
- Experience working with government, defence, or enterprise customers.
- Familiarity with CRM and opportunity management tools.
- Experience within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
- Understanding of technical products or engineering-led solutions.
Orbitworks' mission is to make space simple for organizations that want to deploy physical and virtual missions to space. Building on Loft Orbital's heritage, Orbitworks will be the first commercial firm in the United Arab Emirates to mass-manufacture satellites. Orbitworks aims to manufacture tens of satellites annually and operates out of a 50,000-square-foot facility in Abu Dhabi.