Director of Defense Business Development

Tocaro Blue; Forest Park (AL); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

401(k)

Paid time off

Job summary

Tocaro Blue is seeking a Director of Defense Business Development to lead the growth of our defense software offerings for autonomous maritime platforms. You will build pipelines, manage government relationships, and close deals with USV builders, autonomy integrators, and defense primes from the US DoD ecosystem.

The role reports to the Senior Sales Director and involves shaping defense strategy, coordinating with engineering for demonstrations, and traveling to customer sites across the US.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of business development, capture, or defense sales experience with a track record of closing government customers, primes or platform companies, or both.
• Uniformed service or government civilian experience is preferred: DoW, USCG, or the acquisition and S&T organizations that support them.
• We are looking for someone who is self-directed and comfortable building the government sales playbook.
• Location: San Diego, CA or Washington, DC or surrounding areas
• Travel: expect 50% travel to customer sites, fleet concentration areas, demonstrations, and industry events, plus regular time with our teams in Alabama and Florida
• U.S. citizenship required. Active or prior security clearance a plus

Responsibilities

• Develop, negotiate, and close licensing deals with USV builders, autonomy integrators, and maritime OEMs. Grow existing accounts and open new ones, selling Tocaro Blue’s products across the maritime defense ecosystem.
• Identify, shape, and in the future, win opportunities with U.S. Government customers: All DoW program offices and labs, USCG, USSOCOM, DIU, and ONR. Deals can include FAR-based contracts, OTAs, and SBIR/STTR Phase II–III transitions.
• Qualify opportunities, champion technology demonstrations and coordinate them with our engineering and leadership teams. Shape proposal strategy and provide input on pricing, collaborate with our Senior Sales Director to negotiate terms, and close. Stay close to the customer and expand the account.
• Track programs, budgets, and competitors across the uncrewed maritime landscape. Bring the voice of the operator and the program office back into our product roadmap.
• Represent Tocaro Blue at industry events, fleet exercises, and customer demonstrations. You'll be an important representative for the company at Defense-related events.

Skills

Defense sales

Government relations

Strategic planning

Channel management

Entrepreneurial mindset

Education

Engineering or computer science degree

Tools

CRM software

Salesforce

Job description

Director of Defense Business Development
Tocaro Blue

Washington, DC or San Diego, CA

Summary

The future of maritime operations is autonomous: every autonomous vessel needs to perceive the world around it, and Tocaro Blue builds the machine learning software that makes that possible. ProteusCore, our marine radar processing engine, and ApolloCore, our EO/IR perception system, deliver real-time detection, classification, tracking, and sensor fusion for tactical craft and unmanned surface vessels. Our software is trained on massive datasets of sensor data and proven on the water with the leading USV builders and autonomy developers defining this market. Our software products are sold to defense companies, sensor and autonomy integrators, sensor hardware OEMs, and government entities.

We're hiring the person who will be responsible for growing awareness with government stakeholders and developing new defense-related sales opportunities. You will build the pipeline, own the relationships, and close the deals that put our perception software on every vessel headed for the fleet. USV builders, autonomy integrators, and sensor OEMs are our customers, not our competitors. Every platform that wins, wins with us. Your network compounds across the entire market instead of being locked to a single OEM. You'll report directly to our Senior Sales Director, help shape our defense strategy, and work alongside our engineering and leadership teams on demonstrations, evaluations, and proposals without bureaucracy.

If you've been a high-performing business developer in the aerospace, maritime, or defense industry, setting strategy and building productive relationships with suppliers and the government, this is the role for you.

Responsibilities

· Develop, negotiate, and close licensing deals with USV builders, autonomy integrators, and maritime OEMs. Grow existing accounts and open new ones, selling Tocaro Blue’s products across the maritime defense ecosystem.

· Identify, shape, and in the future, win opportunities with U.S. Government customers: All DoW program offices and labs, USCG, USSOCOM, DIU, and ONR. Deals can include FAR-based contracts, OTAs, and SBIR/STTR Phase II–III transitions. Initially this role will focus on selling to primes who are fulfilling DoW USV contracts.

· Qualify opportunities, champion technology demonstrations and coordinate them with our engineering and leadership teams. Shape proposal strategy and provide input on pricing, collaborate with our Senior Sales Director to negotiate terms, and close. Stay close to the customer and expand the account.

· Track programs, budgets, and competitors across the uncrewed maritime landscape. Bring the voice of the operator and the program office back into our product roadmap.

· Represent Tocaro Blue at industry events, fleet exercises, and customer demonstrations. You'll be an important representative for the company at Defense-related events.

Required Qualifications

· Track record of technical product or services sales in a complex, enterprise sales environment. A technical degree in engineering or computer science is a benefit.

• 8+ years of business development, capture, or defense sales experience with a track record of closing government customers, primes or platform companies, or both.
• Uniformed service or government civilian experience is preferred: DoW, USCG, or the acquisition and S&T organizations that support them.
• We are looking for someone who is self-directed and comfortable building the government sales playbook.
• Location: San Diego, CA or Washington, DC or surrounding areas
• Travel: expect 50% travel to customer sites, fleet concentration areas, demonstrations, and industry events, plus regular time with our teams in Alabama and Florida
• U.S. citizenship required. Active or prior security clearance a plus

Preferred Expertise

• Uniformed service or government civilian experience preferred: Navy, USCG, or
• the acquisition and S&T organizations that support them.
• Existing relationships in the Navy and USCG uncrewed maritime community, including program offices, labs, or the USV builders and autonomy companies serving them.
• Working fluency in how the government buys: acquisition pathways, OTAs, SBIR/STTR transition, FMS and security cooperation a plus. Interest and experience in the maritime domain.

Why Tocaro Blue?

Compensation

• Base salary: $140,000 – $170,000, depending on experience and location
• Equity: above market for early-stage startup. Your upside is tied to what you build
• Health benefits, 401(k), and paid time off

Innovation-First Culture

• Direct impact on defining the future of maritime perception and autonomy
• Access to challenging real-world problems that push the limits of current Marine Autonomy capabilities
• Collaborative environment with top-tier engineers, researchers, and business people

Work Environment

• Engineering office in Birmingham, AL
• Engaging fieldwork opportunities for both direct support of clients, as well as internal test events at our Pensacola, FL testing location
• Work-life balance that supports both innovation and personal growth

Tocaro Blue is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status. To comply with U.S. export control regulations, including ITAR, applicants must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)