[Hiring] Director of Business Development @Loft Orbital Solutions

Role Description

We are looking for a Director of Business Development, Americas to drive our next phase of commercial growth. This is a senior, highly autonomous business development and market creation role focused on identifying commercial space companies, emerging constellation operators, and strategic partners—and turning early relationships into funded missions and long-term programs.

You will create opportunities from the ground up:

• Understand where companies are headed and identify where Loft can help.
• Bring technical and commercial stakeholders together.
• Shape opportunities from early concepts into pathfinders, first missions, repeat spacecraft, or constellation-scale programs.

You will work closely with senior leadership and teams across:

• Sales engineering
• Product
• Engineering
• Mission operations
• International organization

The best opportunities don't begin as traditional sales opportunities—they begin with a customer trying to solve a difficult problem.

About this role:

• Market Development: Identify high-potential companies, emerging constellations, and new mission opportunities across the Americas. Build relationships early and develop a deep understanding of customer strategy, funding, technical roadmaps, and mission plans.
• New Business Creation: Proactively originate opportunities rather than relying primarily on inbound leads or established accounts. Identify where Loft's infrastructure can solve a customer problem before a formal requirement or RFP exists.
• Strategic Selling: Build relationships with founders, CEOs, CTOs, engineering leaders, mission owners, and other senior decision-makers. Understand their objectives and shape solutions that align Loft's capabilities with their broader business and technical strategy.
• Program Development: Lead opportunities from an initial concept through pathfinder missions, demonstrations, first missions, and ultimately repeat or constellation-scale programs.
• Full-Cycle Business Development: Own opportunities through qualification, solution development, proposal, commercial negotiation, contracting, and close, partnering with the appropriate internal teams throughout the process.
• Strategic Partnerships: Develop relationships with spacecraft manufacturers, launch providers, data and analytics companies, systems integrators, and other ecosystem partners that can create new customer opportunities or expand Loft's reach.
• Account Expansion: Turn successful initial missions into long-term customer relationships. Identify opportunities for additional spacecraft, missions, payloads, services, or constellation deployments.
• Market Intelligence: Maintain a strong understanding of the commercial space ecosystem, including emerging companies, funding activity, new mission architectures, competitive dynamics, and evolving customer needs.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Bring together technical, commercial, and operational stakeholders to turn ambiguous customer needs into executable programs.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in business development, strategic sales, partnerships, or an equivalent customer-facing role, with a strong track record of originating and closing complex opportunities.
• Deep understanding of the space industry and commercial space ecosystem, including satellite operators, spacecraft manufacturers, launch providers, space data companies, and related technology and infrastructure providers.
• Demonstrated success as a net-new business developer and hunter—someone who has created opportunities and opened new customers rather than primarily managing an established book of business.
• Experience selling complex technical products, services, or infrastructure through a consultative or solutions-oriented approach.
• Ability to build credibility with senior executive and technical stakeholders, from founders and CEOs to CTOs, engineering leaders, and program owners.
• Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in ambiguous, early-stage opportunities where the customer need, solution, or buying process may not yet be fully defined.
• Experience owning complex opportunities through the full business development and sales cycle, including solution development, proposals, commercial negotiations, and contracting.
• Strong commercial judgment and the ability to prioritize opportunities based on strategic value, probability of success, and long-term potential.
• Excellent communication, relationship-building, and negotiation skills.
• Willingness to travel regularly to meet customers and partners across the Americas.

Requirements

• Existing relationships with commercial constellation companies, emerging space companies, or strategic players in the Americas space ecosystem.
• Experience selling satellite, spacecraft, mission, launch, data, connectivity, or other space infrastructure services.
• Experience developing strategic partnerships or channel relationships that generate measurable commercial opportunities.
• Technical background in aerospace, space systems, engineering, or a related field.
• Experience working with venture-backed or rapidly scaling companies.
• Experience across multiple segments of the space ecosystem rather than a single product or customer category.
• Experience with mission-as-a-service, satellite-as-a-service, hosted payloads, or other infrastructure-based space business models.

Benefits

• 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance option for employees and dependents
• Flexible Spending (FSA) and Health Savings (HSA) Accounts offered with an employer contribution to the HSA
• 100% employer paid Life, AD&D, Short-Term, and Long-Term Disability insurance
• Flexible Time Off policy for vacation and sick leave, and 12 paid holidays
• 401(k) plan and equity options
• Daily catered lunches and snacks
• International exposure to our team in France
• Fully paid parental leave; 14 weeks for primary caregiver and 10 weeks for secondary caregiver
• Carrot Fertility provides comprehensive, inclusive fertility healthcare and family-forming benefits with financial support
• Off-sites and many social events and celebrations
• Relocation assistance when applicable
• $130,000 - $200,000 a year