Services Export Sales Lead in Templecombe

Thales is a global technology leader with more than 83,000 employees on five continents. With over 7,500 people in the UK, operating across defence, space, aerospace, and digital security, we help build a future we can all trust. Thales supports the security and stability of our nation by providing extraordinary technology to our customers, as well as delivering social value to the UK with our products and services.

The Export Services Sales Lead is an important role responsible for growing the UWS UK services sector through growing the sales pipeline and leading prospects through to achieved Order Intake inline with forecasts. UWS’s growing installed base of sonar systems spans over a dozen countries. The candidate will be responsible for sales to provide through life support and managed services to surface ship, airborne and submarine domains, ensuring our customers get the maximum value from the investment they have made in Thales equipment. The role will require extensive liaison with export customers and UK government organisations involved in international trade to secure opportunities that enable the growth of the UWS business line. The Export Services Sales Lead is a key member of the UWS sales team and wider business line.

Primary Purpose of the role:

• Responsible for reaching business objectives specifically order intake by managing people, influencing customers and engaging key stakeholders by leading diverse teams, influencing customer decisions and engaging stakeholders at all levels—including ministries of defence and major defence primes.
• Development of a robust OI pipeline through sales, capture leadership, and Business Development activities and ownership of delivery of that pipeline.
• Maintain current, establish new and own the strategic relationship with senior members of customer organisation.
• Maintain an overview of all Thales programmes and projects being delivered to the customer, and lever off these to provide support / training solutions.
• Identify and capitalise on new business opportunities related to the UWS business line activities.
• Establish strong long term relationships with customers in the UK and targeted countries of interest.

Main Duties of the role:

• Work closely with the UWS Services Head of Sales & Strategic Campaigns and Services Department to develop a 5+ year strategy delivering OI growth.
• Consultative sales and solution leadership to enhance maturity of in-country service provision towards availability and managed services.
• Develop campaigns and strategies to enable business winning and growth.
• Leading the UK team and liaising with the BL services teams and country managers globally to ensure global offerings are made where appropriate.
• Capture leadership including sharing capture information with relevant Businesses within Thales.
• Improve P2 (Thales chance of winning the opportunity) through customer knowledge.
• Engage and establish relationships across other industrial companies that work within the specific account and analyse their capabilities.
• Gather and own customer information to support business forecasts and bid planning.
• Establish regular outcomes-focused meetings with key customer contacts.
• Develop messages and themes for relevant shows and events.
• De-conflict any issues in internal positioning and strategy to ensure good partnering behaviour is followed.
• Provide and translate (where required) customer technical requirements and capability gaps to inform the Product Line Management process.
• Build relationships with relevant Key Account Managers in UK and other countries.
• Produce, present and agree relevant capture plans and progress through Thales internal governance (CHORUS) as required for applicable phase of opportunities.

Candidate specification:

• Strong understanding of the military maritime environment.
• Experience of minehunting / services operations would be an advantage.
• Proven track record of leading major sales captures and bid campaigns (>£10m) for government, institutional, and industrial clients in the UK and export.
• Experience of managing cross-functional, multi-national teams to deliver complex engineering solutions.
• Comfortable knowledge of the suites of services at Thales including modifications, spares/repairs, ILS, deployed support, tech pubs, obsolescence availability solutions, and DRACAS etc.
• A proven track record of developing trusted senior level relationships.
• Holding Security Clearance at SC, and ability to achieve up to DV level.
• Alongside sales and capture leadership skills strong contract negotiation, bid/project management, and new product introduction expertise would be useful.
• Proven experience adept at international stakeholder management.
• Ability externally to shape complex solutions with the customer to lead to customer value propositions from initial whiteboarding through to contract.
• Internally ability to coach the SDM community to help facilitate best outcomes for Thales.
• Recognized for strategic account management, business development, and building senior trusted relationships.

Personal Attributes:

• Has a strong sense of personal accountability and creates a highly accountable, high performance culture at all levels.
• Comfortable in highly ambiguous situations and able to shape solutions out of complexity.
• Builds and orchestrates complex multifunctional teams across organisational boundaries.
• Always delivers what is promised, when it is promised.
• Makes significant timely, high quality decisions in uncertain and ambiguous contexts.
• Collaborative style, which builds close and trustful relationships both internally and externally.
• Quickly understands how organisations operate and can read complex political environments.
• Handles highly sensitive situations assertively, prepared to push back and challenge at senior levels and customers.
• A very high level of integrity and strong moral compass.
• Ability to listen and communicate with customers, technical personnel, sales staff, project managers and board members with equal skill.
• Creative, confident, self-driven and inventive, able to originate complex commercial solutions, yet patient and tenacious as required.

Location: Can be based at a convenient local Thales site but will need to attend Templecombe, Bristol and London as well as international travel when required, you should expect to be on site or with Customers 50% of your time. Thales has a hybrid working model that enables home working when this is suitable for the activities being conducted.

At Thales, we ensure equal opportunities, pay and working conditions for all. The benefits we offer include private medical insurance, buying or selling annual leave, cycle to work schemes, employee discounts, paid volunteering day, stocks and shares, annual bonus and much more depending on the role.

We are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued for who they are and the unique strengths they bring.