Head of Customer - Defence

Head of Customer - Defence Our Mission At Vertical Aerospace, we are pioneering the way for electric aviation. The Valo, our eVTOL (electric, vertical, take-off and landing), 'zero emissions' aircraft will set a new safety standard for how we will navigate the sky. We won't realise our mission following the same legacy processes and traditions our predecessors followed, instead, we want to 'redefine' aerospace best practices. We are growing quickly from a prototype business to a scaling SME, and the next few years will be critical to our success and delivering on our ambitious goals. Valo is targeting airliner-level safety certification in 2028 ahead of entering service with our airline and operator customers. What to expect You will be joining Vertical Aerospace as Head of Customer - Defence, leading our commercial approach for defence opportunities focused primarily on the UK, Europe, NATO and allied nations. You will be accountable for defining and executing the strategy to secure government support, funding and defence partnerships that help progress our hybrid aircraft ambitions and shape our defence offering. What you'll do - Lead Vertical Aerospace’s defence sales activity, building and executing a commercial strategy focused on UK, European, NATO and allied nation opportunities. - Secure government support and funding to advance our hybrid aircraft roadmap, including opportunities linked to defence innovation programmes and operational demonstration activity. - Develop compelling defence value propositions and campaign plans that position our aircraft and related technologies against relevant mission needs. - Build and maintain senior relationships across ministries of defence, armed forces, procurement bodies, innovation organisations and defence stakeholders. - Identify, assess and pursue opportunities to place Vertical on relevant defence programmes, demonstrations and future programmes of record. - Establish and grow the partnership ecosystem needed to bring a defence solution to market, including engagement with defence primes, mission system providers, autonomy partners and propulsion-related collaborators. - Help shape the defence product direction by translating market and operator needs into clear commercial input for internal teams. - Work cross-functionally with engineering, procurement, programme, strategy and leadership teams to support bids, proposals and externally funded opportunities. - Provide clear insight on market priorities, competitor positioning and route-to-market options to guide Vertical’s defence growth. - Explore adjacent commercial opportunities for powertrain and technology-related sales where Vertical’s capabilities may have defence relevance. - Represent Vertical Aerospace credibly in external defence forums, customer discussions and partner engagements. - Build the foundations of Vertical’s defence commercial capability as a highly self-directed leader operating effectively in a lean, fast-moving environment. What you'll bring - Strong leadership experience in defence sales, business development or strategic partnerships, with a track record of winning and shaping complex opportunities. - Proven experience selling into or working with UK MOD, European defence organisations, NATO-aligned customers or allied government stakeholders. - A well-established professional network and the credibility to open doors, build trust and navigate defence buying environments at senior levels. - Experience developing pitches, submissions, bids or funding cases for defence innovation programmes, operational demonstrations or longer-term capability programmes. - Good understanding of how to position air platforms, advanced aviation, UAV, drone, helicopter or adjacent aerospace capabilities for defence use cases. - Ability to work independently and resourcefully, with the judgement to prioritise opportunities and drive momentum without relying on a large team. - Experience buildi ... (truncated, view full listing at source)