Sales Manager

Sales Manager

Join Airbus Helicopters at Oxford Airport, the UK’s civil helicopter hub, as our Sales Manager!

We are looking for a results-driven individual to own the full sales lifecycle and exceed quotas by selling our entire portfolio—from aircraft and spares to service contracts—across the Private, Parapublic, and Military sectors in the UK and Ireland.

You must have:

• Proven sales experience and a track record of meeting/exceeding targets in the aerospace or aviation industry.
• Expertise in pipeline management and using SalesForce (or similar CRM).
• The drive to be field-based and build strong customer relationships.

This is your chance to play a critical part in delivering helicopters that serve, protect, and save lives globally.

Permanent Role | Oxford Based (Field Role) | Excellent Benefits & Global Career Growth!

Apply today and take off with Airbus!

The Sales Manager will be a dynamic and results-driven individual who is accountable for selling all AHUK offerings including aircraft, UAS, Support and Service contracts including By the Hour (*bH) contracts, training services and products and equipment and spares into the Private Business Aviation (PBA), parapublic (HEMS and police), and military sectors.

• This role requires strong sales capabilities including interpersonal skills, high levels of emotional intelligence, commercial awareness and the ability to identify and align customer needs with the Airbus portfolio of solutions and products.
• The Sales Manager will generate a clear pipeline of qualified opportunities and shall be accountable for generating revenues and margin to ensure AHUK sales targets are met and exceeded. This role carries quotas for revenues, margin, helicopter types and products across all AHUK market segments.
• The Sales Manager will be involved across the entire sales lifecycle from lead generation to delivery of solutions and products to liaison with Customer Support Managers to ensure ongoing sales opportunities are realised post aircraft delivery.
• The successful candidate will need to work as an individual whilst ensuring they play their role in the overall sales and customer management process. The successful candidate shall liaise closely with Commercial colleagues to ensure targets are met and exceeded where possible.
• The Sales Manager reports directly to AHUK's Head of Sales and Commercial and will liaise accordingly with relevant internal and external stakeholders where applicable to ensure clarity of communications is upheld and that both customer and AHUK needs are aligned and met.

Business Development and Sales:

• Achieve and exceed, where possible, annual and quarterly sales targets and other KPIs defined by the Head of Sales and Commercial for the PBA, parapublic, and military markets in the UK and Ireland.
• Actively identify, pursue and close new business opportunities, including fleet modernisation, customisation, new aircraft sales, and all other AHUK offerings.
• Carry out Business Development and Sales activities across all relevant AHUK business sectors, as defined and assigned by the Head of Sales and Commercial.
• Achieve and exceed the minimum assigned aircraft volumes and types on both a quarterly and annual basis, ensuring margin protection.
• Under the supervision of the Head of Sales and Commercial, collaborate with the Commercial team to support market analysis to identify gaps and new business opportunities.
• Initiate, nurture and maintain strong relationships with key customers, stakeholders, and industry partners leading to customer retention through satisfaction.
• Represent the Voice of the Customer within the AHUK Sales team in a timely fashion, ensuring that the Head of Sales and Commercial is kept fully aware of customer concerns and issues as they arise.

Pipeline Management:

• Develop and manage a robust pipeline ensuring that opportunities are moved through the funnel from prospecting to closing, to ensure a healthy and consistent flow of both bookings and deliveries on a quarterly and annual basis.
• Ensure that relevant AHUK stakeholders are involved at the appropriate time during the sales process to ensure customer needs can be met in line with AHUK resource availability.
• Monitor and drive sales against individual sales plans and targets, providing regular, accurate forecasts and reporting to the Head of Sales and Commercial.
• Conduct regular and frequent meetings, ideally in person, with leads and customers to ensure timely sales progression.

Leadership and Development:

• Support the Head of Sales and Commercial and Senior Commercial Operations Manager, as required, with coaching for Sales and Commercial team colleagues to develop a culture of accountability, learning and collaboration.
• Adhere to a rigorous sales process, utilising best practices for lead qualification, opportunity management, and deal progression using SalesForce and other relevant reporting mechanisms.
• Conduct weekly pipeline reviews with the Head of Sales and Commercial to assess deal health, identify potential blockers, and request support and guidance where required.
• Take part in sales and marketing training programmes to enhance capabilities and product knowledge.

Commercial Operations Liaison:

• Liaise with internal and external stakeholders to ensure that commercial proposals are aligned with customer expectations and company profitability goals.
• Leverage expertise from commercial operations to ensure an outstanding customer experience from the initial sale through to contract execution and after-sales support.
• Ensure Export and Compliance and taxation information is collated and shared with relevant colleagues to protect AHUK from reputational and financial exposure.

CRM and Reporting:

• Ensure all sales activities, forecasts, and customer data are accurately recorded and maintained in SalesForce in a timely and effective manner.
• Adopt best practices for pipeline management and CRM usage to improve efficiency and deal velocity.
• Ensure the integrity of all data within SalesForce, using it to generate insightful reports and drive strategic decisions.
• Generate regular, accurate forecasts and reports for the Head of Sales and Commercial and other relevant stakeholders within AHUK.

Knowledge, experience and skills:

• Proven experience in sales, business development and customer service within the aerospace, defence, or aviation industry.
• Proven track record of consistently meeting or exceeding revenue and margin targets.
• Demonstrable experience in managing and growing a sales pipeline, including forecasting and pipeline analysis within Salesforce or a similar CRM software.
• Strong leadership and interpersonal skills developed within the sales environment.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and negotiation abilities.
• Capable of acting as part of a team, whilst maintaining the ability to work in isolation.
• Fluent in English but other languages such as French &/or German are an advantage.

Education, qualifications or training:

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Aviation Operations or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.
• IT literacy: Must be capable of efficiently using SalesForce, SAP Concur, Google Applications - GMail, GMeet, Google Sheets etc. and also Microsoft Office and other CRM type tools.
• Must be open to training with any new IT tool necessary in this function.

Personal Attributes:

• A proactive sales person with a strong sense of ownership and accountability, with a passion for sales and a commitment to customer satisfaction.
• Highly resilient, excellent organisational skills and the ability to thrive under pressure in a dynamic, fast-paced and competitive environment.
• Demonstrates integrity, ethical behaviour, and a commitment to Airbus values.
• A collaborative team player with the ability to build and maintain strong internal and external relationships.
• Ability to self start sales opportunities in a proactive, field-based environment with a desire to spend time with customers to understand their needs and priorities.

Additional Requirements:

• Due to the nature of this position you will require DBS Security Clearance and be eligible for SC clearance.
• Applicants must meet any/all requirements of Export Compliance Regulations.
• The position is considered a 'field-based' role with a working office at Oxford Airport, UK, with frequent travel across UK and Ireland with European travel as required by the business.

The Reward:

In joining the Airbus family, you will play a key role in a stimulating and challenging environment at the heart of the UK’s aviation industry, with opportunities for career growth within a truly global company. You will play a critical part in delivering the most efficient helicopters for our customers, who serve, protect, save lives and carry passengers in demanding environments. On top of your competitive base salary, you will