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CesiumAstro creates out-of-the-box communication systems for space and airborne platforms.
The Role
Leads the business capture function for aerospace and defense opportunities, setting capture strategy, priorities, resources, and operational plans. Directs strategic pursuits, evaluates customer needs and competitive intelligence, develops engagement and positioning strategies, and manages cross-functional pursuit teams. Oversees capture personnel, budgets, tools, performance metrics, opportunity portfolios, and continuous improvement while partnering with business development, engineering, contracts, finance, program management, marketing, and executive leadership.
Summary Generated by Built In
Please Note: To conform with the United States Government Space Technology Export Regulations, the applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., conditional resident, asylee or refugee (protected individuals as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.
At CesiumAstro, we are developers and pioneers of out-of-the-box communication systems for satellites, UAVs, launch vehicles, and other space and airborne platforms. We take pride in our dynamic and cross-functional work environment, which allows us to learn, develop, and engage across our organization. If you are looking for hands-on, interactive, and autonomous work, CesiumAstro is the place for you. We are actively seeking passionate, collaborative, energetic, and forward-thinking individuals to join our team.
We are looking to add a Director, Business Capture to join our team. In this role you will lead the company's business capture function, establishing capture strategy and directing major pursuits across U.S. Government, defense, and high-value aerospace opportunities. This role sets departmental priorities, leads capture professionals and cross-functional pursuit teams, and oversees opportunity qualification, capture planning, competitive positioning, customer engagement, and win development. The Director evaluates customer mission needs, acquisition approaches, competitive intelligence, solution maturity, and pursuit investments to prioritize opportunities and improve probability of win across the business pipeline.
This position requires an experienced aerospace and defense leader with deep knowledge of U.S. Government acquisition processes, defense procurement environments, customer missions, and complex aerospace programs. The Director partners cross-functionally with business development, proposal management, engineering, contracts, finance, program management, and executive leadership to translate customer requirements into differentiated capture strategies, guide major pursuit and investment decisions, and position the company for contract awards and long-term business growth.
JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Direct the Business Capture function by establishing departmental objectives, capture priorities, resource strategies, and operational plans that align with organizational growth objectives and business development strategies.
- Lead multiple strategic capture efforts by allocating capture resources, balancing organizational priorities, and ensuring effective execution across the opportunity portfolio.
- Evaluate departmental performance, capture pipeline health, resource utilization, opportunity progression, and operational metrics while implementing improvements that strengthen capture performance.
- Establish capture management strategies, opportunity qualification methodologies, customer engagement plans, and competitive positioning approaches that improve pursuit effectiveness and win probability.
- Partner with business development leadership, sales, engineering, contracts, finance, supply chain, program management, marketing, and executive leadership to develop capture strategies supporting strategic customer opportunities.
- Evaluate customer requirements, competitive intelligence, capture risks, market conditions, and business priorities while directing actions that strengthen organizational positioning and pursuit success.
- Lead, coach, develop, and evaluate Business Capture personnel while fostering collaboration, accountability, and continuous professional development.
- Build partnerships across business development, proposal management, sales, engineering, contracts, finance, supply chain, program management, marketing, and executive leadership to ensure coordinated execution of strategic customer pursuits.
- Represent the Business Capture function during executive reviews, opportunity reviews, customer engagements, strategic planning sessions, and organizational business development activities.
- Direct capture management policies, opportunity management processes, customer engagement practices, business development systems, and departmental procedures to ensure consistent execution across capture operations.
- Manage departmental budgets, staffing plans, capture technologies, consultant utilization, and organizational resources while identifying opportunities to improve operational efficiency.
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives that enhance capture effectiveness, cross-functional collaboration, customer engagement, opportunity qualification, operational efficiency, and overall business development performance.
JOB REQUIREMENTS AND MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor's degree in business administration, marketing, communications, engineering, finance, or a related field with 11–15 years of related experience, Master's degree with 9–12 years of related experience, or PhD with 7–10 years of related experience in business capture, capture management, business development, proposal management, strategic sales, government contracting, or a related discipline.
