Business Operations & Development Manager

Princeton Critical Minerals (PCM) and its affiliate PureLi SpA develop technologies for lithium and critical-minerals recovery, with operations in the United States and Latin America. PCM's solutions, including Lilypad, SmartPond and E-LiTE, serve lithium brine, mining, oil & gas produced water and industrial water customers.

Position overview

The Business Operations & Development Manager is a hybrid commercial and operations role reporting to the Chief Operating Officer. Business development (about 45%) covers finding and qualifying new clients and partners, running the pipeline from first meeting to signed proposal, and winning non-dilutive funding. Business operations (about 55%) covers the contract and NDA lifecycle, CRM and systems, program management, logistics support, and executive reporting.

The Manager takes a deal from first conversation through NDA, proposal, contract and delivery, and serves as the commercial right hand to the COO. The role works in English (Spanish a plus) with clients, partners, vendors and internal teams across the US and Latin America.

Key responsibilities:

Business development (~45%)

Pipeline and client development (~20%)

• Identifies, researches and qualifies prospects in lithium brine, mining, oil & gas produced water and industrial water.
• Leads outreach and discovery meetings, asking the commercial questions that shape a deal: scale, cost per unit, coverage and timeline.
• Owns the pipeline from lead to signed purchase order, setting next steps, following up and moving deals forward.
• Builds and maintains relationships with client, partner and government-lab contacts in the US and Latin America.

Proposals, pricing and deal support (~15%)

• Leads proposals, statements of work and quotes for Lilypad, SmartPond and E-LiTE, working with technical leads on scope and pricing.
• Manages the path from first meeting to contract: NDA, sample exchange and pilot terms, proposal, then agreement.
• Prepares pitch decks, one-pagers and client presentations.

Grants, partnerships and market presence (~10%)

• Identifies funding opportunities (DOE, NSF SBIR/STTR, state programs) and leads grant applications.
• Structures partnerships with national labs, universities and industry (NTAPs, CRADAs, collaboration agreements).
• Writes conference abstracts, represents PCM at industry events and maintains the event calendar.
• Coordinates event marketing and LinkedIn content with branding, and identifies and applies for industry awards and recognition opportunities.

Business operations (~55%)

Contracts, NDAs and legal operations (~20%)

• Owns the NDA/CDA lifecycle: sends templates, redlines, negotiates, routes for signature and files executed copies.
• Maintains the NDA and agreement register with expiry and renewal alerts, and renews agreements before they lapse.
• Serves as the day-to-day contact for outside counsel and keeps client, vendor and Spanish-language templates current.
• Brings leadership clear decision requests on higher-risk clauses such as liability, IP ownership, term and arbitration.

Systems, CRM and program management (~15%)

• Administers Salesforce and Smartsheet: architecture, data standards, reports and user training.
• Manages active programs (pilots, grant-funded projects, client deliveries) with milestones, owners and risk tracking.
• Manages awarded grants, including deliverables, budgets and reporting deadlines.

Manufacturing, logistics and vendors (~10%)

• Oversees and supports the manufacturing and shipping portfolio alongside the Director of Manufacturing.
• Coordinates international shipments with freight forwarders, customs agents and carriers (US, China, Latin America).
• Maintains the logistics tracker, vendor contact database and vendor contract register, and keeps SOPs current.

Executive support (~10%)

• Assembles board reports and pre-reads, and maintains company goals and KPIs.
• Runs the weekly cross-functional priorities tracker for the COO and supports management meetings.
• Covers handoffs when team members are on leave.

Business development support

Beyond owning deals directly, the Manager is the support engine behind the company's commercial work. Leadership and engineers lead the technical conversation; the Manager makes sure every meeting is prepared, every lead is logged and every follow-up happens on time.

