The Role
Own and grow Loft's European commercial business: prospect, build pipeline, run complex sales cycles, lead proposals, negotiate and close contracts with satellite operators, emerging space companies, defense primes, and integrators, represent Loft at industry events, and feed market intelligence back into the business.
Summary Generated by Built In
Wanna join the adventure?
Loft Orbital is hiring a commercially driven Business Development Lead to own and grow our European business. This is a senior individual contributor role built for someone who knows how to find opportunities, build trust with the right people, and close deals — in an industry that's moving faster than ever.
You'll be Loft's commercial engine in Europe. That means building a real pipeline, running complex sales cycles, and landing the kinds of contracts that matter. You're not coordinating from the sidelines — you're the one making it happen.
France is our primary focus, and deep fluency in that market — the language, the players, the culture — will set you apart. Toulouse is the center of European space, and ideally, you're already in it.
About the role:
- Drive revenue. Own the full commercial sales cycle across Europe — from prospecting and pipeline development through negotiation and close.
- Hunt and develop new business with commercial satellite operators, emerging space companies, defense primes, and technology integrators across Western Europe.
- Build and manage a healthy, high-quality pipeline — knowing which opportunities to prioritize, when to push, and when to walk.
- Get in early with customers — understand their programs and roadmaps before RFPs drop, and position Loft as the obvious partner.
- Lead commercial proposals and bid responses, coordinating across technical and commercial teams to put our best offer forward.
- Negotiate contracts with confidence — handling pricing, terms, and deal structure without losing momentum.
- Engage institutional customers (CNES, DLR, UKSA, etc.) where they intersect with commercial opportunities — leveraging these relationships to expand Loft's footprint rather than treating them as the primary sales motion.
- Represent Loft at industry events, trade shows, and customer meetings — building our brand and your network simultaneously.
- Bring market intelligence back into the business — what customers need, what competitors are doing, where the market is heading.
Must Haves:
- 7+ years in commercial sales & business development in space/aerospace.
- Existing commercial network in the European space or aerospace ecosystem — you already know who's buying and what they need.
- A track record of closing deals. Not just pipeline building — actual signed contracts with real commercial customers.
- Experience managing long, complex sales cycles with multiple stakeholders on the customer side.
- Sharp commercial instincts — you can qualify fast, structure creative deals, and know when to escalate versus push forward independently.
- Enough technical fluency in space systems or satellite technology to speak credibly with engineers and win the confidence of technical buyers.
- Strong proposal and negotiation experience — you've handled pricing, terms, and contract structures without needing a lawyer in every meeting.
- Bilingual - fluency in English, and one or more European Languages
- Based in Europe
Nice to Haves:
- Experience in a startup or NewSpace company — you're comfortable building process and pipeline without a lot of infrastructure behind you.
- Familiarity with satellite systems, mission operations, or space software — enough to have real conversations, not just read from a slide.
- You've worked both sides of the table — commercial and institutional — and know how to navigate each.
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 underrepresented 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: Space Made Simple.
Founded in 2017, Loft provides governments, companies, and research institutions with a fast, reliable, and simple way to deploy missions in orbit.
We integrate, launch, and operate spacecraft, offering end-to-end missions as a service across Earth observation, IoT connectivity, on-orbit AI, national security missions, and more. Leveraging our existing space infrastructure and an extensive inventory of satellite buses, Loft is reducing years-long integration and launch timelines to months. With more than 30 missions flown, Loft’s flight heritage and proven technologies enable customers to focus on their mission objectives.
With a growing fleet on track to reach 30 satellites by 2027, we are scaling up quickly across our offices in San Francisco, CA | Golden, CO | and Toulouse, France to meet accelerating demand for space infrastructure.
As an international company your resume will be reviewed by people across our offices so please attach a copy in English.
Skills Required
- 7+ years in commercial sales and business development in space or aerospace
- Existing commercial network in the European space or aerospace ecosystem
- Proven track record of closing deals with commercial customers
- Experience managing long, complex sales cycles with multiple stakeholders
- Commercial instincts to qualify opportunities, structure deals, and prioritize pipeline
- Technical fluency in space systems or satellite technology to engage technical buyers
- Strong proposal and negotiation experience, handling pricing, terms, and deal structure
- Bilingual — fluent in English and one or more European languages
- Based in Europe
- Experience in a startup or NewSpace company
- Familiarity with satellite systems, mission operations, or space software
- Experience working both commercial and institutional customers
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The Company
What We Do
Space Made Simple. We are a true end-to-end service provider letting our customers rapidly deploy and operate their payloads on reliable high-performance satellites at an unprecedented simplicity and affordability.
