Director of Business Strategy & Development

Great Sky•Boulder, CO

1d•$170,000 - $225,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Great Sky is a technology startup based with a mission to rebuild AI from first principles. We are pursuing neuroscience-inspired hardware and algorithms that overcome the greatest challenges in scaling AI systems. This role exists to make those relationships count. We're looking for a Director of Business Strategy & Development— a senior operator who understands the semiconductor and AI infrastructure landscape deeply, has the instincts to sequence a go-to-market strategy for an early stage hardware company, and can help the CEO walk into every room with the right narrative, the right materials, and the right context. This is a founder-led sales environment. Your job is to make our CEO as effective as possible: shaping how Great Sky is positioned in the market, identifying the right relationships to build, preparing leadership for high-stakes conversations, and supporting the investor and partner narrative as we grow. This is a full-time role based in Palo Alto, CA or Boulder, CO, with travel as well as flexibility for some remote work.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Engineering, or a related field. Master's degree or equivalent experience preferred.
7+ years of experience in business development, sales, partnerships, or a related commercial role, at a deep tech, hardware, or government-facing company
Deep familiarity with the AI infrastructure landscape — you understand the hyperscaler compute buildout, where GPU-centric architectures are hitting limits, who the key buyers and builders are, and where novel hardware approaches have a credible path to adoption
Demonstrated experience building and managing a commercial pipeline from scratch, including identifying targets, initiating outreach, and moving relationships through a long sales cycle
Ability to quickly understand customer requirements, navigate technical product lines, and independently drive early pipeline development
Proven ability to project manage complex, multi-stakeholder processes with hard deadlines, including coordinating across technical and non-technical contributors
Experience navigating and leveraging investor and stakeholder networks to open doors and generate warm introductions
Ability to translate deeply technical work into clear, compelling narratives for non-technical audiences including customers, investors, and government stakeholders
Strong communication and relationship-building capabilities across internal and external stakeholders
Comfortable operating with high ambiguity and long feedback loops, where deals and funding cycles play out over months or years
Experience working closely with a founder or CEO as a commercial support function, with a low-ego approach to letting leadership lead

Nice To Haves

Existing relationships within hyperscaler AI infrastructure, AI research, or AI compute procurement teams
Understanding of the AI inference market — workloads, latency and power constraints, and where the economics of current hardware create openings for novel architectures
Experience with CRM tools or pipeline management systems
Prior experience at a Series A or Series B deep tech company
Existing relationships within DoE, DoD, national labs, or hyperscaler procurement teams
Familiarity with government contracting vehicles including SBIRs, STTRs, OTAs, and BAAs, and an understanding of how federal procurement processes work

Responsibilities

Develop and own Great Sky's commercial strategy: which markets to enter, in what sequence, and why
Build and maintain a prioritized target list of customers and partners across hyperscalers, AI infrastructure companies, cloud-access startups, government entities (e.g., DOE, DOD), fusion, and other strategic commercial accounts
Identify the right contacts within target organizations and find the best path to a conversation, leveraging Great Sky's investor and advisor network for warm introductions
Ensure the sequencing of relationships is right: knowing when to engage, who should be in the room, and how to advance a partnership without moving too fast or too slow
Prepare the CEO for customer and partner meetings with research, context, talking points, materials, and own follow-up to keep momentum going
Support the investor narrative and pitch materials: helping communicate Great Sky's commercial thesis, market opportunity, and progress to existing and prospective investors, commercial partners, and strategic stakeholders
Serve as a thought partner to the CEO on how Great Sky is positioned relative to the AI infrastructure landscape: what we say, to whom, and when
Support the structuring and negotiation of commercial partnerships, working alongside legal counsel, finance, and technical teams
Serve as the point person for Joint Development Agreements and other partnership structures once signed by ensuring commitments are tracked and followed through
Help set up the operational infrastructure for new partnerships so they start on the right foot
Stay on top of the competitive landscape, emerging trends, and shifts in the market for AI hardware and related technologies
Develop a working understanding of the size and shape of the markets Great Sky is pursuing, including relevant applications for the government, startups, and hyperscalers
Identify where customer needs are evolving and how Great Sky's technology maps to those needs, now and over time