Business Development - Critical Industries

Blackwing; El Segundo, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Rainmaker is pioneering a modern cloud seeding system to solve water scarcity. We seek a Director of Industrial Partnerships to drive the commercial adoption of precipitation enhancement across mining, oil & gas, hydroelectric, and large industrial users in the Western U.S.

You will build a revenue-generating partnerships pipeline and structure innovative deals. You will lead cross-functional efforts, coordinate with Government Affairs, and organize site visits at Rainmaker projects.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in commercial business development, sales, or partnership development serving mining, oil & gas, power generation, heavy industry, or large-scale industrial infrastructure customers.
• Demonstrated track record of sourcing, structuring, and closing complex B2B or B2G deals, ideally involving industrial operations, energy infrastructure, environmental services, or resource management.
• Strong understanding of how water and precipitation drive industrial operations — including reservoir management for hydropower, water-intensive extraction and processing, cooling and process water requirements, and the regulatory frameworks governing industrial water use.
• Familiarity with Western water economics, water rights, basin hydrology, drought dynamics, and the institutional landscape of water management is strongly preferred.
• Comfort working in a fast-paced, cross-functional startup environment where you will need to operate both strategically and tactically.
• Willingness and ability to travel approximately 50% to industrial sites, operator headquarters, and conferences.
• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degrees in business, economics, engineering, water resources, environmental science, or related fields are a plus.

Responsibilities

• Identify and qualify prospects across mining, oil & gas, hydroelectric, and other large industrial sectors whose operations, production volumes, or capital planning are materially impacted by precipitation, reservoir levels, and basin water yield.
• Develop and manage a pipeline of industrial partnership opportunities from initial outreach through contract execution, tracking prospects across multiple verticals and geographies.
• Design and propose commercial deal structures including service contracts, outcome-based pricing tied to precipitation or basin yield, cost-sharing arrangements across co-located operators, and consortium funding models.
• Engage industrial operators, utilities, independent power producers, and large-scale water users as both customers and co-investors in precipitation enhancement programs.
• Coordinate with Rainmaker's Government Affairs team to identify public-private partnership opportunities where industrial investment can complement state or federal watershed, reservoir, and water security funding.
• Build coalitions of industrial operators, utilities, water districts, and basin stakeholders who collectively benefit from increased precipitation — creating multi-party funding structures for seeding programs within shared watersheds.
• Pursue strategic partnerships with industry associations, trade groups, and ESG-focused stakeholders to raise awareness for Rainmaker and cloud seeding as a water security and sustainability tool for resource-intensive industries.
• Organize and facilitate site visits, demonstrations, and technical briefings for prospective industrial partners and investors at Rainmaker project sites.

Skills

Business development

Partnership development

Sales

B2B/B2G deals

Strategic partnerships

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree preferred

Tools

CRM software

Analytics tools

Job description

Rainmaker is pioneering a modern cloud seeding system to solve water scarcity. We develop and incorporate radar validation, weather-resistant UAS, and numerical weather modeling to make water abundant.

As Rainmaker's Director of Industrial Partnerships, you will drive the commercial adoption of precipitation enhancement services across critical industries whose operations depend on reliable water and snowpack-fed resources. Your focus will be on identifying, developing, and partnering with operators in mining, oil & gas, hydroelectric power, and large-scale industrial water users across the Western United States and other water-stressed regions. You will translate Rainmaker's proven seeding technology into compelling value propositions for industrial operators and build a pipeline of revenue-generating partnerships with companies whose production, uptime, and license to operate are directly tied to water availability.

What You'll Do

• Identify and qualify prospects across mining, oil & gas, hydroelectric, and other large industrial sectors whose operations, production volumes, or capital planning are materially impacted by precipitation, reservoir levels, and basin water yield.

• Develop and manage a pipeline of industrial partnership opportunities from initial outreach through contract execution, tracking prospects across multiple verticals and geographies.

• Design and propose commercial deal structures including service contracts, outcome-based pricing tied to precipitation or basin yield, cost-sharing arrangements across co-located operators, and consortium funding models.

• Engage industrial operators, utilities, independent power producers, and large-scale water users as both customers and co-investors in precipitation enhancement programs.

• Coordinate with Rainmaker's Government Affairs team to identify public-private partnership opportunities where industrial investment can complement state or federal watershed, reservoir, and water security funding.

• Build coalitions of industrial operators, utilities, water districts, and basin stakeholders who collectively benefit from increased precipitation — creating multi-party funding structures for seeding programs within shared watersheds.

• Pursue strategic partnerships with industry associations, trade groups, and ESG-focused stakeholders to raise awareness for Rainmaker and cloud seeding as a water security and sustainability tool for resource-intensive industries.

• Organize and facilitate site visits, demonstrations, and technical briefings for prospective industrial partners and investors at Rainmaker project sites.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in commercial business development, sales, or partnership development serving mining, oil & gas, power generation, heavy industry, or large-scale industrial infrastructure customers.

• Demonstrated track record of sourcing, structuring, and closing complex B2B or B2G deals, ideally involving industrial operations, energy infrastructure, environmental services, or resource management.

• Strong understanding of how water and precipitation drive industrial operations — including reservoir management for hydropower, water-intensive extraction and processing, cooling and process water requirements, and the regulatory frameworks governing industrial water use.

• Familiarity with Western water economics, water rights, basin hydrology, drought dynamics, and the institutional landscape of water management (districts, conservancies, state engineers) is strongly preferred.

• Comfort working in a fast-paced, cross-functional startup environment where you will need to operate both strategically and tactically.

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degrees in business, economics, engineering, water resources, environmental science, or related fields are a plus.

• Willingness and ability to travel approximately 50% to industrial sites, operator headquarters, and conferences.

No recruiting agencies.