Head of International Business Development, CAE Defense

About This Role

We are looking for a leader with a proven track record of successful strategy development and business development (BD) and sales in our industry that embodies both leadership skills and presence to be a successful S&BD Leader for our Global Defence and Security business currently segmented into three sub-markets: Canada, EMEA, and IPAC. In this role, you will formulate, develop, implement, and lead the business strategy for our global defence business (all markets with the exceptions of USA). With your strong communication skills and stakeholder management expertise, you will formulate and communicate our strategy to clients and senior stakeholders (including political decision makers), while enabling the sub-regional BD teams to qualify, advance, and win opportunities in line with the formulated strategy. In short: you will be a crucial success factor for our ambitious growth objectives

The focus of the mandate is to support the ambitious growth objectives of the business by identifying and validating pipeline, defining business requirements, staffing, and coaching capture and bid teams to lead campaigns to success.

Your recipe for success has been strategic thinking beyond the obvious: beyond the wording of published requirements, beyond the immediate needs of our customers, beyond the obvious technical solution, beyond a proven value proposition, and beyond the sophisticated approaches of our teams that are navigating a well-developed lead to award process. Your creativity inspires the matrixed team around you to deliver on a winning strategy.

You have experience in executing a yearly strategic development process and will derive the complete 5-year go to market plan for the international P&L, including required technology and product requirements, strategic communication plans and advocacy, stakeholder management, and potential partnering strategies.

With your strategic vision and guidance, you will develop and generate a solid pipeline with the regional teams in line with our strategy and business plan. You understand financial requirements of the P&L and how Order Intake will have an impact on the entire financial objectives of the region. Running a governance and respective reporting for BD that tracks progress against plan, risks, and mitigation of risks will also form part of your accountabilities.

You will have as direct report, the capture management, bids and proposal, business intelligence, and Business Development Operations group. The sales team, embedded through the regional structure, will be indirectly reporting to your function. As a functional leader, you are expected to provide structure, coaching, and reporting for the complete go to market team. Your accountability will be focused on delivering a matured pipeline that supports our strategy.

As a senior member of the International Leadership Team, you will be responsible for delivering on the region’s financial and strategic objectives in close collaboration with your leadership peers. As such, you will be working with technical experts, consultants, and leaders across our business, as well as external partners, suppliers, and of course our customers.

CAE puts a huge focus on people, so as well as managing the business pipeline, pursuing programs, and building winning strategies, the role will also include coaching and mentoring the extended BD, capture, and strategy teams. The goal of this will be to motivate and sustain group engagement in the overall D&S business, build talent, and create a strong pool of succession candidates to increase depth in the region.

Qualifications:

• Highly effective motivator and people leader.
• Individual with strong leadership abilities who can build and motivate a strong team of professionals.
• Individual who works well in a highly team-oriented environment.
• Skilled business strategist with a bias to tactical action, skilled in independently translating concepts and ideas into real-world results.
• Excellent business acumen with the ability to make sound business decisions in a highly competitive, fast-moving environment, often under conditions of uncertainty.
• Strong communication skills, oral and written, with an ability to communicate effectively with a broad range of people including employees, customers, and partners.
• Confident, self-reliant, with a high degree of initiative and personal drive characterized by a positive motivational style, and a forceful yet flexible style.
• Creative and resourceful – motivated by achieving solid business results, and by finding new and innovative ways to penetrate markets and accounts.

Education and Experience:

• Minimum of 15 years experience in business development, capture management, marketing, sales, proposal, or program management activities in the Canadian Defence industry including 10+ years of experience in dealing with International Defence procurement processes.
• Bachelor degree in engineering/sciences or administration or equivalent background and experience. MBA not required, but preferred.
• Strong ability to collaborate with key OEMs and business partners.
• Demonstrate advanced sales, market research, and business skills and knowledge.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English - French is an asset.
• Be able to hold a NATO SECRET Security Clearance & Controlled Goods Clearance.

Position Type: Regular

CAE thanks all applicants for their interest. However, only those whose background and experience match the requirements of the role will be contacted.

CAE is an equal-opportunity employer committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. As 'One CAE,' we take affirmative action to ensure equal opportunity for all applicants regardless of race, nationality, colour, religion, sex, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, neurodiversity, Veteran status, age, or other legally protected characteristics.

If you don't see yourself fully reflected in every job requirement listed in the job posting, we still encourage you to reach out and apply. At CAE, everyone is welcome to contribute to our success. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please get in touch with us at rh-hr@cae.com.

At CAE, we equip people in critical roles with the expertise and solutions to create a safer world. As a technology company, we digitalize the physical world, deploying simulation training and critical operations support solutions. Above all else, we empower pilots, airlines, defence and security forces, and healthcare practitioners to perform at their best every day and when the stakes are the highest. Around the globe, we’re everywhere customers need us to be with more than 13,000 employees in more than 200 sites and training locations in over 40 countries. CAE represents 75 years of industry firsts—the highest-fidelity flight and mission simulators, surgical manikins, and personalized training programs powered by artificial intelligence. We’re investing our time and resources into building the next generation of cutting-edge, digitally immersive training and critical operations solutions while keeping positive environmental, social and governance (ESG) impact at the core of our mission. Today and tomorrow, we’ll make sure our customers are ready for the moments that matter.