Director of Defense Sales

• Location: Europe-based (EU or UK), mobility required
• Reports to: CEO and Executive Board/Comex
• Position objective: Drive Alta Ares’ commercial expansion across Europe by securing defense contracts, building relationships with procurement agencies, and positioning Alta Ares as a category-defining leader in AI-enabled defense systems. We are looking for a high-performance sales leader with a strong background in the defense industry, ideally with experience in neoprimes or advanced defense tech companies.
• Contract: CDI (permanent contract)

1. Defense Sales & Business Development

• Own the sales pipeline across European MODs, procurement agencies, and armed forces
• Lead qualification, opportunity shaping, proposal management, and contract negotiations
• Identify and drive multi-million programs across ISR, C-UAS, autonomy, and AI
• Establish a repeatable sales motion with clear forecasting and metrics
• Convert tactical demos and pilot deployments into scalable contracts

2. Customer & Partner Relationships

• Build trusted relationships with military users, procurement officers, and program managers
• Engage with primes, neoprimes, integrators, and defense engineering firms
• Develop and manage channel partnerships where relevant
• Conduct regular on-site visits, field demos, and customer workshops across Europe

3. Market Expansion & Strategic Development

• Map European defense markets: budgets, procurement cycles, capability gaps
• Shape requirements for upcoming tenders and influence capability roadmaps
• Provide competitive intelligence and product feedback to engineering & founders
• Support localization strategies for key European countries

4. Cross-functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Engineering, Product, and Operations teams to align demos, deployments, and delivery
• Help refine pricing strategy, sales collateral, and customer-facing documentation
• Contribute to showcasing Alta Ares at major defense exhibitions (Eurosatory, DSEI, MSPO, IDEX, etc.)

Education

• 5–10 years of experience in defense sales, business development, capture management, or program engagement
• Strong track record selling to MODs, procurement agencies, or armed forces
• Experience in defense tech companies, primes, or ideally neoprimes (e.g., Anduril, Helsing, Palantir, Shield AI, or equivalent)
• Deep understanding of defense procurement cycles and bidding processes
• Demonstrated ability to close complex deals in multi-stakeholder environments
• Experience working with drones, C-UAS, ISR, AI autonomy, or adjacent systems is a major plus
• Based in Europe with frequent travel across EU, UK, and occasionally US/Ukraine

Required Skills & Qualities

• Strong hunter profile with resilience and deal-making mindset
• Ability to translate technical capabilities into operational value
• Excellent relationship-building with military and technical stakeholders
• High integrity, discretion, and understanding of security culture
• Entrepreneurial spirit: able to operate in fast-moving, resource-efficient environments
• Bilingual English + another European language (French strongly preferred)

• Experience in a neoprime or high-growth defense startup
• Experience in NATO procurement or European Defence Fund (EDF) programs
• Former military service (officer or NCO)
• Knowledge of operational C-UAS, ISR, or AI workflows
• Existing network inside European MODs and procurement bodies
• Ability to support deployments and demos in live environments

European & Technolo-gical sovereignty

Rigor & Audacity

Pragmatic, Field-Oriented Innovation

Resilience in Extreme Conditions

• Competitive compensation aligned with experience
• Meaningful stock options in a fast-scaling deeptech startup
• High autonomy and direct collaboration with founders
• Opportunity to shape the future of defense AI across Europe
• Work across Paris, Kyiv, NYC, and major operational sites
• A mission-driven environment focused on sovereignty, innovation, and operational impact