Senior Director, Business Development

SEAKR Engineering•Centennial, CO

About The Position

The Senior Director of Business Development leads SEAKR Engineering’s business development team and helps shape and execute the company’s growth strategy. The role maintains industry awareness, generates leads, manages customer relationships, obtains requests for proposals, identifies new opportunities, and develops capture strategies to inform executive bid/no-bid decisions. The Director collaborates with executives and cross-functional teams to pursue high-probability opportunities and provide input on future product needs for IRAD planning and budgeting. This full-time, exempt position represents the company within the industry and requires autonomy, sound judgment, alignment with executive leadership, and measurable business results. The Director develops business strategies and revenue-growth initiatives, analyzes markets and competitors, and builds relationships with government agencies, defense contractors, and commercial aerospace and space customers. The role guides product positioning, pricing, market segmentation, and related communications; works with capture, engineering, and product development teams on RFI, ROM, whitepaper, and proposal responses; and oversees marketing execution and industry representation. As a people leader, the Director sets priorities and expectations, delegates work, coaches and develops team members, monitors performance and workload, and fosters accountability, collaboration, and policy compliance. Business travel is expected approximately 30%–50% of the time, according to customer, program, and business needs. The role requires U.S. citizenship and either an existing TS/SCI with polygraph clearance or the ability to obtain the required clearance.

Requirements

At least 15 years of technical business development experience.
Technical background and a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, preferably electrical, mechanical, or aerospace engineering, or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience.
Demonstrated experience developing and executing business development and growth strategies in a technical environment.
Demonstrated leadership experience managing, coaching, developing, and holding team members accountable for performance and results.
Experience managing multiple business development opportunities, customer engagements, and capture activities simultaneously.
Strong analytical, negotiation, leadership, and communication skills; ability to manage multiple priorities and work effectively under pressure.
U.S. citizenship.
Possess a TS/SCI with polygraph clearance or be capable of obtaining the required clearance.
Availability to travel for business approximately 30%–50% of the time.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated experience in the aerospace and/or space markets.
Established professional network within the space industry.
Master’s degree in Engineering Management or Program Management, or an MBA.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute business development strategies with short-, mid-, and long-term goals, using industry, market, competitive, and customer insights.
Drive sales initiatives, product-segment market share, profitability, and revenue growth through market evaluation, value proposition development, product positioning, pricing, branding, channel, and communications strategies.
Establish and maintain customer relationships with government agencies, defense contractors, and commercial aerospace and space companies; identify current and future customer needs.
Lead, coach, and develop the Business Development team; set priorities, expectations, goals, and performance standards; provide feedback and performance management.
Work with leadership, engineering, business capture, and product development teams to align business development activities with company goals.
Coordinate with the capture team to provide technical, strategic, and business insight for RFI, ROM, whitepaper, and proposal responses.
Identify and analyze market trends, customer needs, and the competitive landscape to uncover business opportunities.
Supervise marketing execution, including website and marketing content, product literature, trade shows, trade journal articles, white papers, press releases, presentations, and datasheets.
Represent the company at industry events, conferences, trade shows, and customer engagements.
Establish ownership and accountability for team activities; delegate customer engagements and opportunity development while maintaining visibility into pipeline, customer engagements, and key opportunities.
Comply with company policies, procedures, internal controls, and Travel and Expense requirements; use Concur for business travel booking and expense reporting and reinforce these expectations with the team.
Travel approximately 30%–50% of the time as business needs require, using judgment to determine when in-person engagement is necessary.
Assess team capabilities and resource needs and support the ongoing development of the Business Development function.