Director of Sales And Business Development

Location:

Hampton Roads, Virginia (On-Site, with regular field time at customer sites)

Travel:

Regional across Hampton Roads, with occasional trips to Richmond and D.C.

Compensation:

$150,000 - $165,000 base + 30% target incentive on gross margin, uncapped

A Hampton Roads contractor with decades of Navy work and shops that can take on far more than they carry today is hiring the person who will give its sales function structure. There is a rep, three estimators and a customer base, but no pipeline discipline and no playbook. The Director of Sales writes both, holds one of the five seats on the leadership team, and has the authority to hire. Year one is a selling year: take the long-cycle customer relationships off the President's plate, get in front of the people at the largest accounts who decide where multi-year work goes, and land the contracts that make growth predictable.

For nearly 40 years the company ran on reputation. The Naval Industrial Base kept sending work, industrial customers who called once kept calling, and sales ran on relationships rather than a system. It is an industrial services contractor serving shipbuilding, defense and manufacturing customers, with revenue approaching eight figures. Most of that is Department of Defense work, often subcontracted through the large shipbuilders that hold the Navy contracts; the rest is direct business with industrial and commercial customers, where the most growth is available. A private holding company with no plans to sell owns the business, and the President has spent two years adding structure.

The Goal
Twelve months in, the business is on a 15–20% annual growth path, with multi-year or repeat agreements signed, the largest legacy accounts moving toward strategic partnerships, and a scorecard the President reviews monthly.

Outcomes You'll Be Responsible For

Open new accounts that fund the growth plan:

Build a pipeline of repeat accounts across Navy, defense and industrial manufacturing, bring in new target opportunities every month, and convert them at or above the current 30–40% win rate.

Move legacy accounts up to the decision makers:

Take over the top customer relationships and reach the buyers and program leaders who write specifications and award multi-year work. Accounts with no purchase order in two years come back into the pipeline.

Fill the capacity already built:

Point new work at the shops, sell inside the margin range, and hold price on every quote.

Build the sales system and the team:

Install the scorecard (target opportunities, proposals out, win rate, gross margin by job) across HubSpot and the ERP, and coach the outside rep and the estimators from transactional quoting toward strategic selling. Team revenue counts toward your success.

Skills Needed to Apply

New business you originated:

Personally opened and closed industrial or defense accounts as the lead seller, with wins in the six figures and at least some that became repeat or multi-year work.

Long sales cycles with large buyers:

Several years selling to companies or government agencies that buy through formal bid and proposal processes, where a pursuit takes four months to a year and the decision sits with a program manager, plant manager or procurement lead who awards repeat work.

A scorecard you can recite:

Target opportunities, proposals out, win rate, revenue and margin. You can produce your own numbers from the last two years and explain where deals stall in your funnel.

Leadership while carrying a number:

Managed or mentored a small team of sellers or estimators while holding your own quota. Formal reports are a plus; coaching a junior seller to measurable improvement is the bar.

Nice to have

Pricing authority within a margin floor, and a time you repriced or walked from below-margin work

Technical or engineering background, or experience pricing work against a technical scope

Relationships with buyers and program leaders in Hampton Roads shipbuilding, Navy or Coast Guard programs, or regional manufacturers

Consultative sales training (Sandler or equivalent)

Former commissioned officer, Navy or Coast Guard preferred, followed by a sales or business development career

Experience setting up HubSpot or an equivalent CRM

Qualities That Will Make You Successful

Closes:

Stays in the deal at the end, negotiates within margin, and asks for the work.

Trusted advisor:

Customers call with a problem before they have a purchase order, and decision makers give you time because you follow through.

Knows when to stop:

Works a long pursuit through canceled meetings and slow procurement, and moves on when there is nothing left to win.

Runs on numbers:

Judges a quarter by target opportunities, proposals sent and win rate.

Learns the work:

Wants to understand how a job gets specified and how a bid comes together, and uses that to advise customers.

Brings bad news early:

Tells the President when the pipeline is slipping while there is still time to fix it, and asks for help when stuck.

Owns the number:

Treats the growth plan as yours, builds it with the President, and shares credit with the estimators and the rep.

The Process
Published so you can judge the commitment before you engage.

Virtual screening conversation with 10th St. Talent

Virtual in-depth career interview with 10th St. Talent

Virtual Interview with the President

Multi-science personality assessment

On-site panel interview with the leadership team, with an optional facility tour

Follow-up interviews with ownership, as needed

Reference checks

Offer

J-18808-Ljbffr