• Account research and meeting prep: One-page briefs before client meetings: company background, site and resource profile, decision makers, prior touchpoints, open agreements and suggested commercial questions.
• Lead capture and qualification: Logs new contacts from events, inbound inquiries and referrals in Salesforce promptly, scores leads by fit (resource type, scale, budget, timeline) and flags top prospects to leadership.
• Follow-up: Sends meeting recaps with agreed next steps within one business day, tracks owners and due dates, and secures internal inputs (pricing, technical data) so clients are not kept waiting.
• Proposal library: Maintains standard scope language, pricing tables, case studies and team bios so first drafts are ready in days, not weeks.
• Pricing and deal structure: Builds pricing models for pilots and service contracts (cost per unit, volume tiers, pilot-to-commercial terms) with technical and finance leads.
• Sales collateral: Keeps pitch decks, one-pagers, capability statements and videos current in English and Spanish.
• Pipeline reporting: Delivers a weekly pipeline snapshot (stage, value, next step, risk) to leadership and a quarterly summary for the board.
• Events and market intelligence: Prepares event schedules and booth plans, and captures competitor, pricing and market signals from events and client calls.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in business, engineering, chemistry or a related field.
• 6+ years of combined experience in business development and business operations, including at least 3 years in B2B business development or technical sales at a technology, energy, mining or water company.
• Proven track record of building pipeline and closing deals: prospecting, discovery, proposals, pricing and negotiation with enterprise clients.
• Hands-on experience negotiating NDAs and commercial agreements and working with legal counsel.
• Program management experience running several cross-functional projects at once.
• Admin-level Salesforce skills; advanced Smartsheet and Excel.
• Grant writing and grants management experience.
• Full professional fluency in English, written and spoken.
• Strong writing skills, with the ability to turn technical input into proposals, abstracts and board-ready material.

Preferred

• MBA or a technical master's degree.
• Established network in lithium, critical minerals, oil & gas or water treatment, especially in Chile, Argentina or the US.
• Experience selling pilots or technology-as-a-service to industrial clients.
• Familiarity with Latin American business practice and import processes.
• Experience with national lab agreements (NTAP, CRADA) or technology transfer.
• PMP or an equivalent certification.

Technical and systems experience

• Business development: Account research, discovery, value-based pricing for pilots and service contracts, negotiation, long-cycle B2B pipeline management. Level: 3+ years
• Program management: Multiple cross-functional programs; milestones, owners and dependencies; risk tracking; status reporting to leadership and board. Level: 5+ years
• Salesforce: Objects, stages and fields; data loading and cleanup; pipeline reports and dashboards; user training. Level: Admin-level, 2+ years
• Smartsheet: Registers with expiry and renewal alerts; automations, reminders and shared views. Level: Advanced
• Contract review: NDAs, CDAs, MSAs and SOWs; liability, indemnity, IP, term, governing law and arbitration; escalation judgment. Level: 3+ years
• Grants: Applications (DOE, NSF SBIR/STTR, state programs) and post-award management of deliverables, budgets and reporting. Level: Submitted or awarded proposals
• Microsoft 365 / SharePoint: Document control, permissions, Teams and Loop. Level: Advanced
• Excel: Trackers, KPI sheets, databases, basic financial models. Level: Advanced
• Logistics and procurement: Incoterms, freight forwarders, customs documents, RFQs, vendor onboarding. Level: Working knowledge

The ideal candidate

The ideal candidate is a commercially minded operator who has sold technical B2B solutions and has also run the operations behind them, such as contracts, CRM, grants and programs. They thrive in a small, fast-moving company where they both open doors and handle the details that close the deal.

• Commercial drive: generates pipeline independently, asks for the next step in every meeting and is comfortable discussing price and terms with enterprise buyers.
• Technical fluency: understands enough chemistry and process engineering to present PCM's technologies credibly, and knows when to bring in engineers.
• Contract judgment: spots risk in key clauses, proposes workable fallback positions and knows when to escalate to counsel.
• Organization and follow-through: keeps many threads moving with clear owners and dates.
• Relationship building: earns trust with clients, national labs, vendors and internal teams across cultures.
• Discretion: handles confidential commercial, legal and board information with care.
• Flexibility: comfortable with ambiguity and shifting priorities, and willing to travel to client sites, events and Latin American operations as needed.

Typical backgrounds include business development manager at a deep-tech, cleantech or mining-services company; commercial or contracts manager in energy, oil & gas or water treatment; or business operations lead at a venture-backed industrial startup.

Compensation & Benefits

• Competitive salary based on experience
• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Paid time off and holidays
• Opportunities for professional growth and advancement

Equal opportunity

PCM 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, age, disability, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.