Business Line Lead (General Manager) - Sensing & Communications

Key areas of responsibility

• Own the growth plan for Sensing & Comms, including, pipeline, routes-to-market, partner strategy and market expansion.  
• Move the business line from smaller early orders into larger opportunities and more substantial programmes.  
• Build on existing traction across the UK, Europe and Canada, while establishing a credible pipeline and early sales momentum in the US.  
• Develop direct and channel routes to market, including partners, resellers and customer relationships.  
• Lead from the front on priority deals, from discovery and customer engagement through to demo, pilot, proposal and signed contract. 

• Run the business line with the discipline of a general manager, balancing revenue growth, delivery, margin, cash exposure and investment decisions.  
• Build a robust operating rhythm for forecasting, reporting, decision-making, risk management and opportunity tracking.  
• Work with product, engineering, supply chain, manufacturing and operations teams to make informed decisions on stock, build timing and delivery commitments.  
• Ensure commercial commitments are realistic, deliverable and aligned with Rowden’s wider business objectives.  

• Translate customer demand, market insight and live opportunity data into clear input for the product roadmap.   
• Shape the future direction of current product line and adjacent Sensing & Comms products.  
• Help Rowden prioritise where to invest, what to build, and which market opportunities are worth pursuing.  
• Bring clarity to complex, regulated and export-controlled markets.  

• Lead through influence across teams that do not all report directly to you.  
• Work closely with the CEO, COO, CRO, VP Engineering, VP Finance, VP Product, Business Development, Legal, Commercial, Operations and other business line leads.  
• Build the foundations for a larger Sensing & Comms team over time, including future sales and engineering leadership capability.  
• Represent Rowden credibly in external conversations with customers, partners, channel resellers and senior stakeholders.  

• Built a qualified, credible pipeline across priority markets, with clear stakeholders, use cases, procurement routes and routes to award.  
• Converted current early traction into larger sales across UK, European and North American markets.  
• Successfully launched and commercialised the second generation product.  
• Established early US traction through credible pipeline development and initial sales progress.  
• Improved forecasting, decision-making and commercial visibility through a disciplined operating rhythm.  
• Helped Rowden make better commercial and operational decisions around stock, supply chain and manufacturing risk.  
• Embedded structured customer and market insight into the Sensing & Comms roadmap. 

Key skills, experience and behaviours

• Strong commercial experience, including ownership of sales targets and deal progression.  
• Technical fluency, ideally gained in a hardware, engineering, defence, communications, RF, or adjacent technical product environment.  
• Experience scaling a product-led business beyond early-stage traction.  
• Credibility in senior commercial and customer conversations.  
• Practical understanding of hardware product realities, including supply chain, manufacturing, verification, validation and stock risk.  
• Experience operating in complex or regulated environments; defence, government or export-controlled markets would be valuable.  
• The ability to bridge technical execution and commercial outcomes.  
• A track record of building structure without slowing momentum.  
• The ability to lead cross-functional teams without relying solely on formal authority.  
• A proactive, hands-on working style. This is not a role for someone who only wants to delegate.  
• An RF/CEMA/EW background would be useful but is not a strict requirement.  

• You should be competitive, commercially focused and willing to own a target.  
• You should want to build something, not just manage something.  
• You should be comfortable with ambiguity, pace and incomplete information.  
• You should be able to act decisively while recognising the risks of operating in defence, export-controlled and hardware-led markets.  
• You should be willing to spend time with customers, pick up the phone, present externally and travel where needed.  
• You should be committed to working from Rowden’s Bristol HQ at least three days per week, except where customer commitments require travel. 

Working at Rowden