Director, Satellite Business Development & Commercialization - Domestic at VAST in Long Beach, California, United States

Job description

• Vast is looking for a Director, Satellite Business Development - Domestic (US), reporting to the SVP, Satellite Business Development & Commercialization, to lead commercial business development (communications, Earth observation, sensing, and in-orbit compute applications) for Vast Satellites in the United States. This role will lead customer engagement, opportunity development, capture strategy, and partnership efforts - including teaming with commercial primes - that advance Vast's initiatives to develop, manufacture, and operate advanced satellite bus platforms.
• Vast maintains a dedicated National Security team that engages the US Government directly; this role owns the US commercial market and partners closely with that team where government programs route through commercial primes. This is a small, senior founding commercial team: the role demands both business development "hunter" instincts (creating markets and demand where none exist yet) and proven "closer" skills (negotiating and executing contracts from single-digit millions to hundreds of millions of dollars).
• This will be a full-time, exempt position based in Long Beach, CA, with remote US considered on an exception-basis.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a comprehensive US commercial market strategy across satellite communications, Earth observation, sensing, and in-orbit compute, aligned with Vast's business objectives.
• Build and maintain a market and competitive intelligence view across US commercial space customers and merchant-bus competitors, distinguishing Vast's positioning in each vertical.
• Lead internal planning for opportunity prioritization, capture strategy, and pipeline development across the US commercial market.
• Lead customer engagement across opportunity identification, mission scoping, capability briefings, and early concept development with US constellation operators, Earth observation companies, and commercial primes.
• Develop and manage teaming relationships with commercial primes (e.g., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, L3Harris), working jointly with Vast's National Security team where programs involve US Government end customers.
• Leverage a strong, pre-existing senior-level network across the US space value chain to open doors with potential customers and identify competitive threats early.
• Lead proposal development and coordinate cross-functional contributions from engineering, program management, finance, legal, and export-control/compliance teams, supported by the team's BD analyst and pre-sales engineer.
• Own pipeline development, forecasting, and reporting across all US commercial accounts.
• Negotiate and close contracts for satellite bus platforms and associated services, from initial launch missions to constellation-scale production agreements.
• Represent Vast at US space and aerospace industry events, conferences, and trade shows.
• Deliver presentations, participate in panels, and provide senior/C-suite-level briefings that communicate the capabilities and value of Vast's satellite platforms to commercial and prime-contractor audiences.

Requirements

• 10+ years of relevant experience in US space/aerospace business development, sales, or capture management, with demonstrated success in commercial space markets.
• Proven track record of personally originating and closing contracts, including deals in the tens of millions of dollars or above.
• Established, verifiable senior and executive-level relationships with potential customers, and knowledge of the competitive landscape across the US commercial space market.
• Background in the space/aerospace value chain (launch, satellite bus, payload, prime integration, or operations), ideally complementary to satellite operations — e.g., Earth observation or prime-channel programs.
• Strong technical understanding and ability to communicate complex systems to commercial and prime-contractor audiences.
• Excellent communication, analytical, collaboration, and interpersonal skills; proven ability to work across internal team boundaries.
• Ability to operate independently, prioritize effectively, and manage multiple efforts simultaneously in a fast-paced, lean-team environment.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance.
• Experience teaming with or selling through defense primes on space programs.
• Familiarity with export-control regimes (ITAR/EAR) and government-adjacent commercial contracting.

Skills

Required

• Business development
• Sales
• Capture management
• Contract negotiation
• Customer engagement
• Market intelligence
• Competitive analysis
• Proposal development
• Pipeline management
• Forecasting
• Technical communication
• Presentation skills

Benefits

• Base salary will vary depending on job-related knowledge, education, skills, experience, business needs, and market demand. Salary is just one component of our comprehensive compensation package.
• Full-time employees also receive company equity, as well as access to a full suite of compelling benefits and perks, including: medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents, generous paid time off; up to 20+ days of vacation for exempt staff and up to 10+ days of vacation for non-exempt staff with the ability to cash-out unused vacation annually, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, ClassPass credits, personalized mental healthcare through Spring Health, and other discounts and perks.
• We also take pride in offering exceptional food perks, with snacks, drip coffee & onsite barista, cold drinks, and dinner meals remaining free of charge, and lunch subsidized as part of Vast’s ongoing commitment to providing high-quality meals for employees.
• Director, Satellite Business Development: $151,000 - $215,000
• Senior Director, Satellite Business Development: $164,000 - $232,000
• Pay Range: California
• We calibrate level and compensation to the selected candidate's experience and demonstrated capability. We welcome applicants across a range of experience levels to apply.