Business Development Manager (Missile Defense)

Confidential Careers; Tampa (FL); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Confidential Careers seeks a Business Development Manager to drive growth in missile defense and C2 mission areas. Identify opportunities, qualify leads, and shape solutions aligned with priorities while coordinating with capture, engineering, and program teams.

Role requires building relationships with government customers, developing engagement plans, and guiding opportunities through the pipeline, including pursuit gate reviews and competitive analysis.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, engineering, national security, international relations, or related field.
• Two to three years of experience in business development, capture, program management, military operations, government acquisition, or the defense industry.
• Ability to travel up to 25%.
• Proven ability to identify and advance opportunities within defense or government contracting.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement business development plans within an assigned customer, mission, or capability portfolio.
• Identify, assess, and qualify new business opportunities aligned with strategic growth objectives.
• Build and maintain relationships with government customers, military leaders, acquisition organizations, and industry partners.
• Create customer engagement plans, stakeholder maps, opportunity assessments, and positioning strategies.
• Maintain situational awareness of missions, requirements, budgets, and procurement timelines.
• Coordinate with cross-functional teams to develop responsive and differentiated solutions.
• Prepare business cases, briefings, and pipeline updates for leadership.
• Support pursuit gate reviews with customer, market, budget, and competitive insights.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Excellent communication

Stakeholder management

Team collaboration

Travel readiness

CRM proficiency

Education

Bachelor's degree in business, engineering, national security, international relations, or related field

Tools

CRM systems

Business software

Job description

A leading defense focused organization is seeking a Business Development Manager to support growth across missile defense and command and control (C2) mission areas. This role is responsible for identifying, qualifying, and advancing new business opportunities by cultivating customer relationships, assessing market conditions, and shaping solutions aligned with mission priorities.

The position works closely with capture, engineering, program teams, strategy, finance, contracts, and other functional groups to develop growth strategies, competitive positioning, and customer engagement plans.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and implement business development plans within an assigned customer, mission, or capability portfolio.
• Identify, assess, and qualify new business opportunities aligned with strategic growth objectives.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with government customers, military leaders, acquisition organizations, and industry partners.
• Create customer engagement plans, stakeholder maps, opportunity assessments, and positioning strategies.
• Maintain situational awareness of relevant missions, operational requirements, acquisition priorities, budgets, technology needs, and procurement timelines.
• Monitor defense policy, funding activity, acquisition strategies, and customer requirements that influence future opportunities.
• Collect and analyze market and competitive intelligence to understand customer needs and competitive landscape.
• Translate customer priorities into actionable strategies, value propositions, and solution concepts.
• Collaborate with cross functional teams to develop responsive and differentiated solutions.
• Prepare business cases, briefings, customer assessments, and pipeline updates for leadership.
• Support pursuit gate reviews with customer, market, budget, and competitive insights.Coordinate opportunity transition from business development into formal capture processes.
• Support capture and proposal efforts with customer insight, competitive analysis, partner information, and content reviews.
• Participate in proposal color team reviews to ensure alignment, compliance, and competitive strength.
• Identify potential teaming partners and industry relationships that enhance competitive positioning.
• Support customer demos, technical exchanges, oral presentations, industry engagements, and capability briefings.
• Represent the company at customer meetings, trade shows, conferences, and industry events.
• Maintain accurate pipeline and customer engagement data within designated tracking systems.
• Communicate opportunity status, risks, resource requirements, and recommended actions.
• Ensure all business development activities comply with company policies, ethical standards, security requirements, and applicable government regulations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, engineering, national security, international relations, or related field.
• Two to three years of experience in business development, capture, program management, military operations, government acquisition, or the defense industry.
• Demonstrated ability to identify and advance opportunities within a defense or government contracting environment.
• Working understanding of DoD acquisition, budgeting, and procurement processes.
• Ability to understand customer missions, operational requirements, and technology needs and convert them into actionable strategies.
• Proven relationship-building skills with government, military, industry, and internal stakeholders.
• Experience supporting cross functional teams in business development or solution development.
• Ability to assess customer requirements, market conditions, competitive intelligence, and budget data.
• Strong analytical skills, business judgment, and strategic thinking.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including briefings for senior leaders.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities independently.
• Proficiency with standard business software tools and customer relationship management systems.
• Ability to travel up to 25%.
• Must be a U.S. citizen due to government contract requirements.
• Eligibility for a DoD security clearance is required.

Preferred Experience

• Knowledge of integrated air and missile defense missions, technologies, operational requirements, and training needs.
• Familiarity with organizations involved in missile defense, space, air defense, and multi‑domain operations.
• Understanding of missile warning, tracking, command and control, sensor integration, interceptor systems, and multi domain defense environments.
• Experience supporting missile‑defense programs, modeling and simulation, systems integration, mission rehearsal, or operator training.

Work Environment & Expectations

• Duties performed in office and/or production environments.
• Ability to work occasional overtime or off shifts as required.
• May require extended periods of computer‑based work.
• Occasional repetitive hand/wrist motions associated with typing and documentation.
• Schedules may vary based on business needs.

Equal Opportunity Statement

The employer is an equal opportunity organization. All qualified applicants will receive consideration regardless of protected characteristics under federal, state, or local law. Applicants needing accommodation may request assistance at any point in the recruitment process.