Business Development Manager

Newark, DE | Allentown, PA | Norristown, PA | Baltimore, MD | Houston, TX | Bridgeville, PA | Danbury, CT | Franklin, MA | Denver, CO

Do you want to be at the forefront of shaping new opportunities in a growing automation and controls engineering firm? If you thrive on strategic leadership and the challenge of building initiatives from the ground up, keep reading.

ACE is introducing its first Business Development Manager, a key role created to shape the company’s future growth. This position is responsible for building and executing ACE’s long‑term business development strategy while integrating closely with Sales, Project Delivery, Innovation, and Marketing. The Business Development Manager will lead a new team of Solution Architects and will play a central role in identifying high‑value opportunities, shaping pursuits early, strengthening strategic partnerships, and building the structure that supports sustainable growth across industries and regions.

This role is both strategic and hands‑on. It is designed for someone who is comfortable operating in ambiguity, building structure where it does not yet exist, and influencing across functions without relying on authority.

This role is accountable for shaping the quality and direction of ACE’s opportunity pipeline, not simply increasing volume. The Business Development Manager engages early in customer conversations to understand real needs, influence how problems are framed, and help define solution strategies that align with ACE’s strengths.

• Identifying, qualifying, and shaping high‑value opportunities aligned with ACE’s markets, services, and strategic priorities
• Engaging early in the sales cycle to influence customer conversations, solution direction, and pursuit strategy
• Collaborating closely with Account Managers, Project Delivery leadership, and subject matter experts to improve opportunity quality
• Representing ACE in strategic customer conversations and industry engagement
• Supporting evaluation of new technologies, industries, and geographic markets in collaboration with executive leadership

The emphasis of this work is on improving alignment, fit, and long‑term health of the work ACE pursues.

The Business Development Manager leads ACE’s Solution Architect team. Solution Architects are senior, technically capable professionals who support business development efforts by bringing domain expertise, solution thinking, and credibility into early customer conversations. They help shape pursuits, provide technical‑commercial perspective, and support regional and domain‑specific market development.

• Directly managing and mentoring Solution Architects assigned by geography and or technical domain
• Ensuring Solution Architects are actively engaged in opportunity development, customer relationship building, and market intelligence
• Providing strategic direction for how Solution Architects interface with Sales, Engineering, and Project Delivery
• Supporting Solution Architects in developing targeted business development strategies for their assigned regions or solution areas such as MES, SCADA, cybersecurity, or life sciences
• Developing Solution Architects into strong technical‑commercial leaders who elevate ACE’s overall Business Development capability

ACE maintains strategic partnerships with major technology vendors, manufacturers, and distribution partners. The Business Development Manager serves as the central coordinator for these alliance efforts to ensure alignment, visibility, and value across the organization.

• Coordinating ACE’s alliance partnership program with technology, manufacturing, and distributor partners
• Facilitating collaboration between partner leads and ACE’s sales, marketing, and delivery teams
• Supporting co‑marketing, co‑selling, training, and technical alignment initiatives with partners
• Defining and maintaining shared KPIs for alliance performance
• Supporting quarterly partner reviews and identifying opportunities to increase ACE’s impact within partner ecosystems

A core responsibility of this role is to ensure…