---
title: 'Commercial Lead at NewOrbit Space'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/commercial-lead-neworbit-space-reading-m8h1174kagff'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-11'
---

# Commercial Lead at NewOrbit Space

- **Company:** NewOrbit Space
- **Location:** Reading, United Kingdom
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-09-10
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-11
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/neworbit/cd72efab-37cb-4395-a233-47bcfedf7713

## Job description

At NewOrbit Space, our mission is to engineer the lowest orbiting satellites on Earth to rapidly advance global connectivity and insight. We are currently building satellites that can operate at an altitude of just 200 km - one-third that of conventional satellites.

## Your Role

We are seeking an experienced Commercial Lead to build and lead a high-performing commercial function that drives strategic customer relationships and secures high-value contracts with both government customers and large enterprises (primarily satellite primes and OEMs). You'll own the path from shaping opportunities before tenders open, through leading competitive proposals, to securing multi-year contracts and driving sustained account growth. Your ability to navigate complex, high-stakes deals, foster a results-driven culture, and partner with our engineering and business teams will directly influence NewOrbit's market leadership.

## Key Responsibilities

- Dual-market ownership (Gov & Enterprise): Build and execute account strategies for agencies and large companies; map stakeholders, budgets, and decision paths; shape requirements before tenders open.
- Tender intelligence & capture: Track pipelines across government portals and enterprise sourcing calendars; run capture plans, win themes, and competitor/price-to-win analyses; lead bid/no-bid decisions.
- Proposal leadership: Orchestrate compliant submissions; coordinate clarifications, BAFO, and oral presentations.
- Complex deal negotiation: Close supply, licensing, and co-development agreements; negotiate IP, warranties/liability, service levels, and milestone payments aligned to TRL gates.
- Partnerships & consortia: Structure teaming with primes, SMEs, universities, and test partners to strengthen bids and delivery confidence.
- Forecasting & governance: Maintain a transparent pipeline with stage gating, ACV/TCV, probability, and cycle metrics; report risks/mitigations and drive executive decision forums.
- Voice of customer: Feed market and procurement insights into roadmaps, qualification timelines, pricing, and make/buy decisions.
- Compliance & controls: Work with Legal/Compliance on export control (UK/EU/US regimes), information security, and public-sector procurement rules.
- Market presence & pitching: Represent NewOrbit at industry events, tender briefings, space conferences, and executive reviews; deliver compelling pitches and presentations that clearly communicate our vision and value proposition.
- Team leadership: Build, mentor, and inspire a high-performing commercial team, fostering persistence, creativity, and a results-driven culture.

Fundamental Requirements

- Space industry experience (required): Must have direct experience selling satellites or space hardware - payloads, cameras, antennas, subsystems. Candidates without space industry sales experience will not be considered.
- Experience: Minimum 5 years in business development or key accounts, with wins across government procurement and large-enterprise buying centres.
- Customer knowledge: Up to date on where satellite/space hardware customers are coming from today, across government, primes, and OEMs - not relying on outdated relationships.
- Full sales cycle ownership: Demonstrated experience across all stages - pre-tender shaping, capture planning, proposal/bid leadership, negotiation, and contract close.
- Tender mastery: Demonstrated success leading competitive bids (capture planning, scoring criteria, compliance, pricing) and handling long, multi-stakeholder cycles.
- Deal craft: Strong negotiation track record on MSAs/SOWs, licensing, co-development, and milestone-based contracts; fluent in IP and risk allocation.
- Domain fluency: Able to translate complex engineering (propulsion, LEO satellite platforms, qualification, test/readiness reviews) into customer value and business cases.
- Leadership & mentoring: Proven ability to recruit, develop, and manage high-performing commercial or sales teams.
- Process & tools: Disciplined CRM usage, forecasting, and KPI ownership (win rate, cycle time, stage conversion, ACV/TCV).
- Governance & compliance: Familiarity with public-sector procurement practices and export-control considerations; knows when to engage specialists.
- Marketing savvy: Skilled in shaping and delivering impactful presentations, narratives, and proposals that resonate with diverse audiences.
- Soft skills: Executive presence, exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, stakeholder influence, and resilience in long negotiations.
- Ways of working: High ownership in a fast-moving, cross-functional environment; willing to travel for customer meetings, briefings, and negotiations.

## Preferred (Nice to Have)

- Experience at a small satellite company that scaled into a large business - candidates who've operated through that growth curve are especially well suited to this role.

Why NewOrbit Space?

- Pioneering Space Technology – You'll contribute to launching groundbreaking technology into space. Your work on our revolutionary ion propulsion system and ULEO satellite platform will redefine satellite operations and disrupt traditional LEO operations.
- Unmatched Ownership and Impact – You'll experience a level of ownership that's rare in the space industry. You will participate in the full lifecycle of satellite technology.
- Equity and Competitive Salary – You'll receive not just a competitive salary but also company ownership stakes. Your dedication and hard work are rewarded with a share in the technology you help build, ensuring you're a part of our collective success.
- Comprehensive Benefits Package – Including private health insurance with dental and optical coverage, annual healthcare check-ups etc.
- Hybrid Work - A hybrid setup with one dedicated remote day per week.
- Visa Sponsorship & Relocation Support - We provide a relocation package and sponsor your visa if you’re joining us from abroad.

