Business Development Manager

Business Development Manager - Defense Chemicals

Department: Business Development
Location: Tampa, FL - On-site. This role is based in the Tampa office when not traveling. Candidates outside the Tampa market may be considered, with a requirement to be in the Tampa office one week per month during non-travel weeks. Travel runs 30-50%, almost entirely domestic. Relocation assistance is available.
Role Type: Full-time, direct hire

About Our Client
Our client is a defense chemicals manufacturer producing propellants, explosives, energetic materials, specialty chemicals, and intermediates for military and government end users. The company operates production and commercial sites across multiple U.S. locations, including Florida and Texas, and sells into a customer base that spans Department of War program offices, allied Ministries of Defense, defense prime contractors, and OEMs. The business is in an active growth phase and expanding its energetic materials capacity and building out its sales organization. It operates under the compliance discipline that comes with ITAR, export control, and hazardous materials handling. Integrity, technical credibility, and long-term customer relationships sit at the center of how they do business.

Job Description
This is a new position created to drive growth and strategic expansion of the company's defense chemicals portfolio. You will be the commercial front door to the defense market: identifying new opportunities, building relationships with government program offices and prime contractors, and converting those relationships into long-term supply agreements and contract awards.
Day to day, you'll be mapping stakeholders across Army program offices and prime contractors, tracking RFPs and defense tenders through SAM.gov, GovWin, and, just as importantly, your own network. You'll spend meaningful time in front of customers, with roughly 30% to 50% domestic travel, and you'll work directly with senior leadership on the chemicals side of the business as you shape pursuits and price them.
Internally, this role is a hub. You'll pull together engineering, production, regulatory, quality, and finance to build proposals; coordinate with manufacturing to confirm capacity can back up what you sign; and work with supply chain on secure sourcing of raw materials. The ideal candidate is someone who genuinely enjoys the defense acquisition world. One who understands how program offices buy, can speak credibly about energetic materials, and wants to own a territory rather than inherit one. You'll join a six-person sales team growing toward nine, spread across Tampa, Clearwater, and Garland, TX.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Identify and pursue new business opportunities across defense and military chemical markets, including finished products supplied from existing energetic materials capacity.
• Develop and execute growth strategies aligned to company objectives.
• Monitor global defense spending trends, procurement programs, and emerging requirements.
• Map key stakeholders across the Department of War, allied Ministries of Defense, armed forces, and defense prime contractors.
• Target and develop Army program offices, including those at Picatinny Arsenal, and soldier weapons and combat systems organizations.
• Build and maintain relationships with defense agencies, procurement bodies, and defense contractors.
• Serve as the primary commercial interface for defense customers.
• Lead negotiations for long-term supply agreements and strategic partnerships.
• Identify and track RFPs, RFIs, and defense tenders through customer relationships, SAM.gov, GovWin, and related tools.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams - engineering, production, regulatory, quality, and finance - through proposal development.
• Prepare commercial product proposals that comply with defense standards and export and security protocols.
• Work with technical teams to align product capabilities to military specifications.
• Ensure compliance with ITAR, export control regulations, hazardous materials handling requirements, and defense certifications.
• Support product qualification, testing, and approval processes with defense authorities.
• Conduct market research on defense chemicals, energetic materials, and specialty defense formulations.
• Analyze competitor positioning, pricing strategies, and contract awards.
• Identify emerging technologies and potential acquisition or partnership targets.
• Identify budget data using P-forms and other government databases.
• Collaborate with manufacturing to align production capacity with contract commitments.
• Coordinate with supply chain on secure sourcing of required raw materials.
• Support leadership with business forecasts, pipeline reporting, and strategic planning.

How success is measured: new contract awards and revenue growth, bid win ratio, expansion into new defense programs or geographies, strategic partnerships established, and pipeline development and conversion rate.

Required Experience/Skills

• 5-10 years in business development, sales, or program management.
• Minimum 5 years in defense chemicals, energetic materials, propellants, explosives, or a closely related sector.
• Experience with defense procurement processes and government contracting, including larger, complex contracts.
• Working understanding of military specifications (MIL-STD).
• Knowledge of energetic materials, specialty chemicals, and hazardous materials compliance.
• Familiarity with export control laws and defense regulations, including ITAR.
• Strong negotiation and contract management skills.
• Strategic thinking and market analysis capability.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• High integrity and the judgment to handle sensitive information.
• Ability to operate effectively in a complex regulatory environment.
• Project management and cross-functional leadership skills.
• Willingness to travel 30-50%, primarily domestic.
• Must be a USC. Offers are contingent on a background investigation and drug screen.

Nice-to-Haves

• Experience selling into both government and commercial defense markets - the strongest candidates understand the government side, but strong commercial-only backgrounds will be considered.
• Background with a defense prime or energetics manufacturers
• Established relationships with Army program offices to include combat ammunition, close combat systems, and joint services organizations.
• Experience with CAD/PAD or similar energetic device product lines.
• Hands-on experience using GovWin, SAM.gov, and P-form budget data in pursuit planning.
• Already based in or willing to relocate to the Tampa Bay area.

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Chemistry, or a related field required, or equivalent experience.
• MBA or equivalent business qualification preferred

Pay & Benefits Summary

• Base salary: $130,000 - $175,000 , depending on experience and level (Manager or Senior Manager).
• 10% individual contributor bonus target.
• 4 weeks paid time off.
• Relocation assistance up to $10,000-$15,000, typically structured as a sign-on bonus, plus temporary hotel coverage for the first couple of weeks.
• Travel expenses covered

Call-to-Action

Apply now - this is a newly created seat on a growing team, with an immediate start date and a hiring manager ready to move

Business Development Manager | Defense Chemicals | Energetic Materials | Propellants | Explosives | Government Contracting | ITAR | MIL-STD | Picatinny Arsenal | SAM.gov | GovWin | Capture Management | Tampa FL Jobs | Defense Sales | CAD/PAD | Specialty Chemicals