Business Development Director

Arlington · Hybrid

About this role

About Us:

At Quartermaster AI, we leverage cutting-edge AI and robotics technology to enhance maritime domain awareness. Our mission is to become the eyes, ears, and brain of the ocean by enabling every vessel to collaboratively sense, compute, and communicate. Quartermaster is a venture-backed Maritime Domain Awareness company providing near real-time insights to government and commercial partners via our SmartMast product. SmartMast is a COTS sensor system consisting of a camera and a software defined radio installed on vessels worldwide, and managed by Quartermaster.

Job Description:

We are looking for a highly motivated mid-senior level experienced Business Development Director to join our dynamic team. This role will be instrumental in driving sales growth and building relationships with key clients both domestically and internationally. The successful candidate will have a track record of closing contracts with USG agencies.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Identify, Qualify, Shape, Negotiate and Close new business opportunities.

  • Partner with engineering and program management teams to grow existing accounts.

  • Support the optimization of sales processes to improve overall efficiency and drive revenue growth.

  • Deliver high-quality outcomes to our government and commercial partners.

  • Spearhead proposals, including RFIs, RFPs, white papers, and unsolicited concept papers.

  • Maintain situational awareness of acquisition pathways (e.g., OTAs, MTA, SBIR/STTR, IDIQ) and upcoming solicitations.

Qualifications (preferred):

  • 5-10 years of Business Development experience. Ideally Defense-Technology direct Growth and BD experience with U.S. Department of War.

  • Ability to travel 25% of the time.

  • Demonstrated knowledge of maritime customers, existing programs, and how Quartermaster can drive outcomes for government and commercial partners.

  • Experience building or scaling a new business development function.

  • Are comfortable selling complex, technical systems to operational customers.

  • Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced environment with people across the globe in various timezones.

  • Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, and ability to brief company executives and senior government officials.

  • Prior experience working as resource sponsor and/or in program offices (PAE, PEO, or PMWs) viewed as highly favorable.

  • Prior military or government national security experience viewed favorably.

  • MBA viewed favorably.

  • Active security clearance

Company at a glance

The company is a defense technology firm leveraging proprietary AI robotics technology to build a sensor constellation to deliver unprecedented insights into global maritime activity. The engineering team is based in Washington D.C., New York, and San Francisco and operates with high autonomy and minimal oversight. It positions itself as a mid-to-late stage startup where the product works and is scaling. Engineers interface directly with customer feedback and are expected to speak in detail about their personal contributions. The company focuses on real-time maritime domain awareness and aims to provide scalable insights into global maritime activity.

Founded2023
Team Size51-200
WorkspaceHybrid
IndustryDefense and Space Manufacturing
Location
Arlington, Virginia, United States

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