Skyborne Technologies USA, LLC Business Development Manager Remote · Full time Company website

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Skyborne Technologies USA develops AI-enabled unmanned and robotic systems for defense and national security customers. With over a decade of R&D, Skyborne combines advanced robotics, artificial intelligence, and operational expertise to deliver mission-ready solutions across air and ground platforms. As a growing U.S. defense technology company, you'll work with cutting-edge systems, collaborate directly with experienced engineers and operators, and help deploy innovative capabilities that make a real impact in the field.

The role works closely with Technical Program Management, Operations, Engineering, Field Service, Manufacturing and executive leadership to ensure customer requirements, product capability, commercial positioning, pricing and delivery expectations remain aligned. The BDM is accountable for maintaining accurate pipeline visibility and driving assigned opportunities toward funded procurement and revenue.

Essential Job Functions

 

Business Development – Americas & Europe

• Develop and execute business development activities across the Americas and Europe in alignment with company strategy, product priorities and revenue objectives.
• Identify, qualify and develop new business opportunities with defense, national-security and allied government customers.
• Maintain primary focus on U.S. defense opportunities while actively developing qualified opportunities across European and other assigned allied markets.
• Own assigned opportunities through the full business development lifecycle, from initial engagement through qualification, capture, proposal, negotiation and contract award.
• Develop and maintain relationships with military end users, program offices, acquisition organizations, government stakeholders, prime contractors, integrators and industry partners.
• Develop a detailed understanding of customer operational requirements, funding pathways, acquisition strategies, procurement timelines and decision-making processes.
• Maintain structured customer and account engagement plans for priority organizations and opportunities.
• Identify new markets, customer segments and routes to market consistent with Skyborne's strategic priorities.

 

Pipeline, Capture & Opportunity Conversion

• Build, maintain and actively manage a qualified pipeline of opportunities across the assigned territory.
• Progress opportunities through Skyborne's defined commercial stages and maintain clear next actions, customer milestones and internal responsibilities.
• Develop capture strategies for priority opportunities, including customer need, funding pathway, acquisition route, competitive environment, key stakeholders, decision criteria and schedule.
• Drive assigned opportunities toward funded procurement and measurable revenue outcomes.
• Maintain accurate and timely customer, opportunity, pipeline and activity records within the company CRM, including opportunity stage, value, probability, expected timing, next actions and ownership.
• Provide reliable pipeline and forecast inputs to the CEO – USA and executive leadership.
• Maintain appropriate distinction between early-stage pipeline and sufficiently mature opportunities supporting revenue forecasting.
• Support formal Go/No-Go decisions for opportunities requiring material company resources, engineering effort, demonstration expenditure or proposal investment.
• Identify stalled or low-probability opportunities and recommend appropriate actions, including reprioritization or closure.

 

Customer Engagement & Market Development

• Serve as a primary commercial interface with assigned customers and stakeholders across the Americas and Europe.
• Engage directly with operational users to understand mission requirements, capability gaps and emerging needs.
• Develop relationships across relevant acquisition, requirements, test, procurement and operational communities.
• Conduct customer briefings and capability presentations with appropriate support from technical personnel.
• Capture customer feedback and communicate actionable market intelligence to Product, Engineering, Operations and leadership.
• Maintain disciplined follow-up following meetings, demonstrations, industry events and customer engagements.
• Represent Skyborne professionally at customer sites, military installations, conferences, trade shows, demonstrations and other industry engagements.

 

Proposals, Capture & Commercial Execution

• Lead or coordinate responses to RFIs, RFQs, RFPs, white papers, capability requests and other customer solicitations.
• Develop and maintain capture plans for priority opportunities.
• Coordinate proposal inputs across Engineering, Technical Program Management, Operations, Manufacturing, Finance and executive leadership.
• Develop clear, persuasive and compliant customer-facing documentation.
• Support development of pricing, commercial strategy and negotiation positions in coordination with appropriate company stakeholders.
• Coordinate internal reviews and approvals before submission of proposals, quotations and other commercial commitments.
• Track proposals and customer submissions through evaluation, negotiation, award or closure.
• Ensure customer commitments regarding capability, pricing, schedule, configuration or delivery are appropriately validated and internally authorized.

