Business Development Analyst - International Operations and Development in Crawley

Contract Type: Permanent – Full Time

Security Level: BPSS

Location: Gatwick – 2 days per week office attendance

Visa Restrictions: This position does not offer visa sponsorship

Closing Date: Wednesday 19th August 2026

Interview Date: W/C Tuesday 1st or Monday 7th September 2026

Who are we? CAA International Limited (CAAi) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the UK Civil Aviation Authority and a registered Social Enterprise. As the UK CAA’s technical cooperation arm, we work with governments, aviation authorities, regulators and industry organisations worldwide, providing advisory, consulting, training, examinations and licensing services to strengthen aviation regulation and raise global standards. We also support targeted initiatives and good causes that address aviation challenges in the UK and developing countries.

The Role: As Business Development Analyst, you will provide analytical and commercial support to CAAi’s Business Development team, working across CAAi and the wider CAA to assess international opportunities, support tenders and proposals, conduct market and competitor research, analyse CRM and pipeline data, and contribute to new product and service development. Operating with a good degree of autonomy and within established CAAi policies, processes and governance, the post-holder will gather and interpret information from multiple sources, analyse data and evidence, coordinate inputs from internal and external stakeholders, and translate findings into practical outputs such as opportunity assessments, market and customer briefings, tender summaries, dashboards, reports, business cases, proposals, presentations or process improvements for managers and senior stakeholders.

This role will suit someone who combines strong analytical and organisational skills with commercial curiosity, clear written communication and an interest in international aviation and business development.

Key area of focus/responsibility:

• The Business Development Analyst supports the identification, assessment and progression of business development opportunities for CAAi’s services.
• The role delivers defined research, analysis, tender, proposal and pipeline-management activities as part of the wider business development process, typically under the supervision of managers or senior colleagues.
• The role is responsible for complex commercial analysis, insights, reporting and interpretation of data and information, with work typically planned and prioritised according to business development cycles, opportunity deadlines and customer requirements.

Owns/lead independently:

• Owns the production of clear, accurate and well-structured commercial outputs including opportunity assessments, market and customer briefings, dashboards, business cases, proposals, decision papers and presentation material.
• Gather, analyse and interpret information from multiple sources, including internal systems, stakeholder input, customer and market insight, country, competitor or sector research, tender information and external research.
• Act as the Business Development focal point for tender and opportunity monitoring, including reviewing relevant tender portals, procurement platforms, donor and international financial institution opportunities, government pipelines and partner intelligence, and summarising relevant opportunities for senior review.
• Use digital tools, systems and approved AI-enabled capabilities appropriately to improve productivity, analysis, research, reporting and knowledge management, applying judgement, validation and quality control.
• Maintain and analyse accurate CRM records, pipeline, tender trackers, repositories and other management information relevant to the Business Development and Marketing function, supporting data quality, reporting, governance and continuous improvement.

Supports/contributes:

• Provide analytical and operational support to the CAAi Business Development team, helping managers and internal senior stakeholders assess and qualify opportunities, progress business development activities and deliver commercial and business objectives.
• Support the preparation of proposals, expressions of interest and commercial submissions, including research, evidence gathering, compliance checking, drafting input, coordination of internal contributors and supporting documentation.
• Subject to training, experience and internal governance, support the end-to-end preparation of lower-value/lower-complexity proposals, typically up to approximately £50k, escalating commercial, technical, contractual or delivery risks to senior managers as required.
• Contribute to the development and improvement of products, services, and business development processes and ways of working by identifying market trends, customer needs, opportunities and practical recommendations.
• Support stakeholder engagement by coordinating inputs, clarifying requirements, preparing supporting material and maintaining effective working relationships across CAAi, the wider CAA, customers and external partners where required.
• Support the planning, coordination and timely delivery of defined business development related workstreams, ensuring actions, dependencies, risks, deadlines and stakeholder inputs are captured and managed effectively.

Governance:

• Complete work in line with relevant CAAi governance, approval processes, information security requirements, data protection obligations, commercial/procurement processes and Quality Management System requirements.

Decision Making:

• The role uses analytical judgement and commercial awareness to assess opportunities, progress business development workstreams, support proposals, solve problems and make evidence-based recommendations.
• The post-holder works with colleagues within Business Development and Marketing function and across other relevant business areas to contribute to opportunity identification and qualification, problem-solving, options analysis and recommendations for management decisions.
• The role has autonomy to determine how to perform tasks within clear rules, policies, processes and governance, escalating exceptions, anomalies or situations without precedent to managers or senior colleagues.
• Prioritises day-to-day analysis, opportunity monitoring, analysis, coordination and proposal-support activities in line with agreed business priorities, deadlines and stakeholder requirements.
• Interprets market, customer, competitor, tender, CRM and stakeholder information and data to identify opportunities, issues, options, risks and recommended next steps.
• Works within relevant CAAi frameworks, governance and approval processes, escalating exceptions or situations with no clear precedent.

About You:

• Good analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to gather, interpret and summarise market, customer, commercial and other information from multiple sources.
• Good written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce clear briefings, reports, commercial documentation and presentation material.
• Good planning, organisation and time management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and fixed deadlines.
• Good commercial and customer awareness, with the ability to understand business objectives, customer/stakeholder requirements, market opportunities and delivery constraints.
• High attention to detail and accuracy when working with data, documentation, governance processes or formal submissions.
• Confident user of Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, PowerPoint and Word.
• Ability to conduct structured market, customer, country, competitor and sector research and translate findings into clear business insight and practical recommendations.
• Ability to work independently while remaining collaborative and aligned to team priorities.
• Confidence using digital tools to improve research, analysis, productivity, reporting and knowledge management.
• Awareness of AI-enabled tools and their potential application to research, summarisation, analysis, reporting and productivity, with appropriate source checking and human review.
• Experience in business development, commercial analysis, bid or proposal support, market research, consulting, strategy or a similar role.
• Experience supporting proposals, tenders, expressions of interest, commercial submissions or other deadline-driven bid documentation.
• Experience conducting market, customer, competitor, country, sector or opportunity research and presenting findings to support commercial decisions.
• Experience gathering, analysing and presenting information to support decisions, planning, delivery or improvement activity.
• Experience working with multiple stakeholders to gather information, coordinate inputs and deliver outputs to deadline.
• Experience preparing structured business outputs such as reports, opportunity assessment, briefings, trackers, dashboards, business cases, proposals, process documentation or management information.
• Experience using business systems, reporting tools, CRM, tender-monitoring tools, project management tools, spreadsheets or data repositories, or the ability to develop capability quickly.
• Experience working in a team environment while managing own workload and priorities.

Essential Qualifications:

• Degree or equivalent professional experience.