Principal Business Development Manager

Salient Motion•Hawthorne, CA

About The Position

The Principal Business Development Manager – Defense owns and grows Salient Motion’s defense order pipeline, with primary focus on missile actuation products including control actuation systems (CAS), fin and canard actuators, electromechanical actuators (EMA), and thrust vector control (TVC). The role converts the company’s technical credibility into defense programs with missile and munitions primes, systems integrators, and U.S. Government customers. It is Salient Motion’s most senior individual-contributor capture role and is intended for someone with established relationships, program knowledge, and technical fluency who can shape requirements early, position the company ahead of solicitations, and win business. The position operates autonomously across the full business development lifecycle, from opportunity identification through contract award, and sets the capture standard for the broader business development team. Success includes building a qualified and accurately forecast pipeline, winning priority captures, establishing durable customer relationships, and improving pursuit strategy and gate reviews across the company. The role requires compliance with ITAR/EAR export controls, FAR/DFARS requirements, and internal business conduct standards. Travel may be up to 40%, domestic with occasional international travel.

Requirements

12+ years of business development, capture, or program-facing experience in aerospace and defense, with a demonstrable record of personally winning new business at the prime or Tier 1 level.
Direct experience with missile, munitions, precision-guided weapons, or flight control and actuation products and their customers.
Demonstrated ownership of full-lifecycle captures, including win strategy, price-to-win, and competitive positioning on meaningful-scale pursuits.
Working knowledge of electromechanical or hydraulic actuation systems sufficient to hold credible technical discussions with customers and internal engineering without assistance.
Established, active network among defense primes, systems integrators, and DoD program offices that can be used immediately.
Deep working understanding of the DoD acquisition process, the federal budget cycle, and FAR/DFARS contracting.
Ability to operate autonomously in a lean, high-growth environment and lead cross-functional pursuit teams through influence rather than authority.
Active U.S. DoD Secret clearance, or demonstrated ability to obtain one.
U.S. citizenship, required for ITAR-controlled work and clearance.
Bachelor’s degree in engineering, business, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Ability to travel up to 40%, domestically with occasional international travel.
Applicants must be U.S. Persons as defined by applicable export control regulations; employment is contingent on the ability to obtain and maintain the required security clearance.

Nice To Haves

Formal capture or proposal management training, such as Shipley or equivalent.
TS/SCI clearance or eligibility.
Existing executive-level relationships at one or more major missile prime contractors.
Experience building a defense pipeline from a small or early-stage supplier base rather than inheriting an established franchise.
MBA or relevant advanced degree.

Responsibilities

Own business development and capture strategy for the missile actuation product line and identify adjacent growth opportunities across the broader defense portfolio.
Build and manage a qualified opportunity pipeline across current and multi-year pursuits, forecast accurately, and maintain CRM discipline.
Lead captures end to end, including early requirements shaping, win strategy, price-to-win, positioning ahead of solicitation, and internal gate reviews.
Cultivate and expand executive- and program-level relationships with missile and munitions primes, Tier 1 suppliers, and relevant U.S. Government program offices.
Track the DoD acquisition and budget cycle (PPBE/POM), monitor programs of record and emerging requirements, and translate intelligence into actionable pursuits.
Orchestrate responses to Sources Sought notices, RFIs, and RFPs with proposal, engineering, contracts, and pricing teams.
Direct external business development and lead-generation agencies supporting top-of-funnel activity and ensure qualified opportunities transfer into the capture pipeline.
Represent Salient Motion at trade shows, industry days, and customer engagements as a technical and commercial representative for the actuation portfolio.
Provide competitive intelligence and voice-of-customer input to product line management and engineering for roadmap and investment decisions.
Mentor less-experienced business development staff and serve as a capture standard-bearer without direct reporting authority.
Ensure business development activity complies with ITAR/EAR export controls, FAR/DFARS requirements, and internal business conduct standards.