 

Product & Go-to-Market Alignment

• Maintain sufficient technical knowledge of Skyborne products and capabilities to represent them credibly and accurately to customers.
• Translate customer demand and operational feedback into structured inputs for Product, Engineering and executive leadership.
• Work closely with the Technical Program Manager and Engineering teams to validate technical feasibility, product maturity and development requirements associated with opportunities.
• Coordinate with Operations and Manufacturing regarding production readiness, lead times, delivery assumptions and sustainment requirements.
• Ensure go-to-market activities reflect actual product readiness, manufacturing capacity and achievable delivery timelines.
• Align customer expectations with technical and operational realities.
• Avoid unsupported commitments regarding future capabilities, technical performance, configuration or delivery schedules.
• Support product positioning and market-entry strategies based on customer demand and competitive conditions.

 

Demonstrations, Trade Shows & Field Engagement

• Lead the planning and commercial execution of assigned trade shows, demonstrations, customer evaluations and industry events across the Americas and Europe.
• Establish objectives, target customers, meeting plans, messaging and desired commercial outcomes for assigned events.
• Coordinate internal participation, customer invitations, schedules and follow-up activities in conjunction with Operations, Marketing, Technical Program Management and Field Service.
• Lead customer engagement and business development activity during demonstrations and trade shows, ensuring priority stakeholders and opportunities are actively progressed.
• Coordinate with the FSR, TPM and Engineering teams on technical requirements and execution of demonstrations and evaluations.
• Participate in customer demonstrations, trials and field events as required.
• Capture customer feedback, outcomes, leads and follow-up actions in the company CRM.
• Drive successful demonstrations and events toward defined commercial next steps, including follow-on meetings, evaluations, proposals and procurement opportunities.
• Ensure commercial commitments associated with demonstrations or events are appropriately coordinated and internally approved.

 

Channel & Partner Development

• Develop and manage appropriate distributors, reseller, agent, prime contractor and strategic partner relationships across the Americas and Europe.
• Identify partners capable of expanding customer access, local market knowledge, demonstration capability and commercial reach.
• Support assessment and selection of partners based on market access, customer relationships, technical capability and alignment with Skyborne's commercial strategy.
• Coordinate partner-led opportunities and maintain appropriate visibility of customer activity, pipeline and opportunity ownership.
• Support partner enablement, product familiarization, marketing activities and commercial positioning.
• Ensure partner activities remain aligned with approved territories, product authorizations, pricing and company strategy.
• Monitor partner effectiveness and recommend expansion, modification or termination of relationships where appropriate.

 

Internal Coordination, Reporting & Handover

• Provide regular pipeline, capture and customer-engagement updates to the CEO – USA.
• Maintain accurate and timely opportunity information within company CRM and reporting systems.
• Provide structured market intelligence and customer feedback to executive leadership and relevant internal teams.
• Develop and maintain an annual schedule of priority customer engagements, trade shows and demonstrations across the assigned territory, with recommendations regarding attendance, objectives and resource requirements.
• Coordinate business development priorities with company revenue objectives and available technical/operational resources.
• Maintain customer and opportunity records sufficient to ensure organizational continuity and visibility.
• Support annual revenue planning and commercial forecasting.
• Coordinate the transition of awarded programs from business development into Technical Program Management and Operations.
• Remain engaged following award where required to support customer relationships, follow-on opportunities and commercial matters, while avoiding duplication of program execution responsibilities.

 

Additional Responsibilities and Requirements

• Travel up to 50% throughout the Americas and Europe to support customer engagements, demonstrations, trade shows, partner activities and other business requirements.
• Maintain compliance with applicable U.S. export-control requirements, including ITAR/EAR, in all customer, partner and international interactions.
• Handle Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and other sensitive customer/company information in accordance with company policy and applicable requirements.
• Comply with company security, ethics, anti-bribery, export-control and business-development policies.
• Maintain appropriate records of customer, partner and government engagements.
• Complete required annual compliance, security, ethics and safety training.
• Travel regularly throughout the United States and internationally across the assigned Americas and European territory.
• Support evening, weekend or after-hours customer activities when required by travel, demonstrations, trade shows or customer schedules.
• Maintain eligibility to access customer, military and other controlled facilities as required.
• Perform other duties reasonably assigned in support of company commercial and organizational objectives.

