The Luxembourg System Integrator for Microsatellites & Aerospace Systems

LuxSpace Sàrl is a member of the OHB group family.

LuxSpace vision is to technologically enable the use of Space by players with great missions on Earth. Leveraging our flight heritage and our 15+ years hands-on experience, our team builds the vision by reshaping the way microsatellite solutions and Space based services are conceived, developed, and delivered.

LuxSpace focuses on:

• Complete microsatellite systems in the 20-200 Kg class
• Space systems and subsystems design, specification, procurement, manufacturing, integration, and testing. This includes structure, TT&C subsystems, electronics, Radio Frequency, power supply, AOCS, simulators, on- board software, GSEs and all major elements of satellites
• Satellite services and applications with a focus on Automatic Identification System (AIS) and Earth Observation (EO)

Our OHB LuxSpace Team is composed of highly skilled and motivated professionals having joined us from more than 15 countries.

LuxSpace offers a dynamic and challenging, multinational, open minded and innovative work environment with a cooperative management culture and a flexible working time model.

Business Development and Proposal Manager - Space Industry Luxembourg (m/f/o)

Role description summary:

In today’s challenging and dynamic small satellites market, the incumbent’s objective shall be to accelerate the growth of LuxSpace’s market share and revenue as a provider of professional, smart, affordable solutions for space missions and space-based applications.

Such products and solutions shall be largely based on LuxSpace’s microsatellite product line designed to support a broad range of applications in the domains of Earth Observation, Communications, Situational Awareness, Technology Demonstration. On top, the incumbent will look, develop and capture opportunities integrating the microsatellites product line with the Application and services product line.

The incumbent shall be responsible for the following activities:

1. Identifying business opportunities in accordance with LuxSpace’s strategic goals
2. Building and maintaining key customer relationships
3. Maintaining extensive knowledge of the market and forecasting its evolution
4. Grow LuxSpace annual revenues and backlog
5. Structuring, preparing and delivering proposals for microsatellite platforms, as well as for integrated microsatellites and application and services
6. Harmonizing the team of contributors to a bid, ensuring a commercially oriented focus of the proposal
7. Negotiate and close deals based on the proposals delivered

The position owner shall report to the competent Director /Head of Department level responsible for Space Programs.

Due to the nature of the role, the position owner will work and interact collaboratively across the company, particularly for the pursuit of synergies with parallel business development activities in the area of services and applications.

Primary responsibilities / Key result areas, including:

Identifying business opportunities

• Prospect for new clients by networking, advertising, cold calling, or other means of generating interest from potential clients
• Establish a structured process to be followed to continuously scan business opportunities in terms of public ITTs, commercial sales of recurring LuxSpace products to business and institutional customers, as well as bespoke developments for specific customers
• Coordinate regularly with business development responsibles of other companies and affiliates within the OHB group for the identification and pursuit of common business opportunites and synergies
• Engage in a virtuous feedback loop with the rest of the organization to keep organizational capabilities and products in close alignment with customer/market demands

Building key customer and stakeholder relationships

• Develop strategies to ensure customer retention
• Regularly present new products and services to existing and prospective customers, and enhance existing relationships
• Work with technical staff and other internal colleagues to ensure satisfaction of customer needs arrange and participate in regular internal and external client debriefs
• Promote and maintain effective relationships with Luxembourg government agencies, ESA and other relevant institutional actors to facilitate the identification and pursuit of opportunities for funding of Research and Development projects

Maintaining extensive knowledge of current market conditions

• Generate and maintain a database of information regarding market players, competitors and possible partners (size, products, objectives, main business deals, …)
• Attend industry functions, such as seminars, events and conferences, and provide feedback and information on market, industry players and trends
• Present to and consult with senior level management on business trends with a view to developing new business strategies, services, products, partnerships
• Using knowledge of the market and competitors, identify and develop the company’s unique selling propositions and differentiators

Grow LuxSpace annual revenues and backlog

• Participate to the identification of revenue and backlog targets
• Work with management in the prioritization of the opportunities aimed at increasing LuxSpace business targets

Structuring, preparing and delivering proposals for microsatellite platforms, as well as for integrated microsatellites and application and services

• Maintain a database of proposal templates and building blocks to be reused for further proposals
• Establish metrics for proposal quality
• Identify the drivers of opportunities to be captured, both by analysing the prospective customer documentation as well as in direct interaction with the customer
• Define the proposal capture strategy, including the competitive advantages of LuxSpace for the proposal and the objectives and boundaries of LuxSpace negotiation and pricing strategy for the proposal
• Structure the proposal according to the drivers and requirements of the proposal
• Prepare the proposal content, ensuring or exceeding the level of quality expected by the prospective customer
• Deliver the proposal in due time and according to the formal submission requirements

Harmonizing the team of contributors to a bid, ensuring a commercially oriented focus of the proposal

• Identify the needed contributors to the proposal, in accordance with the managers of those contributors
• Clarify roles and expectations of each contributor within the overall proposal capture strategy
• Ensure active participation of the contributors and their constant understanding of the proposal preparation priorities
• Ensure a commercially oriented focus of each contribution

Negotiate and close deals based on the proposals delivered

• After submission, engage in constructive negotiation with the prospective customers
• Lead negotiations with a focus on common interest and aiming at a win-win solution
• Handle objections by clarifying, both internally to the other functions at LuxSpace and with the customer, emphasizing agreements and working through differences to a positive conclusion
• Contribute to presenting an image of LuxSpace as a professional organization that understands and values the needs of the customer
• Build long term relationships with the prospective customers, ensuring a growth mindset at both sides of the negotiation table
• Close the deal within the objectives and boundaries of LuxSpace negotiation and pricing strategy for the proposal

Required Skills, Experience and Candidate Profile:

• University degree (Master/Diploma/PhD) or equivalent in Engineering, ideally aerospace
• Relevant experience in a business development environment in the aerospace industry
• Academic background in business administration and strategy topics, e.g. an Master in Business Administration, would be an asset
• Very good knowledge of the space market and value chain, in particular in the domain of satellites
• Good knowledge of the applications and services part of the space market and its value chain
• Commercially driven mindset with focus on results and achievements
• Ability to define strategies for capturing commercial opportunities, including overall market dynamics assessment, competitive assessments, pricing strategy and negotiation strategy
• Proactive team player with strong relationship building qualities
• Leading personality with ability to communicate effectively and drive results
• Good analytical and problem-solving skills
• Ability to formulate strategies based on understanding of market dynamics
• Excellent communication skills at executive management and governmental level
• Willingness to work flexible in line with proposal/project needs and schedules
• Willingness to travel
• Languages: Fluent English language skills (spoken and written), any other language being an asset

• In line with applicable (immigration) legislation, all candidates must be eligible to live and work in Luxembourg / be an EU / EEA citizen, and possess all applicable work and residence permissions for Luxembourg.
• Documented evidence of eligibility will be required from the applicants as part of the recruitment process.
• In view of the nature of projects concerned and job profile, candidates may have to undergo stringent reference and identity checks.
• Readiness and eligibility for security clearance procedures may be required from candidates.

Work Environment:

• Dynamic, innovative, challenging
• Join our team of highly skilled and motivated professionals.
• Living and working in Luxembourg info: www.guichet.lu 

Contract Type:

• Permanent employment contract
• Full-time (40 h / week)
• Flexible working time options

Your Online Application:

• Please in English language
• Let us know your motivation
• Your Curriculum Vitae (Europass appreciated)
• Kindly include your salary expectations (EUR annual gross)

Please apply solely online via the LuxSpace Career Website. Thank you!