Introduction
Saab UK is a British company that is part of Saab Group’s global high-technology operations. Saab offers world-leading solutions and services in defence, aviation, space and civil security. In the UK we bring together the best of Swedish and British innovation and engineering to provide our customers with products and solutions that push boundaries for what is considered technically possible. Our mission is to help our customers to keep people and society safe.
Our Saab UK business is going through a period of rapid growth, this means that we can offer a wide range of opportunities for personal fulfilment and career growth. As part of the global entity Saab AB, Saab UK Ltd combines the innovative spirit of a start-up with the resources and expertise of a larger corporation. Across the country we have seven principle sites which focus on software engineering, underwater robotics, training services and radars. Globally we number over 19,000 employees and have operations on all continents. Technologically we are leaders in many areas, and we reinvest a high proportion of our earnings in internal research and development. We collaborate with colleagues around the world who all share our challenge – to make the world a safer place.
Saab is a company with opportunities, a company where we see diversity as an asset and where you have both considerable responsibility as well as good opportunities for advancing in your career. Additionally, Saab is a company that respects each person’s needs for a rewarding life beyond work.
Purpose of the position
The Head of Marketing & Sales leads on Customer engagement in his or her market sector and is responsible for creating, identifying, validating and pursuing business leads and opportunities within the Operational Country (OpC).
The responsibility covers various elements of Saabs portfolio with particular focus on Training and Simulation, as assigned by the Director of Marketing and Sales. The Head of Marketing & Sales position within an OpC acts as the Customer Sales Responsible (CSR) for his/her prospects. Their responsibilities include the establishment and maintenance of the customer relationships and responsibility for the relevant parts of the Winning Business (WB) process for their assigned prospects. The CSR leads the business realisation in accordance with the WB process from Market Appraisal up to and including Deliver and Follow Up Tender, and for the customer relationships throughout and beyond the WB process.
This is a key role within the sales team and will represent Saab’s continued relationship building with the British Army and therefore, the individual will be required to have an intricate understanding of Land operations and be capable of establishing and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders, creating a narrative and having the capability to identify opportunities for the business across campaigns and sales.
The ideal individual will have come from a British Army background of OF3 or above, with a demonstrable understanding of how the Army delivers Collective Training. Working with Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) as well as some wider commercial, business development or sales experience would also be a prerequisite.
Stakeholder engagement at all levels within the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is essential to this role. Therefore, applicants will need to have had prior involvement in running large campaigns and stakeholder management. As an acknowledged Subject Matter Expert in their area, Heads of Marketing and Sales may also be called upon, where capacity exists, to assist the wider global M&S organization in developing sales prospects outside their parent OpC.
The Head of Marketing & Sales is responsible for acquiring and maintaining relevant product knowledge, developing a close working relationship with respective Saab Business Units and to work closely with designated Product Sales Responsible (PSR) for each prospect.
The Head of Marketing & Sales is also responsible for creating the winning strategy and determining the market price working closely with the PSR. To support this and to build Saab’s position within the UK market, the Head of Marketing & Sales conducts business intelligence, as part of the Competitive and Market Intelligence (CMI) process, and business development work in relation to set responsibilities to provide input to commercial proposals and to participate in contract negotiations, acting as the critical bridge across the entire span between the capability requirements of the end user, and the engineering realities of Production.
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The Head of Marketing & Sales working with respective PSR’s, is responsible for managing all his/her cases in the CRM Tool, and is responsible for preparing relevant documents for the WB process up to and including the WB3.
Principal Responsibilities
- Deliver order intake and gross margin in accordance with set budget.
- Establish and maintain customer relationships.
- Lead on marketing and sales prospects for the Saab Training and SImulaiton product portfolio.
- Act as a customer-facing Saab ambassador.
- Lead for the WBprocess from WB MA to WB1 and take decisions in accordance with delegated authority.
- Deliver on KPIs in accordance with annual goals set during the IPM process.
- Identify, prioritise and qualify new business opportunities and leads.
- Update all qualified cases in the CRM tool.
- Create business-winning strategies for each opportunity.
- Conduct market, customer and competitor analysis in order to develop business.
- Develop and maintain relevant product knowledge.
- Establish and maintain relevant Business Unit networks.
- Collaborate with the PSR for respective projects.
- Participate and support contract and commercial negotiations.
- Maintain, evaluate and manage market networks and consultants.
- Maintain, evaluate and develop relations with other Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) for Business-to-Business opportunities.
- Synchronize with other Saab stakeholders in relevant cases.
- Participate at exhibitions and other customer-facing events.
- Work in alignment with Saab’s policies and directives.
- Participate in and support other Operational Countries or Country Units as required.
- Other tasks within the Country Unit as deemed relevant from time to time.
Required Skills and Experience
Essential
- Experience and understanding of the UK Defence, acquisition process and budgets.
- Knowledge of British Army Collective Training and the Collective Training Transformation Programme (CTTP)
- Experience of working at or with DE&S
- Leadership and teamwork skills.
- Excellent written and spoken communication skills in English.
- Developed social skills and a positive attitude.
- Service oriented approach.
- Flexibility and Adaptability
- Documented experience of marketing and sales or other relevant sectors.
Desirable
- Knowledge of business and planning processes.
- Have sufficient product knowledge in terms of technical base specifications and commercial aspects in order to be able to assume the CSR role
- Negotiations experience.
Authority
- Head of Marketing & Sales reports to the Director of Marketing and Sales and has mandate within the CSR role to carry out the work as described above.
- WB decision mandate within the personally assigned limits.
- Mandate to take decisions on behalf of Saab within his/her area that applies from time to time.