Vice President of Business Development

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Madison Heights, MI, US

We are a defense and commercial engineering and manufacturing organization. We are seeking a VP of Business Development with demonstrated history selling to the military, Navy emphasis preferred.

What this role actually is

You own the revenue number. Sales, marketing, and business development all report to you, and you report to the CEO. There is no layer between you and the decision.

This is a hands on closer's job. In year one you will personally sit across the table from NAVSEA program offices, government vehicle program managers, and commercial OEM buyers and bring work back. You will build the team once you have proven the model, not before it.

What you will be selling

• Naval and maritime programs are our primary growth target. Subassemblies, electronics, integration, fabrication, and sustainment work for NAVSEA, PMS offices, Regional Maintenance Centers, shipyards, and naval primes, performed at our facilities or at customer sites, CONUS and OCONUS.
• Vehicles built and modified to government specification. Engineering design, retrofit, and upfit programs for U.S. government and allied government customers.
• Contract manufacturing and engineering services. Build-to-print and design-to-spec work for defense and high-margin commercial customers.
• Air Force and aerospace programs. Technology insertion, sustainment, and manufacturing work with AFLCMC, sustainment centers, aerospace OEMs, and MRO providers.

What you will own

• The full sales cycle from opportunity identification through contract award: capture strategy, proposal, negotiation, and close
• Naval capture strategy, built from the ground up, including relationships with primes, Regional Maintenance Centers, and Tier 1 maritime subcontractors
• Bid and no-bid recommendations, developed with the CEO and engineering leadership, with honest win-probability analysis behind each one
• Contract structures and pricing across FFP, CPFF, T&M, IDIQ, and BPA vehicles, domestic and FMS
• Marketing, brand, and our external presence at industry days, technical interchange meetings, and trade shows
• Hub Spot as our customer database and the AI tooling built on top of it, including prospecting, proposal drafting, and pipeline forecasting
• A sales and marketing organization you hire as booked revenue justifies it, blending employees with fractional specialists

What you need to have done already

• Sold military programs and won, preferably to the Navy. Named programs, named customers, and contracts you personally closed with military branches or primes. This is the requirement we will not flex on.
• Personally closed DoD contracts. Not supported a capture team that closed them.
• Sold more than one thing. We need evidence you can sell Naval programs, vehicles or vehicle systems to government customers and sell contract manufacturing or engineering services capability, not only a single product line.
• Twelve or more years in defense, aerospace, or government contracting sales and business development, including five or more carrying a revenue target at VP, Senior Director, or equivalent level
• An engineering or technical degree, plus the depth to hold a real conversation with a customer's engineers and be taken seriously
• Working knowledge of FAR and DFARS, ITAR, government contract vehicles, and DoD pricing structures
• Willingness to travel up to 50%, domestically and internationally, with a valid passport or the ability to obtain one
• U.S. Person status as defined by ITAR (22 CFR 120.62)

What will set you apart

• Air Force or aerospace sales record alongside your Navy work, at AFLCMC, sustainment centers, or aerospace OEMs
• Foreign Military Sales experience 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 use of Hub Spot and AI prospecting or proposal tools. Personally used, not delegated.
• Experience standing up a business development function where none existed

Location and travel

Greater Detroit Area. Residence in the area is preferred but not required. Travel runs up to 50%, both within the United States and internationally, driven by customer engagement, program support at government and shipyard locations, trade shows, and business…