This is more than a leadership role — it’s an opportunity to shape the future of partnerships in the defence sector at a strategic level.
We are seeking a commercially driven and strategically focused Head of Sector to lead growth across one of our most critical markets - Defence. Operating at the heart of a fast-moving and highly complex environment, you will define and deliver the commercial strategy that drives sustainable revenue growth, strengthens margins, and creates lasting customer value.
From influencing key defence stakeholders to aligning sales, supply chain, and operational delivery, you will own sector performance end-to-end. This role demands a leader who can balance strategic vision with operational excellence — someone who can position our business as a trusted strategic partner while ensuring exceptional customer service at every stage.
If you thrive on building high-impact relationships, leading cross-functional teams, and delivering results in a mission-critical sector, this is your chance to make a real impact.
The role will involve national travel to customer sites with several direct reports and a wider team spread across the UK. Therefore, our new Head of Sector can be based anywhere in the UK.
Key responsibilities include:
- Delivering sector revenue, margin, and pipeline targets through data-led growth plans
- Building and leading a high-performing sales team, coaching and developing National Account Managers to maximise commercial impact, accountability, and engagement.
- Driving high-performance culture, coaching teams to maximise commercial impact
- Building and converting strategic pipelines, ensuring forecast accuracy and governance discipline
- Leading cross-functional execution across sales, operations, and supply chain
- Developing contract structures and pricing models, balancing competitiveness and profitability
- Embedding commercial controls to protect revenue, margin, and contract compliance
- Driving high-performance culture, coaching teams to maximise commercial impact
- Strengthening vendor and partner relationships to unlock incremental value
- Championing strategic customer engagement and consistent delivery excellence
On top of working for the UK’s leading integrated health and safety experts, you’ll also receive:
- A competitive starting salary plus circa 25% OTE in potential commission and a car/ car allowance!
- 32 days holiday inclusive of bank holidays
- Opportunity to purchase 5 additional days annual leave each calendar year (subject to qualifying salary)
- 2 fully paid Community Volunteering days every year
- An excellent pension (up to 8% Arco contribution) and x4 Life Assurance scheme
- A huge range of discounts to help with cost of living via Perkbox plus Employee Discount on Arco products
- Free, 24-hour access to our Employee Assistance Programme
- Health Cash Plan where we'll reimburse up to 100% of everyday healthcare costs
- Access to our Learning Management System, to support your personal and career development
- Long-term service awards – we’re proud to have employees who have worked for us for 40 years
The ideal Head of Sector - Defence will be/have:
- Senior commercial leadership experience in B2B, ideally Defence, H&S, or PPE sectors
- Proven delivery of profitable growth, margin improvement, and target achievement
- Strong track record in sector strategy development and pipeline conversion
- Experience leading high-performing teams and influencing in matrix environments
- Expertise in contracting, pricing strategy, and commercial governance
- Understanding of defence procurement frameworks and customer requirements
- Experience aligning commercial delivery with S&OP and operational capability
With a proud 140-year legacy, you’ll be part of something special when you join the UK’s leading safety experts. As the only integrated safety products and services business, Arco’s size, scale and reputation are why we have such an impressive portfolio of satisfied customers.
It’s an exciting time for us, and whatever your role, you’ll play a part in Arco’s journey to become more profitable and sustainable. To drive a performance culture, we consistently invest in our people to ensure we push for shared success. We respect and value everyone’s unique skills, experience and ideas so you’ll have ample opportunity to help shape our future growth and be rewarded for delivering against our targets.
At Arco, inclusion means ensuring everyone feels valued, respected and able to be their best. We celebrate the unique skills, experiences and perspectives each colleague brings, and we’re committed to creating a supportive environment where everyone can thrive. As part of our journey to everyday inclusion, we recognise that individual needs may vary. If you require any reasonable adjustments or additional support during the recruitment process, please let us know. Be Safe, Be Yourself, Be Your Best.
