Business Development Director

Wanna Join the Adventure? As Loft’s first Business Development Director to be based in Germany, you will play a pivotal role in our European growth strategy. You will be responsible for driving customer acquisition and strategic partnerships across the German ecosystem—including government agencies (such as the BND DLR), defense primes, and commercial space players. This is a high-impact role for a business development leader who combines a deep understanding of the German space and defense landscape with a passion for shaping new space infrastructure models. About this Role: Build and grow a pipeline of customers across the German government (civil and defense) and commercial sectors. Cultivate long-term relationships with key stakeholders such as DLR, BAAINBw, Bundeswehr, primes (e.g., Airbus, OHB, HENSOLDT), and commercial tech startups. Identify and negotiate strategic partnerships that accelerate Loft’s ability to deliver space infrastructure-as-a-service Shape Go-to-Market Strategy, collaborating with our EMEA Business Development team to localize Loft’s positioning for the German market. Influence Loft’s product roadmap. Work closely with technical and product teams to ensure customer requirements inform Loft’s platform development. Attend and speak at German and European space industry events and support Loft’s brand presence in-country. Must Haves: 7+ years of sales, business development, or strategic partnerships experience across the commercial space, aerospace, or defense sectors. Demonstrated success in capturing new business across the German space and defense landscape, including customer procurement cycles and key players. Experience selling complex technical solutions (ideally in space, aerospace, or defense applications). Understanding of the operating practices of European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission (EC) Experience leading and/or contributing to RFP responses Effective professional communication skills; Fluency in German and English is required (both spoken and written) Passion for the space industry and a desire to be part of a fast-paced, mission-driven team. Nice to haves: Fluency in French, and/or additional European languages Experience winning proposals for spacecraft development programs Some of Our Awesome Benefits: Equity, we want you to have an active role in our success Up to 35 days of Paid Time Off (vacations RTT ) and flexible working hours, we want you to be at your best Health and life insurance, we care about your health Lunch Vouchers, because let’s be honest, we love food! (we even have a slack channel about it #loft-gourmand ) Cross-office travel opportunities between San Francisco, Colorado, and Toulouse to learn from our differences Company and team off-sites and many other events to work celebrate together Relocation assistance to Toulouse when applicable * Research shows that while men apply to jobs where they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, women and other marginalized people tend to only apply when they meet 100% of the qualifications. At Loft, we value respectful debate and people who aren’t afraid to challenge assumptions. We strongly encourage you to apply, even if you don’t check all the boxes. Who We Are Loft Orbital builds “shareable” satellites, providing a fast simple path to orbit for organizations that require access to space. Powered by our hardware software products, we operate satellites, fly customer payloads onboard, and handle entire missions from end to end - significantly reducing the lead-time and risk of a traditional space mission. Our standard interface enables us to fly multiple customer payloads on the same satellite, with capabilities such as earth imagery, weather climate /science data collection, IoT connectivity, in-orbit demonstrations, and national security missions. Our customers trust us to manage their space infrastructure, so they can focus on what matters most to them: operating their mission and collecting their data. At Loft, you’ll be given the autonomy and ownership to solve significant challenges, but with a close-knit and supportive team at your back. We believe that diversity and community are the foundation of an open culture. We are committed to hiring the best people regardless of background and make their time at Loft the most fulfilling period of their career. We value kind, supportive and team-oriented collaborators. It is also crucial for us that you are a problem solver and a great communicator. As our team is international, you will need strong English skills to better collaborate, easily communicate complex ideas and convey important messages. With 6 satellites on-orbit and a wave of exciting missions launching soon, we are scaling up quickly across our offices in San Francisco, CA | Golden, CO | and Toulouse, France. As an international company your resume will be reviewed by people across our offices so please attach a copy in English. Originally posted on Himalayas