Director, Business Development - Germany

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 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.