Business Development Director - Air Force Programs

STC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arcfield, was founded to do systems engineering differently. As an industry-leading solutions provider in digital engineering and model-based systems engineering (MBSE), the company delivers MBSE-as-a-Service, integrated digital engineering environment deployments, training and consulting to both commercial and public sector customers. Every day, STC’s team of expert engineers are unleashing the power of digital engineering to navigate complexity, increase understanding and inform decision-making. Learn more at stc.arcfield.com.

Position Overview: We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Business Development Manager specializing in the Air Force domain. The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of Air Force operations, strong business acumen, and a proven track record of fostering relationships within the defense sector. The primary focus of this role is to drive business growth by identifying and pursuing opportunities within Air Force, facilitating meetings for capability briefings and demonstrations, managing client portfolios, and expanding our market reach through networking and relationship-building activities.

This person will work with VP Growth, BU Growth Leads, and BU Ops P&L leads to develop an integrated account strategy, pulling from across the entirety of EDGE and the greater Arcfield to deliver the “critical mass” of the company in their respective accounts.

Responsibilities:

• Strategic Business Development:
  • Identify and pursue business opportunities within the Air Force domain.
  • Develop and execute strategic plans to achieve sales targets and business objectives.
  • Analyze market trends, competitor activities, and customer needs to identify growth opportunities.

• Client Relationship Management:
  • Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders within the Air Force community.
  • Manage a portfolio of clients, ensuring customer satisfaction and retention.
  • Act as a trusted advisor to clients, understanding their needs and providing tailored solutions.

• Facilitation of Meetings and Demonstrations:
  • Organize and facilitate meetings for capability briefings and product demonstrations.
  • Collaborate with internal teams to prepare presentations, proposals, and materials for client meetings.
  • Ensure smooth coordination and communication between all parties involved in the meetings.

• Expansion of Market Reach:
  • Identify adjacent opportunities based on existing customer base and personal connections.
  • Attend conferences, industry days, and networking events to generate leads and establish new client relationships.
  • Represent the company professionally and effectively communicate our value proposition to potential clients.

Objectives:

• Creation and ownership of a formalized “Road Map” that addresses the following
• • Mapping of where we are today. Where we need to go. How we get there.
  • Subsequent tracking and awareness of where we are
• Enable capture to define “how to win”
• Development of Account Strategy, which is composed of (not meant to be an all-inclusive list):
• • Understanding the Growth goal of EDGE and where we want to be in 2-5 years (from a size and/or revenue perspective, as well as a mission focus area, and type of company). Supports the BU(s) in development and achievement of those growth objectives.
  • Conducting an introspective analysis of our organic capabilities across EDGE:  Modeling and Simulations, Mission Assurance, Systems Integration, MBSE, Cyber, Mission Engineering, PNT, etc. to determine what types business opportunities we are able to purse. 
  • Conducting an external analysis of the funded programs across the DoW or commercial customers that align with our support capabilities – such as Golden Dome, Air Dominance, munitions, satellite technologies, submarine alterations, drone & counter-drone, collaborative combat aircraft (CCA), etc. 
  • Understanding of on-contract programs and where Growth can assist the Business Units with a focus on winning 100% of all recompetes
  • Synchronizing with the markets to determine what is hot, what is not, problem areas, contract vehicle details, buyer habits, etc.  This is done through B2B & B2G engagements at conferences & individual meetings.
  • Focusing on not just growing existing contracts, but also expanding our current footprint or spreading to new customers that are related to current customers
  • Examining new market penetration efforts and the unique strategy for each – funding dependent
  • Monitoring Behaviors in the marketplace by govt & commercial customers – how are they buying?  (i.e. are they using nothing but SEAPORT with low margins, LPTA, Best Value, OTAs, CSOs, SBIR Phase IIIs, etc.)
  • Inventorying available contract vehicles and determining which of our vehicles could be used by the customer.  Consider if the customer is using an organizationally unique IDIQs or BAAs for which we would need to on-ramp. 
  • Drive alignment to your BU structure (CTOO, DDES, STC)
  • Prevent unsynchronized customer engagement; while ensuring we’re engaging with all relevant pieces and parts of the company
  • Ensure investments, engagements, and pipeline maps to real revenue and ROS targets

Key Duties and Responsibilities

1. Account Management & Strategy

• Serve as the single point of accountability for all business within assigned Air Force accounts (e.g., AFLMC, ACC, AF Space Command, etc)
• • Develop and maintain a 3-year account strategy aligned to:
    Customer mission priorities
  • Budget outlook (POM, PB, appropriations)
  • Evolving DoW priorities, such as counter-drone, drone operations,
  • Competitive landscape
• Identify and prioritize strategic growth areas (programs, tech domains, contract vehicles).
• Maintain an Account Plan that integrates BD, Capture, and Delivery.

