Director, Business Development

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Aptima is a technological leader in the national security industry. Our mission is to drive the future of national security by engineering scalable solutions that fuse technological innovation with human potential to transform how individuals and teams train, develop, and perform in mission-critical environments.

Our culture is rooted in our core values, which have evolved over time and our employees have embraced: Integrity, Ingenuity, Excellence, Respect, Engagement, Teamwork . At our core, Aptima researches, develops, and innovates within an area that engineering firms largely ignore, the human component. To impact the world in meaningful ways, you must bring those innovations to light, and that is precisely what we do.

How You Will Make An Impact

Aptima is expanding its Business Development team. We are seeking a seasoned Director, BD with a proven track record securing contracts in the areas of readiness and training, modeling and simulation, test and evaluation, and wargaming/exercise support for the U.S. Navy and maritime domains.

In this role, you will own Service-level portfolio planning, pipeline maturation, win strategies, and strategic teaming, and you will drive the transition of Aptima’s innovations into operational use across the U.S. Navy and the DoW. You will ensure alignment between customer needs and Aptima’s technology roadmap, translating Navy performance imperatives into winning business outcomes. Success requires a dynamic leader who can bridge technical capabilities, operational requirements, acquisition pathways, and partnerships that matter.

This role collaborates closely with technical teams to understand existing and emerging capabilities, align them with mission needs, and shape product evolution for operational relevance and transition.

Key Responsibilities

Business Development

• Own and optimize a dynamic opportunity pipeline, prioritizing pursuits based on strategic fit, p(win), and ROI.
• Monitor competitive landscape, market trends, customer budgets, and emerging requirements; adapt strategies accordingly.
• Provide leadership, mentoring, and performance oversight across all Navy pipeline opportunities.
• Identify and qualify new opportunities across Navy and joint customers.
• Support company-level growth initiatives, pipeline reviews, and forecasting with executive leadership.

Operational Customer Engagement

• Cultivate and sustain relationships across the U.S. Navy, DoW acquisition organizations, PEOs/PAEs, SYSCOMs, Fleet commands, and mission partners to influence program direction and position Aptima as a trusted partner.
• Identify operational customers and mission users for Aptima’s technology offerings.
• Lead customer engagements and needs analyses.
• Guide the alignment of Aptima technologies with operational requirements.
• Support development of engagement artifacts (e.g., presentations, videos, demonstrations, strategic communications).
• Partner with technical staff to align offerings with customer requirements and shape how capabilities are communicated to stakeholders.
• Influence prioritization of technical activities to ensure innovations translate into operational impact.
• Help shape solution evolution, transition strategies, and value propositions to maximize relevance to Navy missions.

Requirements

• This role requires prior U.S. Navy active duty experience combined with a recent, successful track record in defense contracting Business Development. You must know how the Navy operates and how the defense industry wins business (Navy is preferred but may be open to prior active duty in other Services)
• Demonstrated success transitioning technologies into secure or operational environments, ideally within the DoW or other federal agencies.
• Deep understanding of DoW acquisition processes, Navy PEO/SYSCOM structures, and emerging technology and budget trends.
• Experience with technology development, integration, or deployment within government or defense contexts.
• Exceptional leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills, with proven ability to engage senior customers, partners, and end-users.
• Willingness to travel as needed
• Eligibility for a U.S. Security Clearance is required

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or any other status protected by applicable national, federal, state or local law.