- 5+ years of leadership or management experience in business capture, business development, proposal management, sales, government contracting, or a related function.
- Expert knowledge of capture management, business development, strategic opportunity management, competitive analysis, and customer engagement.
- Expertise in capture strategy development, opportunity qualification, customer engagement planning, and business development methodologies.
- Comprehensive knowledge of federal procurement processes, customer acquisition strategies, competitive positioning, proposal development, and contract acquisition requirements.
- Extensive experience directing capture organizations, managing strategic opportunity portfolios, developing functional leaders, and coordinating pursuit resources.
- Strategic understanding of aerospace and defense markets, government acquisition priorities, competitive dynamics, organizational capabilities, and long-term business growth objectives.
- Expert judgment when evaluating significant capture risks, strategic pursuits, competitive positioning, resource investments, and competing organizational priorities.
- Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, e.g. Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, HubSpot, or equivalent applications.
- Business intelligence, opportunity management, and collaboration tools, e.g. Power BI, SharePoint, Confluence, or equivalent applications.
- Ability to obtain U.S. government issued security clearance. U.S. citizenship is required, as only U.S. citizens are eligible for a security clearance.
CesiumAstro considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the role and associated responsibilities, a candidate’s work experience, education/training, and key skills. Full-time employment offers include company stock options and a generous benefits package including health, dental, vision, HSA, FSA, life, disability and retirement plans.
CesiumAstro is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected Veteran Status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.
Please note: CesiumAstro does not accept unsolicited resumes from contract agencies or search firms. Any unsolicited resumes submitted to our website or to CesiumAstro team members will be considered property of CesiumAstro, and we will not be obligated to pay any referral fees.
Skills Required
- Bachelor’s degree with 11–15 years of related experience, master’s degree with 9–12 years, or PhD with 7–10 years in business capture, business development, proposal management, strategic sales, government contracting, or a related discipline.
- At least 5 years of leadership or management experience in business capture, business development, proposal management, sales, government contracting, or a related function.
- Expert knowledge of capture management, business development, strategic opportunity management, competitive analysis, and customer engagement.
- Expertise in capture strategy development, opportunity qualification, customer engagement planning, and business development methodologies.
- Comprehensive knowledge of federal procurement processes, customer acquisition strategies, competitive positioning, proposal development, and contract acquisition requirements.
- Extensive experience directing capture organizations, managing strategic opportunity portfolios, developing functional leaders, and coordinating pursuit resources.
- Strategic understanding of aerospace and defense markets, government acquisition priorities, competitive dynamics, organizational capabilities, and long-term business growth objectives.
- Expert judgment in evaluating capture risks, strategic pursuits, competitive positioning, resource investments, and competing organizational priorities.
- Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams.
- Experience with CRM systems such as Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, HubSpot, or equivalent applications.
- Experience with business intelligence, opportunity management, and collaboration tools such as Power BI, SharePoint, Confluence, or equivalent applications.
- Ability to obtain a U.S. government-issued security clearance.
- U.S. citizenship.
CesiumAstro Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about CesiumAstro and has not been reviewed or approved by CesiumAstro.
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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage includes medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, plus FSAs and mental health benefits. Feedback suggests the health package is comprehensive for a growth-stage aerospace firm.
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Retirement Support — Offerings include a 401(k) with company matching and other retirement-plan elements. Feedback suggests core retirement mechanisms are in place alongside standard financial benefits.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Generous PTO, paid holidays, paid sick days, and bereavement leave are included. Feedback suggests time-off options are broad on paper across multiple leave types.
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The Company
What We Do
We build high-throughput, plug-and-play phased array communication payloads for space and airborne platforms. CesiumAstro’s full-stack, multi-mission hardware and software products enable a diverse range of commercial and defense objectives. Full-system engineering design is at the heart of every CesiumAstro product. We deliver high-performance solutions under rapid development timelines.
Why Work With Us
At CesiumAstro, we’re a team. We’re passionate, respectful, and determined colleagues ready to help at a moment’s notice. We’re mentors excited to enable our peers with the knowledge they need to succeed. Together, we’re visionaries committing to building memories that will last a lifetime.
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