Senior Business Development Director

Safran•Rochester, NY

1d•Remote

About The Position

The Senior Director of Business Development is a senior growth leader responsible for expanding the company’s footprint across the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Community (IC). This role drives full-lifecycle business development and capture efforts in resilient Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (R-PNT), simulation and inertial technologies, systems engineering, and mission support services. This leader owns pipeline development, opportunity shaping, customer engagement, and capture execution—from early identification through contract award—while maintaining accountability for revenue growth, margin performance, and long-term strategic positioning. The role requires strong technical fluency, executive presence, and proven success winning competitive prime and subcontract awards in classified and unclassified environments. The Director will engage directly with Government customers and indirectly through major defense system integrators.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree (engineering or technical discipline preferred).
10+ years of Federal business development and capture experience, including 5+ years supporting DoD and/or IC customers.
Demonstrated success winning competitive prime and subcontract awards.
Strong knowledge of Federal acquisition processes (FAR/DFARS, IDIQs, GWACs, BPAs).
Experience managing pipeline and executing structured capture methodologies.
Executive-level communication skills with senior military, Government, and industry leaders.
Proficiency in CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce).
Ability to travel within the U.S.
U.S. Citizenship and ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance.
Active Secret or TS/SCI clearance.

Nice To Haves

MBA or master’s degree.
Existing DoD/IC customer relationships.
Technical background in navigation, inertial systems, simulation, or other high-technology defense domains.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute a multi-year growth strategy targeting DoD and IC agencies.
Build and maintain senior-level relationships with program offices, contracting officials, and mission stakeholders.
Representing the company at customer meetings, classified briefings, industry days, and partner engagements.
Drive customer intimacy through white papers, capability briefings, and opportunity shaping conversations.
Identify, qualify, and mature opportunities aligned with core capabilities in R-PNT, simulation, systems engineering, PMO support, test & evaluation, and mission operations.
Own and manage the opportunity pipeline in CRM, ensuring disciplined qualification and forecast accuracy.
Lead capture efforts include win strategy, competitive positioning, teaming, pricing alignment, and proposal development.
Author or oversee RFIs, RFP responses, white papers, and executive summaries.
Develop engineering cost estimates and support pricing reviews.
Establish and manage strategic teaming relationships with primes and niche partners.
Position the company for prime and subcontract awards on IDIQs, GWACs, and classified vehicles.
Support long-term contract vehicle strategy and market expansion initiatives.
Partner with executive leadership and finance to align BD activities with revenue, margin, and investment goals.
Ensure growth strategies reflect operational capacity and delivery strengths.
Maintain accountability for pipeline quality, win rates, revenue contribution, and profitability.