Vice President of Business Development

ND DEFENSE LLC • Madison Heights, MI

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

We are a defense and commercial engineering and manufacturing organization seeking a VP of Business Development with a demonstrated history of selling to the military, with a Navy emphasis preferred. This role is responsible for the revenue number, with sales, marketing, and business development reporting to the VP, who in turn reports directly to the CEO. This is a hands-on closing position where the individual will directly engage with NAVSEA program offices, government vehicle program managers, and commercial OEM buyers to secure business. The team will be built out after the model has been proven. The primary growth target is naval and maritime programs, including subassemblies, electronics, integration, fabrication, and sustainment work for various naval entities and primes. Additionally, the role involves selling vehicles built and modified to government specifications, including engineering design, retrofit, and upfit programs for U.S. and allied government customers, as well as contract manufacturing and engineering services for defense and commercial clients. Air Force and aerospace programs, including technology insertion, sustainment, and manufacturing work, are also part of the sales scope.

Requirements

• Demonstrated history of selling military programs and winning, preferably to the Navy, with named programs, named customers, and contracts personally closed with military branches or primes.
• Proven track record of personally closing DoD contracts, not just supporting a capture team.
• Experience selling multiple types of offerings, including Naval programs, vehicles or vehicle systems to government customers, and contract manufacturing or engineering services capabilities.
• Twelve or more years in defense, aerospace, or government contracting sales and business development.
• Five or more years carrying a revenue target at VP, Senior Director, or equivalent level.
• An engineering or technical degree, with sufficient depth to engage in technical conversations with customers.
• Working knowledge of FAR and DFARS, ITAR, government contract vehicles, and DoD pricing structures.
• Willingness to travel up to 50%, domestically and internationally.
• Possession of a valid passport or the ability to obtain one.
• U.S. Person status as defined by ITAR (22 CFR 120.62).

Nice To Haves

• Air Force or aerospace sales record alongside Navy work, specifically with AFLCMC, sustainment centers, or aerospace OEMs.
• Experience with Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and a record of selling to allied government customers internationally.
• Experience with tactical wheeled vehicles, ground vehicle programs, TACOM, or vehicle modification and upfit work.
• Active or recently held Secret clearance.
• Hands-on experience with HubSpot and AI prospecting or proposal tools.
• Experience establishing a business development function where none previously existed.

Responsibilities

• Owning the full sales cycle from opportunity identification through contract award, including capture strategy, proposal development, negotiation, and closing.
• Developing naval capture strategy from the ground up, establishing relationships with primes, Regional Maintenance Centers, and Tier 1 maritime subcontractors.
• Providing bid and no-bid recommendations in collaboration with the CEO and engineering leadership, including honest win-probability analysis.
• Managing contract structures and pricing across various vehicle types (FFP, CPFF, T&M, IDIQ, BPA) for domestic and FMS sales.
• Overseeing marketing, brand management, and external presence at industry events, technical interchange meetings, and trade shows.
• Utilizing HubSpot for customer database management and leveraging AI tooling for prospecting, proposal drafting, and pipeline forecasting.
• Building and managing a sales and marketing organization as booked revenue justifies it, integrating employees with fractional specialists.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior