Director, Business Development - Institutional

ClearSpace seeks a Director of Business Development for Institutional clients to lead capture management, bid production, and commercial growth across European space agencies and public-sector entities.

This position drives the expansion of ClearSpace’s institutional pipeline by focusing on public-sector and institutional customers such as the European Commission, ESA, and national space agencies. The role encompasses capture management, bid production, and broader commercial activities to secure funding and partnerships within the space ecosystem.

Responsibilities

• Monitor institutional bid opportunities and evaluate which future projects align with available funding instruments.
• Maintain a database of potential projects suitable for various institutional bid types and funding mechanisms.
• Ensure coherence across institutional capture efforts within ClearSpace entities.
• Collaborate with the business development team to update customer, stakeholder, and competitor analyses.
• Assist in developing financial inputs for government and ESA budgets to support funding allocation.
• Track policy and budget developments at the member-state and Commission levels that influence institutional opportunities.
• Manage and coordinate institutional bids through the Business Acquisition Process from call opening to submission.
• Oversee the production of bid volumes to ensure timely delivery and compliance with institutional requirements.
• Leverage internal teams for larger bids and take initiative for smaller ones.
• Ensure bid execution aligns with the bid Product Assurance/Quality Assurance philosophy and conduct bid reviews.
• Control bid finances and coordinate partner inputs for multi-partner/consortium-style institutional bids.
• Support BD events, conferences, and customer-facing engagements with institutional stakeholders.
• Assist account management efforts with institutional agencies around In-Orbit Servicing (IOS) and Active Debris Removal (ADR) activities.
• Lead and support policy-style engagements at member-state and Commission level.
• Support the Product Development team in defining new and/or iterative products and services aligned to institutional programme needs.

Requirements

• Significant experience in bid management in the space industry, with a strong preference for experience across institutional bids.
• Excellent understanding of the institutional space ecosystem, including relevant member-state or stakeholder discussions and negotiations.
• Strong commercial awareness and risk and opportunity management.
• Excellent interpersonal, organisational, and written/verbal communication skills, including to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Nice to have

• Deep familiarity with EU and ESA funding instruments such as the EIC Accelerator, Horizon Europe, ARTES, and GSTP.
• Understanding of defence procurement processes and export control considerations (e.g. ITAR, dual-use export licensing).
• Existing relationships with institutional stakeholders across the European Commission, ESA, DLR, CNES, or national agencies.
• Experience bidding into domains such as in-orbit servicing, active debris removal, and space situational awareness.
• Experience of ESA bid financials, including Procedures, Specification and Standards (PSS) form generation.
• Professional-level French or German in addition to fluent English.