Director of Business Development (Engineering Background Required)

2057 Director of Business Development (Engineering Background Required)           

Engineering Services & Advanced Manufacturing

Position Summary

The Director of Business Development will drive new revenue by developing and winning complex engineering services, applied R&D, and advanced manufacturing projects with commercial and government customers.

This is a highly technical, consultative business development role. The ideal candidate began their career as a hands-on engineer and has the technical depth to sit across from a customer, understand a complex engineering or manufacturing problem, ask the right questions, and translate that conversation into a solution that an internal engineering team can execute.

We are specifically seeking someone who has spent approximately 10+ years working in a true engineering capacity before moving into business development or commercial responsibilities. This is not a traditional product-sales or catalog-sales role. The successful candidate will sell engineering capabilities, technical expertise, and problem-solving services rather than manufactured products or components.

The position will focus primarily on new business development/hunting, with responsibility for expanding existing customer relationships as opportunities develop. Customers include organizations across commercial industry and government/defense markets.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Business Development

• Identify, develop, and close new business involving engineering services, applied R&D, advanced manufacturing, and technical problem-solving engagements.
• Engage directly with customers to understand complex product, process, manufacturing, materials, and engineering challenges.
• Conduct credible, detailed engineering conversations with customers and internal technical teams.
• Diagnose customer challenges through a consultative approach—asking questions, gathering technical information, understanding the underlying problem, and identifying potential solutions.
• Translate customer conversations into clearly defined technical scopes of work and Statements of Work (SOWs) that engineering teams can execute and develop budgets around.
• Work closely with internal engineers to determine technical feasibility, capabilities, project requirements, and potential solutions.
• Identify opportunities to improve customer products, manufacturing processes, quality, performance, efficiency, and other technical outcomes.
• Maintain strong follow-up throughout lengthy and complex sales cycles.

New Business Development & Revenue Growth

• Primarily hunt for new customers and new project opportunities, while also expanding business within existing relationships.
• Develop relationships across commercial, industrial, advanced manufacturing, and government/defense organizations.
• Build and manage a robust pipeline of qualified engineering-services opportunities.
• Identify connections and opportunities across organizations, industries, technical teams, and government entities.
• Develop long-term customer relationships that generate repeat project opportunities.
• Attend relevant conferences, industry events, customer meetings, and networking activities to develop opportunities and strengthen relationships.
• Manage longer, consultative sales cycles that may span multiple years.

Proposal & Opportunity Development

• Lead and actively participate in technical proposal development.
• Convert customer requirements and technical conversations into accurate project scopes and proposal content.
• Develop Statements of Work that clearly define the customer's technical need and proposed engineering approach.
• Review technically generated or AI-assisted proposal content to ensure it accurately reflects customer requirements and makes technical and commercial sense.
• Coordinate with engineering and technical teams throughout proposal development.
• Grant proposal writing experience is highly desirable.
• Maintain accurate opportunity, customer, proposal, and pipeline information within the CRM.

Customer & Engineering Collaboration

• Serve as the primary connection between the customer and internal engineering organization.
• Work with customers to understand the business problem behind the technical request.
• Communicate customer requirements to engineering teams in a way that allows them to develop a viable technical solution.
• Build credibility with both engineers and senior customer stakeholders.
• Maintain disciplined customer follow-up and move opportunities forward throughout the business-development cycle.
• Travel as necessary to meet customers and collaborate directly with technical teams.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or another relevant engineering discipline.
• Experience selling engineering services, engineering consulting, R&D, or other customized technical solutions.
• Approximately 10+ years of professional experience working directly as an engineer, prior to or in combination with business development responsibilities.
• Must have worked in a genuine technical/engineering capacity involving analysis, calculations, engineering principles, manufacturing processes, materials, product development, or technical problem solving.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes and engineering fundamentals.
• Ability to discuss technical subjects such as materials properties, heat treatment, manufacturing processes, product performance, process improvement, and engineering design.
• Demonstrated success developing customer relationships and generating business involving engineering services or technical solutions.
• Strong commercial mindset with the ability to recognize business opportunities within technical customer challenges.
• Ability to independently lead technical customer conversations and translate requirements into actionable scopes of work.
• Strong proposal development and technical writing capabilities.
• Demonstrated ability to independently develop new business and move opportunities through a complex sales cycle.
• Excellent communication, presentation, relationship-building, and follow-up skills.
• Ability to travel for customer meetings, conferences, and collaboration with technical teams.
• Demonstrated career stability and interest in making a long-term commitment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Mechanical Engineering background, particularly with exposure to materials and manufacturing processes.
• Experience within advanced manufacturing, materials, automotive, aerospace, mobility, industrial, or related engineering markets.
• Experience developing business with government or defense organizations.
• Familiarity with government acquisition, contracting, or funding processes.
• Grant or government proposal-writing experience.
• Experience working with OEMs, engineering organizations, research organizations, or other technically sophisticated customers.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is an engineer first and a business developer second. They approach sales more like a consultant than a traditional salesperson.

They listen carefully, ask detailed questions, take the time to understand why a customer is experiencing a problem, and then work with technical resources to develop the right solution. They are naturally curious, analytical, commercially minded, persistent with follow-up, and skilled at connecting customer problems with potential business opportunities.

The successful candidate can take that initial business challenge, dig into the engineering problem, work with the customer and technical team, and turn it into a viable engineering project and revenue opportunity. This problem-solving approach is exactly what Grant emphasized in the intake.

Candidates Who Are Unlikely to Fit

This position is not intended for:

• Traditional catalog or commodity sales professionals.
• Candidates whose experience is primarily selling manufactured parts, components, or “widgets.”
• Sales Engineers without a substantial earlier career performing true engineering work.
• Candidates whose backgrounds are primarily Project Management rather than engineering and business development.
• Candidates who rely primarily on relationship selling without the technical depth to understand and scope engineering problems.