Business Development Associate in Birmingham

Safran is an international high-technology group, operating in the aviation (propulsion, equipment and interiors), defense and space markets. Its core purpose is to contribute to a safer, more sustainable world, where air transport is more environmentally friendly, comfortable and accessible. Safran has a global presence, with 100,000 employees and sales of 27.3 billion euros in 2024, and holds, alone or in partnership, world or regional leadership positions in its core markets.

Safran Electronics & Defense offers its customers onboard intelligence solutions allowing them to understand the environment, reduce mental load and guarantee a trajectory, even in critical situations, in all environments: on land, at sea, in the sky or space. The company harnesses the expertise of its 13,000 employees towards these three functions: observe, decide and guide, for the civil and military markets.

The primary objective of this role is to support the delivery of the aftermarket sales, Intake plan and growth targets for Large Commercial, Regional & Business and Helicopter business segments within the assigned territory. Typically, this would be circa $180M pa. Be part of a small team of Business Development Managers that includes oversight, business objectives, performance management and customer relationships.

Key Responsibilities:

• Builds and maintains a robust 12-24 month strategic opportunity pipeline aligned to priority platforms and customers.
• Maintains pipeline coverage greater than annual sales target with clear conversion milestones.
• Leverage market insight and customer engagement.
• Ensures sustainable long-term growth.
• Holds monthly pipeline reviews.
• Further enhance RFQ and bid management processes to improve speed, quality, and win rates of non-contacted work.
• Drives improved bid win rate, reduces RFQ turnaround time and ensures on-time bid submission.
• Build on process improvements already implemented.
• Directly drives revenue and customer satisfaction.
• Supports development and deployment of marketing plan.
• Supports identification of root cause and executes corrective action to ensure issues resolution.
• Gather, collate and feedback market intelligence to the Business Intelligence and Proposal team.
• Develop and enhance customer relationships and interactions to ensure business growth.

Skills & Experience:

• Familiar with the aerospace aftermarket industry practices and business models.
• Knowledge of helicopter, regional & business and civil aircraft markets.
• Technical understanding of flight controls and hydraulic systems an advantage.
• Cultural agility to work across all customers and internal facilities.
• Business and commercial acumen.
• Existing customer relationships preferred.
• Ability to perform detailed business analytics using Excel and Power Business Intelligence.
• Degree in Business preferred and a degree in Aerospace Engineering an advantage.
• Can actively seek out opportunities to leverage the wider organisation.
• Curious, always learning & promotes learning culture.
• Establishes meaningful relationships; empathetic.
• Strong analytical skills and may come from a finance background.