Director, Business Development

Location: Ottawa - Palladium, Canada
In fast changing markets, customers worldwide rely on Thales. Thales is a business where brilliant people from all over the world come together to share ideas and inspire each other. In aerospace, transportation, defence, security and space, our architects design innovative solutions that make our tomorrow's possible.

This role is Hybrid Ottawa  

Director, Business Development

Position Summary

Thales Canada is seeking an experienced business development and sales leader to drive growth in the naval, maritime and digital domains. The Director will be responsible for shaping and executing sales strategies that position Thales as a partner of choice to domestic customers, including but not limited to, the Canadian Army, Canadian Joint Operations Command, the Canadian Joint Forces Command, the Canadian Special Operations Forces Operations and the Department of National Defence at large. This role combines strong executive presence, deep customer engagement and strategic sales execution to advance Thales’ land and joint defense portfolio into its next phase of growth.

The ideal candidate demonstrates the following qualities:

• Entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to unify technical expertise and commercial instincts.
• Collaborative leadership style that promotes innovation, accountability, and results.
• Deep respect for stakeholder relationships and a passion for advancing Canada’s defence capabilities.
• Ability to work effectively within a global matrix organization and influence cross-functional priorities.

The BD Director works in close collaboration with the extended capture team, industrial partners and the supporting business line(s) to maximize the success of the Thales offer.   This Business Development Director role is also responsible to develop non-domain Business Line (BL) opportunities to grow the defence account. This requires a level customer and Business Line engagement that includes the development and execution of comprehensive business cases expected at the Director level, and presented at the Business Line and Group Business Unit (GBU) leadership. 

Regulatory Compliance Requirement

This position requires direct or indirect access to hardware, software or technical information controlled under the Canadian Export Control List and/or the US the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). All applicants must be eligible or able to obtain authorization for such access.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead business development and sales strategy for the growth of the land, joint and related digital transformation programs.
• Establish and maintain relationships with Canadian Armed Forces stakeholders and customers, prime contractors, and key industry partners in a customer-centric approach
• Responsible for capture planning from opportunity identification through to hand off to the Capture Leader, including teaming, solution shaping, and value proposition development.
• Oversee the development of competitive intelligence, market assessments, and long-range sales forecasts to support strategic decision-making, working with the relevant internal stakeholders to support this activity.
• Collaborate with engineering, product, and capture teams to align solution roadmaps with customer priorities and emerging technologies.
• Champion C5ISRT, command and control, and data-enabled capabilities across Thales Canada’s land and joint capability portfolio.
• Work collaboratively with the BD and sales team and mentor and inspire a team approach to achieve revenue, order intake, and profitability objectives.
• Represent Thales Canada at industry forums, customer and government engagement events to engage customers and strengthen brand visibility.

Process

• Working within Thales processes, develop strategic alliances and partnerships as needed to achieve business goals. Analyse and influence customer requirements, standards and specifications to effectively position Thales products and solutions.  During Request for Information (RFI) processes, act as the Capture Leader, develop capture strategy, orient and organize the multi-BL bid team, assess make-team-buy and lead the proposal effort.  During RFP bidding processes, support Capture Leaders in the bid and proposal activities with specific focus on price to win, competitive analysis and industrial arrangements as required. Working within Product Policy and the Manage Bid processes, provides input for process improvement, analyse and influence customer requirements.

Resources

• Manage assigned resources to meet business goals.  These include Thales Canada Defence & Security (TCDS) resources and consultants supporting the early identification and capture of opportunities.  Effectively manage assigned capture/bid budgets as allocated until assignment of capture leader.

Development

• Investigate new market opportunities with the customer and establish strategies to win. Prepare recommendations and contribute the discussion and negotiation on Teaming Agreements. This position is accountable for the development of comprehensive Capture Plans, quality of information and timing of the Opportunities Review and gate presentations to senior management. Champion and development of the Thales Value Proposition and the effective communication to our customers.  Provide input to BL Product Line Managers as applicable to maintain product/service competitiveness.  The position is accountable for the overall qualification of opportunities to meet established OI /GMOI targets.

People Management

• Provide leadership and direction to the activities of the Bids & Proposal department to ensure proposals meet customer requirements and maximize order opportunities.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience.
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in sales in the Canadian defence industry with a proven track record of sales and business development success, or a combination of equivalent government and business development experience.
• Strong understanding of Canadian and allied defence procurement processes, with demonstrated technical experience in C5ISRT, command, control and communication systems and products.
• Knowledge of emerging technologies (AI, Cybersecurity).
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain trusted customer and stakeholder relationships
• Motivated, open-minded and innovative team player who can effectively work within a multi-disciplinary team to secure new business.
• Strategic thinker with demonstrated skills in capture management, competitive positioning, and stakeholder engagement.
• Exceptional leadership and team management capabilities
• Financial and business acumen and ability to qualify business opportunities and execute within a matrixed environment
• Outstanding negotiation, communication, and presentation skills suitable for executive and government audiences
• Commitment to Thales’ rigorous ethics and compliance standards.

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience in a software sales in a defence environment
• Demonstrated product sales experience
• Bilingualism in French & English
• Experience with CRMs and digital tools including PowerBI

Special Position Requirements

• Travel requirements are approximately 1 week per month to meet customers, attend conferences or tradeshows

The reference Total Target Compensation (TTC) market range for this position, inclusive of annual base salary and the variable compensation target, is between Total Target Cash (TTC) $160,000 - $180,000 -$210,000 CAD Annual.

This reflects how companies in a similar industry and geographic region generally pay for similar jobs. This range helps the Company make pay decisions as one data point among many. Where a position falls within this range is also dependent on other factors including – but not limited to – the employee’s career path history, competencies, skills and performance, as well as the company’s annual salary budget, the customer’s program requirements, and the company’s internal equity. Thales may offer additional benefits and other compensation, depending on circumstances not related to an applicant’s status protected by local, state, or federal law.

We use artificial intelligence–enabled tools as part of our recruitment process to support activities such as candidate discovery, résumé matching, and interview scheduling. These tools may help screen and assess applications and recommend potential matches based on the requirements within the job description.  All hiring decisions, including candidate evaluation, selection, and disposition, are made by human recruiters. Artificial intelligence does not make hiring decisions on our behalf.

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Thales provides an extensive benefits program for all full-time employees working 24 or more hours per week and their eligible dependents, including the following: 

• Company paid Extended Health, Dental, HSA, Life, AD&D, Short-term Disability, Cancer Care Program, travel insurance, Employee Assistance Plan and Well-Being program.

• Retirement Savings Plans (RRSP, DCPP, TFSA) with a company contribution and a match to a DCPP, with no vesting period.

• Company paid holidays, vacation days, and paid sick leave. 

• Voluntary Life, AD&D, Critical Illness, Long-Term Disability.

• Employee Discounts on home, auto, and gym membership.

Thales is an equal opportunity employer which values diversity and inclusivity in the workplace. Thales is committed to providing accommodations in all parts of the interview process. Applicants selected for an interview who require accommodation are asked to advise accordingly upon the invitation for an interview. We will work with you to meet your needs. All accommodation information provided will be treated as confidential and used only for the purpose of providing an accessible candidate experience.

This position requires direct or indirect access to hardware, software or technical information controlled under the Canadian Export Control List, the Canadian Controlled Goods Program, the Canadian Industrial Security Program, the US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and/or the US Export Administration Regulations (EAR). All applicants must be eligible or able to obtain authorization for such access including eligibility to the Canadian Controlled Goods Program and able to obtain a Canadian NATO Secret clearance.