Enterprise Account Executive— Aerospace & Defense

Luminary
  • San Mateo
    12 days ago

    Job Description

    YOUR IMPACT

    As an Enterprise AE for Aerospace & Defense, you are Luminary's primary revenue driver into aerospace OEMs, eVTOL/UAM companies, space launch providers, propulsion manufacturers, and defense prime contractors. You own the full sales cycle — from prospecting and executive relationship development through commercial close — and partner tightly with the Lead Delivery Engineer to ensure seamless GTM-to-delivery handoff. You are equally comfortable in a room with a chief engineer debugging a simulation workflow and in a room with a CFO walking a multi-year program roadmap.

    WHAT YOU'LL DO

    • Own a territory across Aerospace & Defense — prospecting, qualifying, and closing net new logos while expanding existing accounts.
    • Drive complex, multi-stakeholder enterprise sales cycles from first conversation to signed SOW, navigating technical buyers (chief engineers, simulation leads, program managers), economic buyers, and procurement.
    • Partner with the Solution Engineer to align on use case scoping, SOW structure, and delivery capacity before and during the sales cycle — maintaining continuity through GTM-to-delivery handoff.
    • Lead commercial conversations with technical credibility: hold a substantive conversation with engineering teams about simulation workflows, AI-driven analysis, and where Physics AI creates competitive leverage.
    • Build and maintain executive relationships across engineering and program leadership — VP Engineering, Chief Engineers, Directors of Simulation and Analysis, and Program Managers — at target accounts.
    • Develop account plans and territory strategy; manage pipeline in CRM with rigor and forecast accurately.
    • Represent Luminary at industry conferences, customer on-sites, and events (AIAA, AIA, AUVSI, SpaceTech, NDIA, etc.).
    • Navigate ITAR/EAR and government acquisition considerations in commercial dialogue with defense accounts.
    • Bring market and customer signal back to Product and GTM leadership — you are a primary sensor for competitive dynamics, buyer pain, and emerging use cases in the vertical.

    WHAT YOU BRING

    • 5–10 years of enterprise B2B sales experience, with a demonstrated track record of closing six- and seven-figure deals in a complex, long-cycle environment.
    • Domain fluency in aerospace or defense engineering — enough to earn credibility with simulation engineers, chief engineers, and program managers on the first call. You don't need to run CFD; you need to understand what's hard about it.
    • Experience selling engineering software, simulation software, or AI/ML tools into aerospace, defense, or adjacent technical buyers. CAE, CFD, FEA, PLM, HPC, or digital twin experience is directly relevant.
    • Comfort with technical complexity — Physics AI is not a commodity; you can translate physics-based modeling into business value and vice versa.
    • U.S. Person required.
    • CRM rigor and pipeline discipline — you build, manage, and close your own pipeline.
    • Collaborative orientation — Luminary's GTM motion is tightly coupled with delivery; you work seamlessly with LDEs and technical teams throughout the sales cycle.
    • Self-starter mentality, persistent through long cycles, willing to travel 25–40% to customer sites and industry events.

    PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

    • Prior experience selling to aerospace OEMs (Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier, Embraer, Textron), eVTOL/UAM (Joby, Archer, Wisk, Beta, Lilium), space (SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, Relativity, Stoke), or propulsion (GE Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, Safran).
    • Prior experience selling to defense primes (Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing Defense, Raytheon/RTX, General Dynamics, L3Harris) or defense agencies (DARPA, AFRL, NRL, ONR).
    • Background in, or deep familiarity with, high-fidelity simulation: CFD, FEA, aeroelasticity, MDO, or certification-relevant analysis.
    • Experience navigating ITAR/EAR, DFARS, or government acquisition frameworks in commercial engagements.
    • Active or obtainable U.S. security clearance preferred for accounts with cleared program requirements.
    • Track record of building net new pipeline in greenfield or early-market technical verticals where education is part of the sale.

    Numbers & Facts

    LocationSan Mateo

    Skills

    • Aerospace Engineeringunmatched
    • Aerospace and Defenseunmatched
    • Air Intelligence Agency (AIA)unmatched
    • Analysis Skillsunmatched
    • Artificial Intelligence (AI)unmatched
    • Business Modelunmatched
    • Business-to-Business (B2B)unmatched
    • Competitive Analysis/Strategyunmatched
    • Computer Aided Engineering (CAE)unmatched
    • Conferencesunmatched
    • Customer Relationship Management (CRM)unmatched
    • Debugging Skillsunmatched
    • Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations Supplement (DFARS)unmatched
    • Develop and Maintain Customersunmatched
    • Engineering Softwareunmatched
    • Enterprise Salesunmatched
    • Executive Relationshipsunmatched
    • Finite Element Analysisunmatched
    • Forecastingunmatched
    • Government Acquisitionsunmatched
    • Head of Financeunmatched
    • Leadershipunmatched
    • OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)unmatched
    • Physicsunmatched
    • Product Lifecycle Managementunmatched
    • Project/Program Managementunmatched
    • Propulsionunmatched
    • Purchasing/Procurementunmatched
    • RTXunmatched
    • Salesunmatched
    • Sales Cycleunmatched
    • Sales Managementunmatched
    • Sales Pipelineunmatched
    • Sales Prospectingunmatched
    • Sales/Support Engineering (SE)unmatched
    • Security Clearanceunmatched
    • Simulationunmatched
    • Software Salesunmatched
    • Software Simulationunmatched
    • Statement of Work (SOW)unmatched
    • Team Playerunmatched
    • Use Casesunmatched
    • Willing to Travelunmatched

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