Head of Commercial Aviation

Who you are

You’re an agile aviation commercial leader who loves rolling up your sleeves and leading from the front. You are customer-obsessed, commercially sharp, and comfortable navigating complex stakeholder environments (airlines, IFC partners, OEMs, and internal product/network teams). You bring structure to ambiguity, build high-performing teams, and you know how to run capture campaigns that win. You want to make a real difference by scaling a new generation of LEO connectivity into commercial aviation.

What you’ll do

Airline engagement & capture leadership

• Build and execute airline account plans across priority carriers, targeting C-suite, procurement, digital, IT, cabin, connectivity and passenger experience stakeholders.
• Lead capture campaigns end-to-end: opportunity qualification, win strategy, partner alignment, value proposition, pricing/terms positioning (with internal teams), and competitive battlecards.
• Influence airline RFI/RFP requirements early (technical + commercial), shaping “must-have” criteria toward OneWeb strengths (coverage, latency, resilience, roadmap, service models).
• Orchestrate internal resources (product, engineering, network, legal, finance, operations) to deliver compelling airline proposals and negotiated outcomes.
• Own executive narratives and governance: roadmap alignment, service commitments, program steering, and escalation management through selection and activation.

IFC partner management & ecosystem growth

• Manage and grow strategic relationships with IFC/IFEC distribution partners and integrators; agree joint plans, campaign priorities, and account coverage models.
• Drive partner accountability: pipeline hygiene, stage definitions, forecast discipline, win/loss reviews, and partner-led execution quality.
• Ensure partners are enabled with the right commercial collateral, technical positioning, training, and joint marketing/demo activity.
• Establish/operate governance rhythms: QBRs, pipeline councils, bid/no-bid, deal reviews, and executive steering when needed.
• Identify and close gaps across the partner ecosystem (coverage, UT availability, certification plans, integration complexity, service definition).
• Translate airline and partner feedback into requirements for UT roadmap, service/SLA, pricing models, packaging and contracting approaches (with product/strategy and commercial team).
• Maintain competitive intelligence on other LEO system and other GEO/LEO/HTS competitors; apply this to win strategies and positioning.
• Own forecast quality: pipeline creation targets, weighted forecast, and scenario planning; contribute to annual operating plans and revenue outlook.
• Represent Eutelsat OneWeb at key aviation events and forums (e.g., APEX, Aircraft Interiors Expo, Aviation Week) and in selected media engagements.
• Design and deliver bespoke airline proposals (including unsolicited “value-led” offers) to create demand, open doors, and accelerate procurement cycles.
• Build multi-party commercial structures with IFC partners and ecosystem players (airline + IFC integrator + Eutelsat + OEM/terminal/service providers as required).
• Develop creative business models to unlock wins: revenue share, minimum guarantees, risk/reward share, bundles (capacity + services + UT), phased deployments, and performance-based SLAs/credits.
• Lead commercial deal-shaping with internal stakeholders (finance, legal, product, operations): pricing architecture, contract terms, liabilities, termination clauses, implementation milestones, and margin/risk guardrails.
• Own the commercial narrative and approvals: create the business case, secure internal governance sign-off, and negotiate to close.

Team leadership, hiring & org build-out

• Directly manage the current Aviation commercial team (Airlines account executive - AAE and Account Managers - AM): set priorities, coach performance, and ensure disciplined execution across accounts, partners, and bids.
• Define and implement the operating model (coverage, roles & responsibilities, partner/airline ownership, governance cadences, KPI dashboards).
• Build a high-performing team culture: capture excellence, customer-first execution, strong cross-functional collaboration, and consistent pipeline rigor.
• Own headcount planning and hiring: assess capability gaps, create role profiles, recruit, onboard and ramp new hires (e.g., capture leads, regional airline account leads, partner managers, bid support) as the business scales.
• Establish talent development plans and succession: training in capture methodology, negotiation, IFC market/technical acumen, and executive engagement.

What it takes

• Proven ability to build credibility with airline decision-makers and lead multi-stakeholder commercial negotiations.
• Strong capture discipline: qualification, win strategy, competitive positioning, and structured deal governance.
• Ability to operate through indirect GTM: influencing outcomes via partners while driving urgency and accountability.
• Comfort with complex technical propositions (IFC architectures, SATCOM basics, certification constraints) without needing to be the engineer.
• People leadership experience: managing BD/AM teams with measurable outcomes (pipeline creation, win-rate, partner performance, retention/upsell).
• Experience building teams: hiring, onboarding, defining territories/coverage, and implementing repeatable commercial processes.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication, strong synthesis skills, and executive presence.

What we’d love

• 7–12+ years in commercial aviation, SATCOM, IFC/IFEC, aerospace connectivity, or adjacent complex B2B infrastructure.
• Demonstrated success in airline capture/RFP wins and/or partner-led GTM models.
• Experience with airline procurement processes, OEM/MRO interfaces, and cabin connectivity stakeholder maps.
• Track record of operating globally across regions and cultures with regular travel.
• Agile approach to thinking and solution finding.

What success looks like (6–12 months)

• A qualified, stage-managed pipeline of airline opportunities with clear capture plans and executive sponsorship.
• Higher win-rate and earlier influence in airline procurement cycles (requirements shaped before RFP).
• Strong partner cadence and measurable partner performance improvements (pipeline accuracy, conversion, joint campaigns).
• Clear voice-of-customer inputs reflected in product/service roadmap and commercial offers.
• A clear aviation commercial org design implemented (roles/coverage/governance), with key hires onboarded and ramping.

Where you'll be

UK, US or Europe