                                                                                                                                                                     

Qualifications, Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, International Relations, Defense Studies or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant military and/or professional experience.
• Minimum 5 years of progressive experience in defense business development, capture, government acquisition, military operations or a comparable customer-facing defense role.
• Demonstrated experience identifying, developing and progressing business opportunities toward contract award.
• Working knowledge of U.S. defense acquisition, requirements, procurement and funding processes.
• Experience developing proposals, white papers, customer submissions or similar commercial/capture documentation.
• Demonstrated experience using CRM systems to manage customer activity, opportunities, pipeline progression and reporting.
• Ability to understand and communicate complex technical products and operational concepts.
• Experience engaging directly with government, military, prime-contractor or defense-industry stakeholders.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to brief senior customer and executive audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to operate independently while coordinating effectively across technical, operational and executive teams.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent opportunities, customers and priorities.

 

Desired Skills & Experience

• Prior U.S. military service or substantial experience working directly with military customers.
• Strong understanding of U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, USSOCOM and/or other relevant defense organizations.
• Established relationships within U.S. defense acquisition, operational or industry communities.
• Experience in UAS, robotics, autonomy, aerospace, remote weapon systems, counter-UAS or related defense technologies.
• Experience with Sage X3 CRM or comparable CRM/ERP-integrated sales platforms.
• Defense-industry business development, capture or sales experience.
• Experience with European defense customers, NATO organizations or allied acquisition environments.
• Experience establishing or managing distributors, reseller, agent or strategic-partner relationships.
• Understanding of U.S. Government contracting mechanisms and acquisition pathways.
• Experience supporting demonstrations, military exercises, trials or operational evaluations.
• Previous U.S. security clearance or demonstrated ability to obtain one if required.

 

Citizenship, Security & Regulatory Requirements

• Must be a U.S. citizen.
• Must be able to pass required employment and background screening.
• Must be able to access technical data required for the position in accordance with applicable U.S. export-control authorizations and company procedures.
• Must be eligible to access U.S. Government and military facilities as required.
• Eligibility to serve as a Responsible Person under Skyborne's Federal Firearms License (FFL), if designated by the Company.
• Must comply with applicable company policies governing firearms, controlled equipment, demonstrations and customer activities.

 

Cognitive and Physical Demands

·       Sustained concentration, judgment and analytical reasoning to evaluate customer requirements, acquisition pathways, competitive positioning and multiple concurrent opportunities.

·       Ability to rapidly assimilate technical, commercial and customer information and communicate it accurately to internal and external stakeholders.

·       Ability to prioritize and manage multiple customers, opportunities, deadlines and travel commitments.

·       Sound judgment and professional decision-making in customer-facing environments and situations involving incomplete or evolving information.

·       Professional composure during negotiations, customer engagements, demonstrations and high-priority capture activities.

·       Effective reading, writing, speaking and comprehension of technical and commercial English.

·       Frequent use of computers, mobile devices, CRM platforms, presentation software and video conferencing.

·       Frequent sitting and workstation activity for extended periods.

·       Regular verbal communication in person, by telephone and via video conference.

·       Ability to stand and walk for extended periods during trade shows, customer events and demonstrations.

·       Occasional bending, stooping, kneeling and movement over uneven terrain during field demonstrations or customer activities.

·       Occasional lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling of up to approximately 25 pounds, including luggage, marketing materials or light equipment.

·       Ability to undertake frequent domestic and international air and ground travel.

Working Conditions

·       Work is performed through a combination of remote/home-office activity, Skyborne offices, customer facilities, military installations, industry events, supplier/partner facilities and field environments.

·       Up to 50% domestic and international travel across the Americas and Europe; travel may occasionally be required on short notice.

·       Frequent domestic and international travel across the Americas and Europe.

·       Travel may occasionally be required on short notice in response to customer or business-development requirements.

·       Customer and field activities may involve outdoor environments, variable weather, uneven terrain, moderate-to-loud noise and proximity to operational equipment.

·       Periodic attendance at controlled test ranges and demonstrations involving unmanned systems and weapon-integrated platforms may be required.

·       Appropriate personal protective equipment and compliance with applicable range, facility and company safety procedures are required where designated.

·       Standard business hours apply when not traveling or supporting customer activities; flexibility is required for international time zones, customer schedules, trade shows and demonstrations.

·       Work may be performed in access-controlled facilities or closed areas where security procedures and restrictions on personal electronic devices apply.

·       Position is subject to applicable U.S. export-control laws.