Growth Account Director, U.S Defense

IDEX Corporation•Boulder, CO

9d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Growth Account Director – U.S. Defense is a commercial leader responsible for driving rapid, strategic expansion across emerging and transformational segments of the U.S. defense market. This position focuses on high‑growth customer segments—including disruptive “new defense” prime contractors, rapidly scaling integrators, and selected established defense primes with significant 24-month growth potential. Success in this role requires an exceptional dedication to market understanding, the ability to rapidly identify defense innovation trends, and the skill to translate insights into actionable direction for the business units and group leadership. The Growth Account Director – U.S. Defense will serve as the connective tissue between the business units and our dynamic customers, ensuring we understand their needs earlier, adapt more quickly, and position ourselves to win along with them as their programs succeed and scale.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Physics, Business, or related field.
2+ years in strategic account management or defense business development.
Experience with emerging defense companies or rapidly scaling OEMs.
Strong understanding of U.S. defense acquisition pathways.
Exceptional research and communication abilities with cross‑functional influence.
Ability to travel 30%+ across the domestic US and meet ITAR/EAR requirements.

Nice To Haves

Growth Mindset: Thrives in emerging, ambiguous markets.
Towering curiosity: Urgent desire to push past the initial response and learn more.
Market Instincts: Detects early signals and meaningful opportunities.
Influence & Persuasion: Inspires teams to act earlier and stretch capabilities.
Customer Obsession: Anticipates needs of non‑traditional defense customers and can effectively communicate these business process requirements to the business unit.
Technical Credibility: Comfortable with technical discussions.
Low Ego & High Ownership: Embodies IDEX values.

Responsibilities

Chart and lead expansion into emerging defense segments, including new defense entrants and non‑traditional primes.
Develop Key Account Plans and Opportunity Qualifiers that provide the business units with credible evidence of imminent significant market opportunities, along with a coherent explanation of why we can win, what will be required to do so, and the expected return on investment.
Build program‑level relationships across accounts to provide visibility to future growth as well as rapid identification of customer concerns, potential disruptions, and a broad understanding of our and our customers’ competitive landscapes.
Serve as the internal voice of growth customers, driving prioritization of limited resources in such a way as to maximize future growth possibilities.
Track emerging programs using a commercially-oriented defense procurement filter.
Identify and qualify opportunities using MEDDPICC and 80/20 methodologies.
Provide competitive insights and capability requirement forecasts.
Communicate effectively and persuasively with Operations, Engineering, and Leadership.
Drive internal alignment and urgency around critical customer needs.
Act as the primary point of contact for targeted growth accounts, facilitating communications with Engineering, Operations, Planning and Inside Sales functions as appropriate.
Provide accurate program-level forecasting, including realistic, evidence-backed success likelihood for dial-moving programs and opportunities.
Maintain a high‑cadence customer engagement rhythm through regular and highly effective virtual and in-person meetings.
Support NPI, prototype builds, and scaling transitions.
Engage with Enterprise Engineering team to ensure manufacturable customer requirements are translated accurately to sites.
Support team in negotiation of all commercial aspects of fully vetted and qualified opportunities, including short- and long-term product pricing, lead times, non-recurring engineering fees, and legal frameworks.