Key Outputs:

• Account Plan (annual + rolling updates)
• Opportunity pipeline aligned to growth targets
• White space / adjacency analysis

2. Customer Engagement & Relationship Management

• Build and sustain trusted relationships with:
  
• • Program Managers (PMs)
  • Technical leads
  • Contracting Officers (KOs)
  • Flag / SES-level stakeholders (as appropriate)
• Lead customer engagement cadence:
  Quarterly strategic engagements
• • Program-level touchpoints
  • Industry days / conferences
• Understand customer pain points, hot buttons, and funding realities.

Key Outputs:

• • Customer engagement plan
  • Call plans and trip reports
  • Contact maps and influence charts 

3. Opportunity Identification & Qualification

• Own identification of new opportunities across:
  New starts
• • Recompetes
  • On-contract growth
• Drive qualification rigor using defined criteria:
  Mission alignment
• • Budget realism
  • Customer access
  • Competitive positioning
• Maintain a healthy pipeline (typically 3–5x revenue target).

Key Outputs:

• Opportunity pipeline (qualified/unqualified)
• Bid/no-bid recommendations
• Pipeline reviews with leadership                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          4. Capture Strategy & Execution Support

• Partner with BU Growth Leads and Capture Managers to:
• • Shape opportunities early (pre-RFP)
  • Influence acquisition strategy
  • Position the company for win
• Ensure capture strategies align to account strategy.
• • Support to Win themes
  • Competitive assessments
  • Pricing strategy inputs (e.g., fee, subcontract mix, ROS considerations)
• Participate in Gate/Milestone Reviews (Gate 0–4).

Key Outputs:

• Customer insights for capture
• Competitive intelligence
• Gate review inputs and approvals 

5. Business Development (BD) Support

• Lead front-end shaping activities:
  Requirements influence
• • White papers / RFIs
  • Industry engagement
• Coordinate across internal stakeholders:
• • Technical SMEs
  • Solution architects
• Ensure alignment between capability offerings and customer needs.

Key Outputs:

• Shaping artifacts (white papers, briefings)
• Customer-aligned capability positioning
• Early phase solution concepts 

6. Program Delivery Alignment

• Partner with Program Managers to:
  Ensure customer satisfaction
• • Identify follow-on work
  • Mitigate performance risks
  • Customer feedback
  • Program Health
• Leverage delivery to enable recompetes and growth.

Key Outputs:

• Customer satisfaction assessments
• Recompete strategies
• Issue escalation (if needed)   
•                                                                                                                                                                                                           7. Competitive Intelligence & Positioning

• Maintain deep understanding of:
• • Competitors (primes, subs, non-traditionals)
  • Competitor positioning with customer
  • Teaming dynamics
  • Contract vehicle access
• Shape teaming strategies:
  Prime vs. subcontract decisions
• • Strategic partnerships
• Position company capabilities against emerging Air Force priorities.

Key Outputs:

• Competitor Profilers
• Black hat / SWOT inputs
• Teaming recommendations

         8. Contract Vehicle & Acquisition Strategy Management

•  
• Ensure access to and positioning on key Air Force contract vehicles:
  • IDIQs, MACs, OTAs, BOAs
• Influence acquisition approaches where possible:
  • Contract type (CPFF, FFP, etc.)
  • Set-asides / small business strategy
• Coordinate with contracts and legal on FAR/DFARS compliance.

Key Outputs:

• Contract vehicle strategy
• Vehicle access plan (prime/sub roles)
• Acquisition shaping inputs

         9. Brand & Market Positioning

• Represent the company in:
• • Air Force forums
  • Industry associations
  • Conferences (e.g., AFA Warfare Symposium)
• Reinforce company brand as a trusted Air Force mission partner.

Key Outputs:

• External engagement plans
• Thought leadership contributions
• Customer-facing messaging

Key Success Metrics (KPIs)

• Customer engagements
• Revenue growth (organic + new)
• Strategic position on key programs

• BS 16-18, MS 14+, PhD 10+
• Possess and maintain a Secret Clearance 
• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Engineering, or related field. MBA preferred.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in business development or sales, with a focus on the defense industry and specifically within the Air Force domain.
• Proven track record of successfully meeting or exceeding sales targets and driving business growth.
• Strong understanding of Air Force operations, procurement processes, and contracting mechanisms.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work independently, prioritize tasks, and manage multiple projects simultaneously.

We are an equal opportunity employer and federal government contractor. We do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment as protected by law.