Director of Business Development, Marine Corps
Company: Defense-technology company (name shared under NDA)
Reports To: Business Development leadership
Function: Growth – Business Development
Location: Tysons, VA preferred; North Carolina, Texas, or Colorado also possible; remote considered for the right candidate
Travel: Regular travel to customer sites
Compensation: $190K–$220K base + equity
Confidential Search · Defense Technology
Confidential search. The hiring company's identity and full role details are shared with candidates under NDA.
About the Role
This is a fast-growing defense-technology company building autonomous aerial systems and counter-UAS and air defense capabilities for US government customers. The Growth organization sells and executes contracts across both product lines and runs the capability showcases, demonstrations, and training that go with them.
This is the first fully dedicated business development lead for the Marine Corps. Today the account is covered part time by people who carry other responsibilities, and nobody owns the plan. You will build the roadmap for how the company wins the Marine Corps, get it bought internally, and then go execute it. A handful of contacts will be handed to you; the rest you bring and build.
The seat is an individual contributor role over a very large account. As the account grows, the company expects to hire more junior business development people underneath it, and there is a deliberate path toward broader leadership of the US growth organization for someone who earns it.
Responsibilities
- Own the Marine Corps as a customer end to end: strategy, pipeline, and close.
- Build the account roadmap where none exists today, sequence it, and get internal buy-in.
- Shape requirements with the customer, navigate the buying path, and carry opportunities through award.
- Bring and activate an existing network across program offices, requirements shops, and operating forces.
- Translate customer requirements into an engineering roadmap, and product capability into an operational pitch.
- Set expectations that engineering can actually meet, and bring bad news early when they cannot.
- Partner with the engagement management team, who execute the contracts you win.
- Grow and lead a team underneath you as the account scales.
Requirements
Must-Haves
- Roughly 15 years of relevant experience. Still energized and hands-on. This seat cannot absorb someone learning the federal process on the job.
- Has personally carried government business from first contact through award: shaping the requirement, navigating the vehicle and the money, and closing.
- A live Marine Corps network that can be activated now, with specific offices and people rather than general familiarity.
- Ability to operate autonomously and build a plan where none exists.
- Comfort selling hardware technology that is still maturing, honestly and without overcommitting.
Nice-to-Haves
- Marine Corps service, particularly aviation, MARSOC, warfighting lab, requirements, or acquisition roles.
- Capture or business development at a growth-stage defense-technology company, carrying a real number against a service account.
- Counter-UAS, unmanned systems, or air defense experience.
- Experience standing up a customer account from zero rather than inheriting a territory.
Not a Fit
- Commercial-only sellers. Enterprise B2B software sales does not translate to the federal buying process, and this seat has no runway for someone to learn it.
- Candidates who need a built territory and a defined playbook handed to them.
Process
- This is a confidential search. An NDA is required before the company's identity and full role details are shared. We screen for interest at a high level first, then read candidates in once an NDA is in place.
- Any clearance requirement is confirmed with candidates during screening.
- Candidates are submitted and tracked through the company's applicant tracking system.