Principal Business Development Manager

Position Summary

The Principal Business Development Manager – Defense owns and grows Salient Motion's defense order pipeline, with primary focus on the missile actuation product line: control actuation systems (CAS), fin and canard actuators, electromechanical actuators (EMA), and thrust vector control (TVC). The mandate is to convert Salient's technical credibility into committed defense programs with missile and munitions primes, systems integrators, and U.S. Government customers.

This is the company's most senior individual-contributor capture role. It exists for someone who already holds the relationships, program knowledge, and technical fluency to shape requirements early, position Salient ahead of solicitation, and win. The role operates with a high degree of autonomy across the full business development lifecycle, from opportunity identification through contract award, and sets the capture standard that the rest of the business development team follows.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the business development and capture strategy for the missile actuation product line, and identify adjacent growth opportunities across the broader defense portfolio.
• Build and manage a qualified opportunity pipeline across current and multi-year pursuits; forecast accurately and maintain CRM discipline that leadership can plan against.
• Lead capture end to end: shape requirements early, develop win strategy and price-to-win, position Salient ahead of solicitation, and drive internal gate reviews to decision.
• Cultivate and expand executive- and program-level relationships with missile and munitions primes, Tier 1 suppliers, and relevant U.S. Government program offices.
• Track the DoD acquisition and budget cycle (PPBE/POM), monitor programs of record and emerging requirements, and translate that intelligence into actionable pursuits.
• Orchestrate responses to Sources Sought, RFIs, and RFPs in partnership with proposal, engineering, contracts, and pricing to produce compliant, compelling submissions.
• Direct the external business development and lead-generation agencies supporting top-of-funnel activity, and ensure qualified opportunities transition cleanly into the capture pipeline.
• Represent Salient Motion at trade shows, industry days, and customer engagements as a credible technical and commercial voice for the actuation portfolio.
• Feed competitive intelligence and voice-of-customer input back to product line management and engineering to inform roadmap and investment decisions.
• Serve as a capture mentor and standard-bearer for less-experienced business development staff, without direct reporting authority.
• Ensure all activity complies with ITAR/EAR export controls, FAR/DFARS requirements, and internal business conduct standards.

Required Qualifications

• 12+ years of business development, capture, or program-facing experience in aerospace and defense, with a demonstrable record of personally winning new business at the prime or Tier 1 level.
• Direct experience with missile, munitions, precision-guided weapons, or flight control and actuation products and the customers who buy them.
• Demonstrated ownership of full-lifecycle captures, including win strategy, price-to-win, and competitive positioning on pursuits of meaningful scale.
• Working knowledge of electromechanical or hydraulic actuation systems sufficient to hold credible technical discussions with customers and internal engineering, unaided.
• Established, active network among defense primes, systems integrators, and DoD program offices that can be brought to bear immediately.
• Deep working understanding of the DoD acquisition process, the federal budget cycle, and FAR/DFARS contracting.
• Proven ability to operate autonomously in a lean, high-growth environment and to lead cross-functional pursuit teams through influence rather than authority.
• Active U.S. DoD Secret clearance, or the demonstrated ability to obtain one.
• S. citizenship, required for ITAR-controlled work and clearance.
• Bachelor's degree in engineering, business, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Ability to travel up to 40%, domestic with occasional international.

Preferred Qualifications

• Formal capture or proposal management training (Shipley or equivalent).
• TS/SCI clearance or eligibility.
• Existing executive-level relationships at one or more major missile prime contractors.
• Experience building a defense pipeline from a small or early-stage supplier base rather than inheriting an established franchise.
• MBA or relevant advanced degree.

What Success Looks Like

• Within two quarters, a healthy and accurately forecast pipeline of qualified missile actuation and defense opportunities that leadership can plan and invest against.
• Competitive captures won on the pursuits that matter most to the actuation portfolio.
• Durable prime and program-office relationships that position Salient Motion as a preferred actuation partner on current and emerging programs.
• A raised capture standard across the business development function, evidenced in the quality of pursuit strategy and gate reviews company-wide.

What we have to offer:

We are not just building components. We are reshaping the future of the Aerospace and Defense component industry, which is a $300B+ market! Come join us and help build next generation systems that will make a massive impact at global scale.

• We offer competitive compensation: $160,000 to $190,000 base salary + equity
• Exceptional healthcare benefits, Medical is 100% covered by the company
• Flexible PTO
• 401K

More to come!

Salient Motion is an equal opportunity employer. This position requires access to information subject to U.S. export control regulations (ITAR/EAR); applicants must be U.S. Persons as defined therein. Employment is contingent on the ability to obtain and maintain the required security clearance.