Technical Sales Manager - Earth Observation Payloads

About the role

Simera Sense provides Earth observation camera solutions for the global small satellite market. It is looking for a Technical Sales Manager to act as the technical link between its commercial and engineering functions, making sure customer commitments are technically sound, well communicated and achievable. The role supports technical client engagements, aligns payload solutions with mission requirements, contributes to proposal development and feeds customer insights back into sales and marketing strategy. It is based in Cape Town / Somerset West, South Africa, reporting to the Chief Commercial Officer.

Key responsibilities

• Identify upsell and cross-sell opportunities (ground support equipment, image processing, calibration, flatsat/EFM models and SSA applications) and give a technical view for go/no-go and bid/no-bid decisions
• Validate feasibility, schedule and cost inputs from Engineering and Production, check proposals for compliance, pricing and export-control issues, and escalate technical risks early
• Own pre-sales technical support from first contact through proposal and negotiation, and lead technical presentations, demos and due-diligence reviews
• Lead requirement-qualification discussions on mission objectives, orbit, platform, GSD, swath, spectral bands, accuracy, revisit, data volume, downlink, SWaP-C, schedule and budget, and map requirements to the portfolio
• Present flight heritage, qualification and test evidence, and represent the company at trade shows, conferences and customer visits
• Support proposal development, write and edit technical volumes, coordinate inputs from Engineering, Production, Quality, Finance and Legal, and maintain a proposal library
• Own the Product Configuration Document during pre-sales and hand over customer commitments to Contract Managers and project teams
• Log technical customer interactions in the CRM, analyse engagement data and track competitors, and use insights to refine target segments and the product roadmap
• Contribute technical proof points, case studies and thought leadership content with Marketing

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in aerospace, electrical/electronic, mechanical or systems engineering, optics/photonics, physics or remote sensing, or equivalent
• 3+ years in technical sales, sales engineering, pre-sales, systems engineering or proposal management, ideally in space, satellite, aerospace or defence
• Demonstrated experience writing technical proposals and responding to RFI/RFQ/RFP documents
• Working knowledge of EO payloads, optical systems, satellite integration and image-quality concepts (GSD, MTF, SNR, radiometric/geometric accuracy, NIIRS)
• Experience with customers such as satellite manufacturers, integrators, agencies, defence/government end users and EO data providers
• Fluent English; Dutch, French or Afrikaans is an advantage

Required skills

• CRM systems and data analysis for sales insight
• Microsoft 365, CRM and document/PLM or project tools
• Familiarity with proposal-management practices is an advantage

What we offer

• A competitive salary
• The chance to work in the fast-growing space industry on a niche global market for optical payloads for microsatellites

Hybrid office-based role with international travel and occasional evening or weekend work; apply with a CV and cover letter.