A well-connected candidate can make a strong first impression. For a defence business development role, however, a list of familiar organisations does not tell you whether they can help your business win suitable work.
The right hire needs to understand what you can credibly deliver, recognise worthwhile opportunities and work with technical and commercial colleagues. Decide what that means for your business before assessing candidates against a broad sales title.
Define the growth task
Are you entering a new market, developing existing accounts or improving the quality of opportunities reaching your bid team? A person who succeeds in one of these situations may not be the best fit for all of them.
Explain your current offer and the support available. A growing technology business may need someone who can help refine its proposition. A larger supplier may need focused account development within a more established structure. Neither brief should assume that relationships alone will create demand.
Ask how they qualify an opportunity
Discuss a situation in which the candidate decided to pursue or decline potential work. What did they understand about the customer's need? How did they judge whether the organisation could deliver? Who challenged the decision?
A useful answer should show how they weighed customer interest against delivery capacity, timescale and commercial suitability. Ask what changed as new information emerged. The ability to stop pursuing unsuitable work can be as revealing as an account of a successful sale.
Separate personal contribution from the team's result
Most substantial wins involve several people. Ask candidates to explain their own responsibility without taking credit for every part of the process. They might have opened a relationship, shaped a requirement, coordinated a bid or negotiated an agreement.
Follow the sequence rather than asking only for a headline number. What was the position when they joined? What action did they take? Which colleagues made the work possible? What evidence can they discuss without breaching confidentiality?
Avoid asking for customer lists or restricted information from a previous employer. You can assess their judgement through an anonymised account of the work.
Test their ability to work with engineers
Commercial promises need to reflect what the business can deliver. Explore how the candidate has worked with technical colleagues when the proposed solution, schedule or scope was uncertain.
A practical interview could ask them to explain an unfamiliar technical offering back to you after a short briefing. Look for clear questions, honest treatment of gaps and an explanation a buyer could understand. Fluency in terminology is less useful than knowing when to ask for technical support.
- How would they prepare for an initial customer discussion?
- What would they need to learn from the engineering team?
- How would they record assumptions and unresolved questions?
- When would they involve delivery and commercial colleagues?
Agree what progress should look like
Set expectations that reflect the starting position and the nature of the work. Early progress might include better qualification, clearer account plans or stronger coordination with delivery. Revenue remains important, but it needs to be understood alongside the time and work required to win it.
Be explicit about reporting, decision authority and handover once work is secured. The role should help the organisation build business it can deliver well, not simply produce activity that looks busy.
Secure Consult recruits for defence business development, commercial and technical leadership roles. We can help turn your growth requirement into an assessment of the experience and judgement that matter.
