Business Development Manager

Business Development Manager

ChemFinity Technologies is building critical mineral recovery systems to produce over 20 minerals from waste and mining feedstocks at low cost, using our proprietary, high-performance, high-durability sorbent filters. Up to a 6x increase in critical mineral demand is projected by 2040, to meet the supplies needed for energy, defense, manufacturing, and other technology sectors. However, 80% of U.S. critical minerals already come from foreign sources, and 7% of greenhouse gas emissions come from mining. Our team's mission is to produce these minerals domestically, in ways that are cheaper, cleaner, and more accessible than existing methods such as high-temperature smelting, starting with precious metals like platinum.

Spun out of UC Berkeley in late 2022 and based in New York City, ChemFinity is backed by top-tier investor firms and over 10 top government and funding agencies, such as Bill Gates's Breakthrough Energy Fellows, the U.S. Department of Energy, ARPA-E, and the U.S. EPA. ChemFinity has been recognized as top innovators in the critical minerals sector by the World Economic Forum, Forbes, and Conservation X Labs.

As Business Development Manager, you will build, lead, and own various commercial and business development efforts at ChemFinity. You'll work directly with the CEO and senior technical team to advance early-stage commercialization across our tech platform.

This is a dynamic builder role, which will require you to create from the ground up, as there's no team beneath you but a large white space to make tangible impact. This will require conducting outreach to potential customers and partners, developing commercial materials, working prospect lists, executing parts of business operations, and contributing to strategy simultaneously. If you're looking for a role where the entire commercial infrastructure already exists, this isn't it. If you want to build it with us, it is.

Key responsibilities include:

• Customer & Partner Engagement
• Identify, prioritize, and systematically contact prospective customers, partners, and other stakeholders across key target markets, such as metal recyclers, precious metals refiners, mining operators, metal traders, government and community officials, and specialty chemical processors.
• Lead and support early-stage conversations and engagements with the above prospects, qualify opportunities, and help advance relationships toward pilot agreements, LOIs, commercial partnerships, and contracts.
• Develop and maintain CRM systems to track relationships, conversations, and pipeline progress.
• Commercial Materials & Strategy
• Build marketing and commercial materials (e.g., modified pitch decks, social media posts, technical summaries, newsletters) that communicate our technology's value proposition to customers, partners, and investors.
• Provide market research and analysis back to the technical and leadership team: what customers care about, what objections we face, what the competitive landscape looks like, etc.
• Fundraising & Strategic Support
• Support the co-founders in preparing for fundraises and investor relations by helping build commercial narrative and projections, documenting customer traction, and contributing to investor materials as relevant.
• Assist in non-dilutive commercial opportunities, such as government programs and pilot funding.
• Business Operations Support
• Help resolve day-to-day operational duties, such as invoice processing, HR needs, stocktaking, and other miscellaneous tasks.
• Help build repeatable systems and documentation in operations: turning informal routines into reliable, documented, and automated processes.

What you will bring:

• Bachelor's degree (or higher) in engineering, chemistry, business, or a related field (MBA is a plus).
• 3–7 years (or more) of experience in business development, technical sales, consulting, or a closely related commercial role, ideally at a deep tech, climate tech, or industrial startup. For this role, we will also consider candidates from a range of experience levels.
• Demonstrated ability to build and manage a commercial pipeline from scratch, not just work within an existing one.
• Scrappy and resourceful mindset with a strong sense of ownership and eagerness to tackle tasks of any size as a solo contributor to support the team's success.
• Excellent attentiveness to detail and ensuring high accuracy of documents.
• High trustworthiness and ability to carefully handle confidential information across stakeholders.
• Strong communication skills, including speaking and writing across assorted audiences.
• An unwavering commitment to supportive work behavior, team building, and sustainability.

Other preferred qualifications:

• Technical background or proven ability to understand and communicate startup technology credibly to external stakeholders is a strong plus.
• Existing relationships and network in metal recycling, critical minerals, mining, commodities markets, and/or chemicals.
• Experience in deep tech startups or other early-stage ventures focused on new technology commercialization.
• Experience in formulating budgets and financial forecasts.
• Experience in managing external communications, such as company social media accounts and public-facing updates (e.g., newsletters).
• The desire to be in a dynamic startup environment with intellectual freedom and radical ownership.

Compensation and Benefits:

• Salary range for this position is expected to be $80K–$135K. Compensation will be commensurate with experience level. For this role, we will also consider candidates from a range of experience levels and highly value fit with our team.
• Competitive compensation including equity options
• Health, dental, vision, and life insurance benefits
• 401(k) benefits with company matching
• Flexible paid time off and holidays
• Health/fitness stipend
• Open, supportive, and diverse team focused on creating major impact

Please reach out via our Polymer hiring portal if you have questions. ChemFinity Technologies is an equal opportunity employer that embraces diversity and inclusion in the workplace as a core value. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, nationality, color, sexual orientation, ancestry, religion, gender identity, age, marital status, disability status, or veteran status. We know the right candidate may not meet every criterion listed in this job description. If you believe you are a great candidate for this role and possess relevant skills not listed above, we encourage you to apply and tell us why you are a great fit!