Associate, Upstream Business Development

USA Rare Earth, LLC•Wheat Ridge, CO

7d•$78,000 - $95,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Associate, Upstream Business Development will serve as the operational backbone of the Upstream Business Development (BD) function, ensuring seamless execution, coordination, and momentum across all Upstream BD activities. This role is internally focused, responsible for maintaining pipeline tracking and visibility, driving workflows and processes, and coordinating cross-functional efforts across Commercial, Legal, Finance, and Technical teams. The position is designed to enable BD leadership to focus on strategic partner relationships and deal structuring by owning the "how" and "when" of execution. As the business pipeline matures, this role may expand to support less complex partner engagements, while strategic partner ownership remains with senior BD leadership.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in a relevant field, plus 2+ years of relevant experience in business development operations, project management, or a related function.
In lieu of a bachelor's degree, 5+ years of progressively responsible experience in business development operations, project management, or a related function is acceptable.
Must be legally authorized to work in the United States and able to satisfy any export-control or eligibility requirements applicable to USA Rare Earth's business.
Strong written and verbal communication; able to synthesize complex information into concise, executive-ready outputs.
Demonstrated ability to manage cross-functional workflows and drive execution across multiple concurrent workstreams.
Excellent organization, prioritization, and attention to detail.
Intellectual curiosity and comfort with ambiguity and a fast-moving environment.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with commercial agreement structures including LOIs, MOUs, and offtake agreements.
Experience with a CRM or comparable sales management system.
Experience in the critical minerals, energy, or industrial manufacturing sectors.
Knowledge of leading AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot) as day-to-day productivity multipliers.

Responsibilities

Maintain centralized BD pipeline tracker and monitor progress against milestones and targets.
Provide clear visibility into deal status and risks and deliver executive summaries and reports.
Maintain standardized templates and documentation systems to improve efficiency and execution consistency.
Support document workflows including drafting coordination, version control, and approvals for LOIs, MOUs, and commercial agreements.
Prepare internal briefing materials, meeting agendas, and briefing notes.
Able to manage a portfolio of concurrent agreements and track milestones, renewals, and obligations without losing quality.
Potential to lead coordination for less complex partner engagements as directed by senior BD leadership as pipeline matures.
Coordinate across Commercial, Legal, Finance, and Technical teams to align stakeholders on timelines and deliverables.
Drive timelines and identify blockers to ensure no gaps in follow-through across active deals.
Track and close action items across stakeholders.