## About NewOrbit Space

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: NewOrbit designs and builds the world's lowest orbiting satellites for very-low Earth orbit (VLEO), enabling enhanced Earth observation, direct‑to‑device connectivity, and advanced weather forecasting.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A)
- **Headquarters**: Reading, England, United Kingdom
- **Founded**: 2021
- **Founders**: Anatolii Papulov (CEO) and Ruslan Rakhimov (CTO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Space technology / Satellite manufacturing
- **Target customers**: Commercial and government organisations needing high‑resolution imagery, atmospheric data, and global connectivity (B2B, Enterprise)
- **Mission or purpose**: Engineering Earth’s lowest orbiting satellite to advance global connectivity and insight, while keeping space clean for future generations.

## Products & Services
- **[NEO-1]**: A very‑low Earth orbit satellite capable of sustained operation at ~200‑300 km altitude. It delivers drone‑quality imagery (20× cheaper than conventional satellites), direct‑to‑device 5G‑equivalent internet, and precise atmospheric data for weather forecasting. The satellite uses a proprietary air‑breathing electric propulsion system, tailored attitude control, and advanced materials to overcome drag and atomic oxygen. It operates in a naturally self‑cleaning orbit (deorbits within a month after decommission).

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding raised – **$18.77 M** (Series A of $18.5 M closed June 2026)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**:
  - Lead: Voyager Ventures
  - Participants: Atlantic VC, Lifeline Ventures, Illusian, Custos Family Office, David Kirk (former Nvidia chief scientist), Lawrence Leuschner (co‑founder of TIER Mobility)
  - Advisory board includes Jean‑Jacques Dordain (former ESA Director General) and Sir Chris Deverell (former UK Joint Forces commander)
  - Partners: European Space Agency, UK Space Agency, SPRIND
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Headcount of ~25 employees (as of mid‑2026), with yearly growth of +45 % and monthly growth of +7.4 %
  - Plans to open the NEO Production Complex in 2027, scaling from 10 satellites/year to several per week
  - First commercial flight targeted for 2028
  - 5 active job postings, with a strong pipeline of engineering hires

## Competitive Advantages
- **Altitude advantage**: Operates at one‑third the altitude of conventional satellites, enabling 20× cheaper imagery, higher‑resolution data, and 5G‑equivalent direct‑to‑device bandwidth.
- **Proprietary technology**: Built‑from‑scratch subsystems (attitude control, propulsion, electronics, thermal, embedded software) that handle the extreme conditions of VLEO (aerodynamic drag, atomic oxygen, torque).
- **Self‑cleaning orbit**: Satellites deorbit naturally within a month, mitigating space debris – a key regulatory and sustainability differentiator.
- **Sovereign industrial asset**: Positioned as Europe’s largest dedicated VLEO production facility, supported by UK and European space agencies.

## Strategic Focus
- **Current priorities**: First mission in 2028, ramp‑up of satellite production, and establishment of a scalable manufacturing facility. The company is building a product platform for any customer to “fly at VLEO” with integrated payloads.
- **Direction for growth**: Expand from Earth observation into global telecom (direct‑to‑device) and weather services, while securing defence and national‑security missions.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: A “make it happen” ethos with high ownership; engineers design, build, and test hardware in weeks rather than years. Cross‑disciplinary collaboration driven by a shared mission to solve one of space’s toughest engineering problems.
- **Facilities**: State‑of‑the‑art testing facility for multi‑propellant ion propulsion systems, and purpose‑built labs for satellite subsystem development.
- **Work style**: Based in Reading, UK – likely on‑site due to hardware‑intensive work. The team is small (~25), flat‑structured, and encourages rapid iteration.
- **Notable perks**: Chance to work alongside world‑class engineers and advisors (former ESA Director, UK military leaders), lead a function from day one, and directly impact the opening of a new orbital regime.

## Sources
1. [neworbit.space](https://neworbit.space/) – Company homepage and product details
2. [neworbit.space/about](https://neworbit.space/about) – About page, founders, advisory board, partners
3. [neworbit.space/careers](https://neworbit.space/careers) – Careers page, culture details
4. [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/neworbit-space) – Funding, headcount, headquarters
5. [linkedin.com](https://uk.linkedin.com/company/neworbit-space) – Employee growth, open positions, talent sources
6. [spacenews.com](https://spacenews.com/uk-startup-neworbit-raises-18-5-million-in-series-a-round/) – Series A announcement, first mission details (cited via cbinsights)

## Other roles at NewOrbit Space

- [VP Sales](https://feeny.ai/job/vp-sales-neworbit-space-reading-4edd0tzx9878) — Reading, United Kingdom
- [Satellite Mechanical Design Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/satellite-mechanical-design-engineer-neworbit-space-reading-b87twktm156f) — Reading, United Kingdom
- [Contract Mechanical Design Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/contract-mechanical-design-engineer-neworbit-space-reading-s3pd70b3dmcq) — Reading, United Kingdom
- [AIT & Mechanical Technician](https://feeny.ai/job/ait-mechanical-technician-neworbit-space-reading-hv25phf79n6h) — Reading, United Kingdom
- [AIT & Electronics Technician](https://feeny.ai/job/ait-electronics-technician-neworbit-space-reading-df8j5mkw2n7z) — Reading, United Kingdom
- [Spacecraft Structural Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/spacecraft-structural-engineer-neworbit-space-reading-eqthy390xbdg) — Reading, United Kingdom
- [AOCS Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/aocs-engineer-neworbit-space-reading-enngfz05ch0c) — Reading, United Kingdom
- [Lead Flight Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-flight-software-engineer-neworbit-space-reading-jmfg9e7vae5t) — Reading, United Kingdom
- [Commercial Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/commercial-lead-flipturn-united-states-gh12hgr6kj7b) — United States
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