Valstad
Director of Business Development & Strategic Partnerships
Austin · On-site · Director · Full-time · Posted Aug 31, 2026
- Experience
- 7+ years; direct maritime-industry experience is required.
About the job
Build Valstad’s commercial presence in maritime and defense by developing customer and partner relationships, shaping opportunities, negotiating agreements, and converting pilots into recurring production programs.
What you'll do
- Develop business across commercial shipbuilding, naval programs, autonomous vessels, and related markets; build relationships with customers, primes, and government stakeholders.
- Qualify opportunities with engineering and manufacturing, then lead proposals, pricing, negotiations, and contracting through delivery.
- Build and manage the pipeline, support government and prime-contractor opportunities, and turn demonstrations into repeat production programs.
What they ask for
- 7+ years in maritime business development, shipbuilding, naval programs, defense partnerships, capture, or a closely related field.
- Direct professional experience within the maritime industry.
- A strong, relevant network across maritime, shipyard, Navy, defense, or government stakeholders.
- Demonstrated success creating and closing complex opportunities involving physical products, manufacturing, engineering, or government customers.
Nice to have
- Prior U.S. Navy service, particularly in surface warfare, engineering, acquisition, ship maintenance, shipbuilding, logistics, or program-related roles.
- Experience at or directly with a commercial or defense shipyard.
Tools
CRM, FAR, OTAs, SBIR/STTR
AI focus
Valstad uses AI in its manufacturing systems, but the posting does not specify AI responsibilities for this role.
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative