Director of Program Development

Overview

Re:

Build Fikst, LLC (Fikst), a Re:

Build Manufacturing, LLC (Re:

Build) company, is a growing product design and engineering consulting firm located in Wilmington, MA. We work with pioneering clients to develop their technology, design their products, and bring those products to production. Fikst specializes in biomedical instruments and consumables, microfluidics, specialty plastic design, optics, industrial automation, and design for manufacturing. We have extensive in-house laboratory and rapid prototyping capability including CNCs, 3D printers, and laser cutters to prototype and innovate quickly.

Who is Fikst? Re:

Build Fikst is part of Re:

Build Manufacturing and collaborates to deliver technology-driven product development and production support across industries.

We are seeking a highly motivated, results-oriented program development and client engagement professional. This is not a typical “biz dev” position. Everything we do is custom. We work on emerging technologies across life sciences, fluidic systems, greentech, and industrial products and closely collaborate with clients to commercialize technologies. We want someone who has experience as a practicing engineer developing technology-centric hardware products with a passion for connecting with clients, building relationships, and securing programs that our technical team is excited to work on.

• Manage opportunities:
  Initiate and drive communications with prospective clients, manage overall interactions and information flow in the early stages of the engagement, use our CRM for contact management, tasks, and deal tracking, and work with senior leadership to prioritize opportunities.
• Communicate capabilities and understand client needs:
  Meet with prospective clients, present our capabilities, identify key areas of opportunity, and assess how we can best support the client team.
• Build client relationships:
  Develop relationships with key decision-makers and collaborators at client organizations, considering both short-term opportunities and long-term relationships.
• Develop and present proposals:
  In collaboration with the technical project team, prepare and present proposals, statements of work, and presentations to prospective clients, highlighting our value proposition, technical capabilities, and competitive advantages.
• Initiate and manage legal document execution:
  Collaborate with the legal team and Fikst leadership to ensure timely execution of NDAs, MSAs, and finalized contracts.
• Negotiate and close program opportunities:
  Work with the technical project teams and senior leadership to negotiate and close program opportunities.
• Stay connected to project work and advocate for client relationship building:
  Be engaged in project execution and advocate for mutual success and long-term relationships throughout the engagement.
• Make connections with potential new clients:
  Participate in industry events, leverage local networks and online platforms to expand awareness of Fikst and identify opportunities for engagement.

• Experience:
  
  8+ years in a product development environment. Consulting and/or business development experience is a plus.
• Education:
  
  BS degree in engineering or a technical field, or equivalent.
• Technical Knowledge:
  Understanding of early-stage technology development and product commercialization; life sciences experience is a plus.
• Passion for business: A true passion to land programs that excite the technical team and add value to the Fikst business.
• Industry Network and Knowledge:
  Knowledge of relevant industries and a network of contacts.
• Communication/People
  
  Skills:
  
  Versatile and professional communication skills - verbal and written - with the ability to articulate sophisticated technical content clearly.
• Team Orientation:
  An intrinsic desire to work and execute as a team, including jumping in to support and advise others when needed.

The context: A new potential client was referred to us four weeks ago. You met them virtually to assess alignment between their needs and our capabilities. Since then, progress has been made to advance…