Business Development Sales Executive - Defense & National Security
Washington, DC
About the role
Business Development Sales Executive - Defense & National Security Business Development Sales Executive - Defense & National Security About Aalyria: Aalyria is a leading technology company that supplies laser communications technology and temporospatial software-defined networking platforms to the aerospace industry. With technology acquired from Google, Aalyria is at the forefront of innovation in satellite and airborne mesh networks, as well as cislunar and deep-space communications. We are revolutionizing the orchestration and management of planetary mesh networks using any radio or optical spectrum, any orbit, and any hardware across land, sea, air, and space. Role Overview: You will own pipeline. You will own capture. You will own outcomes. Working alongside technical leaders, capture managers, and proposal operations, you will take competitive opportunities from cold lead to signed contract, and you will be measured on wins, not activity. We compete in PPBE cycles. We shape POMs. We move on OTA timelines. We respond to FAR-based solicitations with the discipline to win them, not merely submit them. You will be in every one of those conversations. This is not a single-headcount fill. We are building a high-performance business development organization. Whether you prefer to run your own pursuits with full ownership of your number, or coordinate multi-front campaigns alongside a team built to overwhelm competitors across simultaneous programs, both paths are available. Either way, you will be surrounded by closers, not carrying them. This is a role is a fit for you if are... Insatiably curious about the market. You read the NDAA for insight, not obligation, and you know which programs are getting plussed up before the trade press reports it. Competitive to a fault in losing situations. You don’t accept “no decision”, you treat it as a debrief. Focused on wins. Awards. Signed contracts. New programs of record with your fingerprints all over them, not pipeline metrics. Honest with yourself and your leadership. You red-team your own deals and kill bad pursuits before they cost
the team a quarter. Key
Responsibilities: Hunt. Identify, qualify, and close new business across DoD, IC, and federal civilian customers. Shape. Walk into program offices and leave with intelligence — gaps, priorities, incumbent weaknesses, budget posture. By the time the RFP hits SAM.gov, the customer already wants us. Capture. Drive teaming decisions, price-to-win, win themes, and ghosting strategies. You own the strategy — you don’t just attend meetings about it. Win. Partner with proposal operations to deliver compliant, compelling, winning submissions, and personally own the executive summary and win themes on every must-win pursuit. Time the Market. Track and influence opportunities through the PPBE/POM lifecycle so you’re positioned ahead of budget, not chasing it. Travel. To customers, industry days, partner sites, and wherever the deal is. Required
Qualifications: 10+ years of business development and capture experience in the federal space, with a verifiable record of wins you personally drove — with dollar values, customers, and relationships still warm enough to call today. Active U.S. Top Secret clearance with SCI eligibility. No exceptions. Demonstrated command of PPBE, POM, OTA, and FAR — not buzzword familiarity. You can explain how money moves from a service’s budget submission to a signed contract, and you’ve used that knowledge to time pursuits and outmaneuver competitors. Full capture lifecycle ownership: opportunity identification, qualification, gate reviews, B&P management, teaming, color reviews, submission, and post-award transition. Genuine technical fluency. You have sold, supported, or built technology — not just talked about it. You can defend your platform under pressure from a skeptical engineering audience. Domain expertise in satellites, networks, and optical communications. You can hold your own on space platforms and payloads, ground systems, RF and IP networking, waveforms, and free-space optical architectures. You don’t need to design the system, but you must understand it well enough to know when a competitor is selling vapor and when our solution wins on technical merits. Exceptional live demonstration capability. You can take the keyboard, drive a platform demo, and pivot in real time when the customer goes off-script. You are the demo when it matters. Executive presence. Equally effective in a room with general officers, SESes, and program managers as with engineers or your own CFO. This role is not a fit if... You believe relationships alone close deals. You have never personally authored a win theme. you need significant onboarding time before your first customer call. You measure success in CRM hygiene. What We Offer: A seat at the table where strategy is made, not reported on. A company that funds capture and supports B&P aggressively, without requiring you to fight for resources to win.
Compensation that scales with what you close: uncapped, unambiguous, and paid for on time. The chance to build the win record that defines the next ten years of your career. ITAR/EAR
Requirements: This position involves access to export-controlled information. To comply with U.S. government export regulations, applicants must meet one of the following criteria: (A) Qualify as a U.S. person, which includes: U.S. citizen or national U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. 1157 Asylee under 8 U.S.C. 1158 (B) Be eligible to access export-controlled information without requiring an export authorization. (C) Be eligible and reasonably likely to obtain the necessary export authorization from the appropriate U.S. government agency. The company reserves the right to decline pursuing an export licensing process for legitimate business-related reasons. Equal Opportunity Employer Statement: Aalyria is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Qualified applicants from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply. The pay range for this role is: 195,000 - 235,000 USD per year (Washington, DC) 175,000 - 210,000 USD per year (United States (Remote)) Apply now Sales Washington, DC Share on: Apply now Terms of service Privacy Cookies Powered by Rippling
