Director of Business Development

Company Description

Backed by leading climate and American dynamism investors, Terranova builds intelligent robotic systems to terraform the Earth itself - lifting land, restoring wetlands, and protecting critical infrastructure from floods and sea-level rise.

Our mission is to preserve the built environment, create new habitats, and usher in an era of abundance. Our work supports climate resilience, disaster recovery, and defense across the United States and beyond.

We’re assembling a world-class team that wants to work on something real, physical, and civilization-scale. If you want your work to reshape the world (literally), this is the place to do it.

What to to Expect

Terranova is seeking a senior business development leader with a proven track record of both sales and project development. This person will own Terranova’s growth pipeline - building relationships with construction primes, agencies, congress, and partners - and translating large, complex opportunities into executable projects.

You’ll work directly with Terranova’s leadership and lobbyist to identify target programs, shape proposals, and close high-impact deals spanning new development projects, wetland restoration, land resilience, base hardening, and coastal protection. You should be equally comfortable in a hard hat or a boardroom, able to move fluidly between technical teams, customers, and government stakeholders.

The role is remote with strong preference for the SF Bay Area or Washington, D.C. The former to work in person with the team at our Berkeley office and the latter due to proximity to Washington D.C. Expect frequent travel to Berkeley, CA for coordination with engineering, as well as to bases, field sites, capitol hill , and major conferences nationwide.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end BD cycles from identification through close across state, federal, civil and defense markets

• Develop and maintain executive relationships with public-sector clients, EPCs, and defense contractors

• Structure multi-year partnerships and contracts in the $1M–$50M+ range

• Translate technical solutions into clear value propositions, proposals, and budgets

• Work directly with engineers to scope, price, and deliver pilot-to-scale programs

• Represent Terranova at conferences, site visits, and high-level briefings at the state and federal level

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience in construction, defense contracting, or infrastructure development

• Experience in startups 0 to 1 sales, ideally being in a sales role from seed through series B

• Experience with federal acquisition (FAR/DFARS) or contracting frameworks

• Deep understanding of earthworks, ground modification, or related heavy civil domains

• Exceptional commercial acumen and negotiation skills

• High tolerance for travel, long hours, and direct accountability for outcomes

• Strong writing and presentation ability for executive-level proposals

Nice to Have Skills

• Familiarity with engineering design-build workflows and bid preparation

• Technical fluency to interface effectively with mechanical, controls, and robotics teams

• Closed and led negotiations exceeding $50M+ in aggregate value

• Strong existing network in FEMA, USACE, DoD or major primes

Compensation

$90k-150k base salary, stock options, and additional benefits