Business Development Manager (Defence)

Business Development Manager (Defence)

Programme Name: UK Growth

Location: Farnborough or Whiteley with travel required and flexibility to work from home dependent on business demands

Salary: £75,800 - £99,800

About the role

Leidos is currently seeking a Business Development Manager – Defence, aligned to our National Security and Defence (NS&D) Division covering the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence. You will work with a team of Business Development (BD) professionals and report to the BD Director for NS&D.

At Leidos, we deliver innovative solutions through the efforts of our diverse and talented people who are dedicated to our customers' success. We empower our teams in the UK to address some of the most complex problems in Defence, government, safety & security and transportation. Everything we do is built on a commitment to do the right thing for our customers, our people and our community.

The Leidos UK Culture Charter brings together the culture and behaviours we expect of all employees, as guided by our enduring Leidos Values: Integrity, Inclusion, Innovation, Agility, Collaboration & Commitment.

Responsibilities

• Plan and lead Business Development (BD) activities that will contribute to our annual award targets in this strategic and fast-growing area of the UK business.
• Develop and manage a pipeline of opportunities to support the next 2-5 years business growth ambition, aligned to the UK strategy.
• Develop and maintain senior relationships with Defence clients positioning Leidos as a potential strategic supplier.
• Guide the Leidos bid teams in their pursuit and shaping of the business development campaign to propose differentiated client propositions.
• Identify and qualify the opportunities that best match Leidos strengths and provide optimum outcomes for the client and us.
• Lead and execute significant new business campaigns in the UK Defence market.
• Operate effectively within a multi-functional team where you will be an effective leader and communicator.

Required experience

• Substantial experience of successfully selling into the UK Defence market.
• Existing client relationships in the UK MOD.
• A track record of successfully driving business growth year on year and hitting targets.
• Demonstrable experience of success in leading and winning contracts valued more than £25m.
• Extensive knowledge of Government business development, contract awards, current procurement trends and customer buying behaviours.
• Experience of winning work on frameworks and then scaling the size of follow-on awards in those areas.
• Proven experience of collaboratively creating compelling winning bids with partners.
• Excellent inter-personal, presentation and verbal skills and an experienced negotiator.
• Tenacity and energy to maintain the momentum of multiple and concurrent pursuits.
• A track record of Client and Industry stakeholder engagement and relationship development.
• Expertise in motivating and mentoring agile teams to grow and change the business.

Domain specific requirements

• Experienced Business Developer, Senior Account Manager or Capture Leader with a proven track record of successfully prosecuting and winning business in the UK MOD.
• Experience and understanding of the Defence Intelligence community is essential.
• Experience and understanding of the R&D/S&T community and working with DSTL is highly desirable.
• Experience and understanding of Information Advantage concepts, technologies and customers is highly desirable.
• Experience of forming partnerships/consortiums to win opportunities is essential.
• Experience in formulating use cases for multi-domain and digital transformation concept demonstrators is highly desirable.
• In depth understanding of the MOD's digital transformation programmes is desirable.
• Understanding of autonomous systems, ITSM, application of AI/ML technology (to solve problems) is desirable.

Security clearance

Clearance to Start: SC

Clearance for Role: DV

Benefits

• Contributory Pension Scheme
• Private Medical Insurance
• 33 days Annual Leave (including public and privilege holidays)
• Access to Flexible benefits (including life assurance, health schemes, gym memberships, annual buy and sell holidays and a cycle to work scheme)
• Flexi-Time Working

About Leidos

Leidos UK & EUROPE works to make the world safer, healthier, and more efficient through technology, engineering and science. Leidos is a growing company delivering innovative technology and solutions focused on safeguarding critical capabilities and transformation in frontline services. Our work in the United Kingdom includes addressing some of the most complex problems in defence, healthcare, government, safety and security, and transportation.

Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with 47,000 global employees, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $17.2 billion for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2026.

Why Leidos

Purpose: You can use your passion and abilities at Leidos to keep the people you care about safe. We are at the forefront of machine learning, AI, cyber security and solutions. Using your skills in the technology frontline by helping to build a safer world. You can inspire change.

Collaboration: Having flexibility to do your job is one of our core benefits, enabling you to become part of our extraordinary team. We have been empowering our people to work flexibly for years. Whether you work from home, the office or on customer sites, we will give you the digital tools and the flexibility to work smarter and align your needs and ours.

People: Leidos empowers people from every background to be themselves and gives you the tools to learn new skills by enabling growth whilst developing. We believe that extraordinary people need opportunities to grow, to be inspired and to inspire others. At Leidos, we invest in technical academies, career rotations and career development plans that enhance your future.

Commitment to diversity

We welcome applications from every part of the community and are committed to a truly diverse and inclusive culture. We foster a sense of belonging, welcoming all perspectives and contributions, and providing equal access to opportunities and resources for everyone. If you have a disability or need any reasonable adjustments during the application and selection stages please let us know, and we will respond in a way that best fits your needs.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, citizenship, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, family structure, marital status, ancestry, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Leidos will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with relevant laws.

Pay range information

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.

Security notice

Leidos will never ask you to provide payment-related information at any part of the employment application process. Leidos will communicate with you only through emails that are sent from a Leidos.com email address. If you receive an email purporting to be from Leidos that asks for payment-related information or any other personal information, please report the email to spam.leidos@leidos.com.