Daniels Smalley Partnership
Technical Sales Engineer
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Technical Sales Engineer
Aerospace & Defence: Customer & Technical Engagement – New Market Expansion Opportunity
Overview
Flexible Location – Site Based or Hybrid, with travel to South Wales as required Base Salary: c £55,000 to £60,000 + bonus + benefits
Our client, an international leader in design, manufacturing, and technology, specialises in serving the demanding Aerospace and Defence sectors through cutting-edge personal parachute, safety, and survival solutions.
Due to sustained growth, they seek an ambitious, technically astute professional to quickly establish credibility and drive international sales for their newest product line. Reporting to a Business Unit Manager, this role serves as a technical bridge between technical specifications and commercial strategy, driving road-to-market strategies while supporting long-term business growth. This position offers a highly visible path to leadership and future talent development.
The Role
Core Objectives:
- Develop a coherent “winning strategy” for the highly upgraded, premium product benefitting from substantial investment
- Support growth initiatives – Design and implement new market strategy and routes-to-market to meet business expansion goals
- Technical credibility – Build trust with international militaries, governments, defence primes, agents, and end users, positioning the company’s solutions as indispensable
Key Responsibilities:
Business Development & Strategic Growth
- Travel extensively within Europe, the MENA, and the Asia-Pacific regions to engage with core customer accounts
- Lead pre-sales consultations:
- Assess client needs
- Configure technical specifications
- Deliver persuasive technical presentations
- Manage commercial tenders, quotations, and contract negotiations including scope review, tender compliance, and mixed economic modelling
- Work closely with engineering, R&D, and production to configure custom designs and ensure alignment with future user needs
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Customer & Technical Engagement
- Serve as a trusted technical advocate for both internal stakeholders (e.g., engineering, operations) and external customers
- Serve as a bridge between the business team and user base, ensuring solutions are value-driven across long-term product positioning and influx support
- Organise and lead user training sessions, trials, and validation testing, ensuring capability adoption
Account & Relationship Management
- Manage key relationships with government agencies, defence primes, and commercial defence integrators
- Maintain robust post-sales account retention, including pro-active troubleshooting, product upgrades, and reassurance programmes
- Contribute to market intelligence including usage patterns, competitor analysis, and regulatory considerations
Bid & Programme Support
- Lead preparation for military trials, defence exhibitions, PR events, and proactive partner collaboration
- Maintain an up-to-date opportunity pipeline, forecasting sales cycles, and satisfying accounting planning
- Assist in bid capture plans, coordinating between sales, procurement, and technical teams
The Person
Essential Qualifications and Skills:
- Degree: Bachelor/Master of Engineering (BEng/MEng) in Aerospace, Aeronautical, or Mechanical Engineering with demonstrable technical expertise and capability to quickly gains users’ trust
- Experience within Aeronautical applications, particularly in government and defence environments, strongly preferred
- Proven commercial aptitude or passion for transferring engineering solutions into sales opportunities
- Ability to thrive in sales and marketing in complex environments (e.g., as a Sales Engineer, Solutions Engineer, Aftersales Engineer, or Project Engineer)
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Desirable Backgrounds:
- Military background (e.g., PJI, JADTEU) or experience as a uniformed operator, combined with in-person credibility within user communities
- Prior customer-facing engineering or programme management success in either commercial or defence sectors (e.g., logistics, procurement, certification*)
- Knex with security clearance or willingness to obtain for UK national security access
Cultural Fit & Behaviours:
- Strong entrepreneurial drive and bias towards action – not hindered by administrative barriers
- Intensity Plus personality – people who thrive under challenging, pressurised environments
- Adaptability and agility – working seamlessly in tight-knit, fast-moving teams to deliver high-complexity, low-volume products
- Procedural comfort around government and military procurement, including compliance, tender competitiveness, and serial mastery
- Exceptional presentations skills, able to craft technical solutions that win business and loyalty
- Financial acumen with insight into tender calculations, accounting acknowledgements, production plans, and margin optimisation
- Foreign language proficiency preferred or maximised for typical international markets
Travel essential (>20% travel), working gregariously across UK/Europe (Belgium, Spain, et al.) and client-led assignments in MENA/Asia on short notice.
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