Defense Business Development Manager

About Seasats:

We are a nimble, highly technical business that provides defense, scientific, and commercial customers with maritime robotics solutions. Our primary products are autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs) built to carry sensors at sea for months at a time.

The company is located in sunny San Diego and includes talented engineers, builders, tinkerers, and business architects. Internally, our work culture is hard working but fun. Externally, we’ve built a reputation for being professional, knowledgeable, and dedicated to getting the job done. For more info, check out seasats.com.

Role: Defense Business Development Manager

Location: San Diego, CA (in-office with travel)

Salary: $120,000-150,000/ yr + stock options, 401k matching, relocation assistance within the U.S. (if applicable), and other benefits.

Role Overview:

Seasats builds long-endurance ASVs that support maritime security, naval defense, and commercial and scientific innovation. As Defense Business Development Manager, you'll be one of the public faces of Seasats, helping generate interest and excitement and then convert it into signed contracts. You’ll make strong impressions at industry events, military exercises, program office briefings, and customer trials, focusing primarily on engagements with defense customers. You’ll also send emails, use a CRM, and build a deep understanding of customer needs and our product offerings.

This is a hands-on role where relationship building, operational fluency, and follow-through are essential. You’ll work directly with our executive team and engineers, making sure information flows where it needs to and suggesting creative solutions when appropriate.

Role Details:

Seasats is at the crest of a historical wave of opportunity. Your primary goal will be to make sure we capture and capitalize on as much of that momentum as possible, making high-quality products available to new users around the world. You’ll contribute to commercial and research business development, but we expect you to bring particular effort and expertise to the defense market. If you don’t already know them, you’ll quickly learn the meanings of DIU, USV, ISR, and endless other acronyms. Some specific tasks might include:

• Representing Seasats at top-tier trade shows, conferences, and in-water demos (~6–8/year)
• Building and managing relationships with program offices and other government customer groups (e.g., PMS-406, DIU, NOAA, etc.)
• Owning opportunities from first contact through contract negotiation and close
• Keeping deals in our CRM clean and current
• Leading pricing discussions and coordinating with our Proposals Manager and leadership team
• Training and coaching channel partners to ensure resellers are set up for success

About You:

You’re an action-oriented person excited to drive growth in a rapidly growing and competitive industry. You can dress up or get your hands dirty, and you’re personable enough to make allies wherever you go. You also:

• Are familiar with DoD (particularly Navy) acquisition processes
• Are familiar with business development, account management, or field sales (ideally in defense, robotics, or technical products)
• Are comfortable briefing government stakeholders and navigating multi-level buying processes
• Enjoy field work and are willing to travel for demos, shows, and customer engagements (~25–40%)
• Prioritize integrity and long-term client relationships over padded stats
• Can write a good email or pull together a slide deck
• Get excited about autonomous technology
• Thrive in a fast-moving, hands-on environment with a small team and high trust

Additionally, you may have one or more of the following qualifications:

• Served in the military (particularly Navy or USMC)
• Worked with startups
• Know your way around CRM systems (we use Salesforce) and understand how to keep a pipeline forecastable
• Held a security clearance
• Engineering, oceanographic, or other technical background
• Worked in the maritime industry

Life at Seasats:

Along with your salary, you’ll receive perks including:

• Stock options
• Competitive insurance (including a 99% employer-covered Gold HMO plan or other options)
• 401k matching up to 4% of salary
• Four free lunches per week
• An employee activity fund
• A pet-friendly office
• Unlimited/Flex PTO

We’ll help you ramp up and will regularly take time to discuss what’s working and what’s not. We’re also big on personal freedoms: if you’re on top of your responsibilities and want the afternoon off to surf or spend time with friends and family, go for it! We have flexible hours, accommodating PTO, and a personable, high-achieving work culture. We want someone who’s excited to work hard and have fun in this environment.

Our values are listed below; we’re happy to explain them more during the interview process.

• Get Stuff Done
• Be Kind
• Fight Entropy
• Attack with Overwhelming Force
• Ask More Questions
• Lines, Not Dots

Hiring Notes:

If you decide to apply, you’ll be asked to provide a resume and answer a few screening questions. If we decide to move forward with your application, you can expect no more than 2-3 more rounds of virtual interviews before a final in-person interview. If you have to travel to San Diego, we’ll reimburse pre-approved travel costs.

Please note that we are currently unable to sponsor employment visas, so candidates must be independently authorized to work in the United States.

We appreciate diverse perspectives and life experiences, so we encourage women, minorities, and people of all backgrounds to apply. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

We look forward to reviewing your application!