Vice President of Business Development

Composite Energy Technologies•Bristol, RI

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

Composite Energy Technologies, LLC (CET) develops and manufactures maritime systems, including the HADALUS family of autonomous underwater vehicles. The company combines low-cost composite manufacturing with maritime autonomy for defense and other demanding applications. CET is seeking a Vice President of Business Development to grow government sales and build the sales organization and infrastructure needed for sustained growth. The executive will personally lead major pursuits while establishing sales processes, reliable forecasts, and a scalable team. The role connects customer mission needs with funded opportunities and guides them through contract award, follow-on orders, and production adoption. A proven record of winning contracts with the U.S. Navy and/or U.S. Marine Corps is required; underwater domain experience is strongly preferred. The position focuses on U.S. and allied government customers and involves direct participation in customer pursuits and sales operations in a growing company. Frequent domestic and international travel is required. A hybrid option may be available, based on location. The candidate must be a U.S. citizen and able to pass a background check. Success in the first year includes establishing an operating CRM and consistent sales process, agreeing on a growth plan and qualified government pipeline, achieving contract wins and progress toward production adoption against targets agreed with the Chief Growth Officer and CEO, and establishing a clear team structure and hiring plan with effective cross-functional coordination.

Requirements

Demonstrated record of personally leading and winning U.S. Navy and/or U.S. Marine Corps contracts, with specific examples of awards, customer growth, and the candidate’s contribution.
Experience selling technology, systems, or services to both U.S. and allied government defense customers.
Experience establishing or substantially expanding a business development function, including CRM implementation, pipeline discipline, forecasting, and team development.
Practical understanding of government requirements, budgeting, acquisition, and contracting, including how to turn technical interest into a funded purchase.
Established Navy and/or Marine Corps relationships and credibility with operators, acquisition professionals, senior leaders, and industry partners.
Ability to lead complex proposals and negotiations, explain technical value clearly, and make disciplined decisions about which opportunities to pursue.
Must be a citizen of the United States.
Must be able to pass a background check.
Frequent domestic and international travel is required.

Nice To Haves

Experience with autonomous or unmanned underwater vehicles, subsea technologies, naval platforms, or related maritime systems.
Experience moving emerging defense technologies from demonstrations or development contracts into production and sustained procurement.
Experience building sales in a growing defense technology or manufacturing company.
Experience developing partnerships with prime contractors, systems integrators, distributors, or local industrial partners in allied markets.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute a growth strategy for U.S. and allied government customers.
Prioritize opportunities based on mission fit, available funding, timing, and CET delivery capacity.
Own bookings targets and develop revenue forecasts with finance and operations.
Build account plans identifying users, sponsors, decision-makers, funding sources, and procurement pathways.
Personally lead priority opportunities from qualification through award, including capture strategy, teaming, proposals, pricing, and commercial negotiations.
Establish the CRM system, sales stages, qualification standards, account ownership, pipeline reviews, and management reporting.
Build relationships with Navy, Marine Corps, and allied defense organizations, including operators, requirements owners, program offices, and contracting officials.
Convert demonstrations and development efforts into funded programs, production orders, and repeat business, with a defined next funding or procurement decision for each priority pursuit.
Coordinate with engineering, manufacturing, program management, and finance to align customer commitments with technical capability, pricing, and delivery capacity.
Build and lead the business development team; establish hiring priorities, performance expectations, and budgets; and manage strategic partners and international representatives.