Business Development Manager – Aerospace & Defense

Nidec Motor Corporation • Atlanta, GA

2d • Remote

About The Position

The sky is no longer the limit as Nidec takes its technology off the ground and into the Aerospace market. As a Business Development Manager with the Nidec Aerospace team, you will lead efforts to expand our market presence, develop key customer partnerships, and position our cutting-edge electric propulsion solutions with aerospace innovators around the globe. You will help drive the growth of technologies that are transforming how people and goods move through the air.

Nidec is the world’s leading electric motor manufacturer and a true pioneer in electrification across a wide array of industries since its foundation in 1973, ranging from appliance, and energy infrastructure, to ground transportation. Nidec Aerospace is a newly created Joint Venture between Nidec and Embraer which intends to take a leading role in the Electrification of Aircrafts. We are well-positioned and excited to support the aerospace industry in its ambitious transition to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The ideal candidate will embody Nidec’s key pillars of Passion, Enthusiasm, and Tenacity with their passion to learn, enthusiasm to exceed market expectations, and tenacity to solve complex technical issues. From ideation to production, you will work with a diverse and experienced team of design engineers to support aerospace industry leaders and spearhead technological advances in transport decarbonization.

Nidec Aerospace is seeking a highly motivated Business Development Manager to drive growth within the aerospace propulsion and emerging defense markets.
Acting as the bridge between Strategic Marketing and Sales, the Business Development Manager is responsible for converting strategic growth priorities into a robust pipeline of opportunities and awarded business. The role focuses on identifying, developing, capturing, and converting new business opportunities while providing valuable market intelligence and customer insights to support strategic decision-making.
The successful candidate will develop relationships with key industry stakeholders, identify emerging applications and programs, and lead opportunity development from initial customer engagement through contract award.

Requirements

• Strong technical understanding of aerospace systems, electric propulsion, motors, generators, power electronics, or related technologies.
• Ability to understand complex customer applications and translate customer requirements into compelling business opportunities.
• Demonstrated success in identifying, developing, negotiating, and winning new business.
• Strong customer relationship management skills with the ability to build trust and credibility across all levels of an organization.
• Strong commercial acumen and understanding of business drivers, market dynamics, and competitive positioning.
• Ability to gather and communicate market intelligence, customer needs, and competitive insights to support strategic decision-making.
• Excellent communication, influencing, presentation, and negotiation skills.
• Collaborative mindset with the ability to work effectively across Sales, Strategic Marketing, Engineering, Product Management, and Program Management teams.
• Resilient, self-driven, and results-oriented with the ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced environment.
• Comfortable engaging with both executive-level stakeholders and technical teams.
• Global mindset with willingness to travel internationally.
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, Marketing, Aerospace, or a related field.
• Minimum 7 years of experience in Business Development, Technical Sales, Product Management, or related commercial roles within aerospace, aviation, propulsion, electrification, or defense industries.
• Experience engaging with aerospace OEMs, Tier-1 suppliers, aircraft manufacturers, system integrators, or defense organizations is strongly preferred.
• Proven track record of identifying, developing, and winning new business opportunities.
• Strong understanding of aerospace markets, technologies, applications, and customer ecosystems.
• Excellent communication, presentation, negotiation, and relationship-building skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Ability to work effectively across technical, commercial, and leadership teams.
• Experience using CRM tools (Salesforce preferred) and Microsoft Office applications.
• Fluent English required; additional languages are a plus.
• Ability to travel internationally up to 30%.
• Requires advanced job knowledge and demonstrated competence within department, typically obtained through advanced education and relevant experience
• Requires a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience and minimum 5 years of prior relevant experience

Nice To Haves

• Additional languages are a plus.

Responsibilities

• Identify, qualify, develop, and capture new business opportunities within aerospace propulsion, electrification, advanced air mobility (AAM), UAV, and defense markets.
• Lead customer engagement from initial prospecting through proposal development, negotiation, and contract award.
• Develop and execute capture strategies to convert strategic targets into profitable business growth and achieve bookings objectives.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders, including OEMs, aircraft manufacturers, system integrators, defense contractors, and strategic partners.
• Represent Nidec Aerospace in customer meetings, industry events, and trade associations.
• Gather and communicate customer needs, market trends, competitive intelligence, and emerging opportunities to support strategic planning and product development.
• Collaborate closely with Strategic Marketing, Engineering, Product Management, and Program Management to align customer needs with company capabilities.
• Lead the development of proposals, RFIs, RFQs, RFPs, business cases, and commercial offers.
• Maintain an accurate pipeline, account plans, and forecasts through Salesforce to ensure effective opportunity management and business growth.
• Works to achieve operational, functional, and/or business targets within team with direct impact on departmental or job family results
• Works independently on moderately complex projects/assignments and contributes to setting objectives or goals of projects and assignments within team
• Communicates with employees both within and occasionally outside of the department and/or job family on matters that require explanation, interpretation and/or advising; may communicate with external clients or partners depending upon the job area
• Influences employees within the department at an operational level regarding concepts or practices and some advisement on approaches
• Responsible for making moderate improvements of processes, procedures, or systems to contribute to the performance of the team
• Provides assistance and training to other employees
• May lead significant parts of moderately complex projects or processes

Benefits

• Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer encouraging diversity in the workplace.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior