Business Development Manager, Air Dominance

We're building the next generation interface for commanding autonomous systems in the real world. Our core product, Anura, translates spoken or typed intent into structured actions across drones, sensors, and mission software—enabling faster, more intuitive control in high-stakes environments. We’re a distributed team of engineers, operators, and technologists focused on deploying reliable autonomy at the tactical edge.

We are seeking an experienced, strategic, and mission-driven Business Development Manager to join our growing team. This role is central to ensuring Anura gets to warfighters and delivers outsized mission impact. This person will own significant scope in Primordial Labs’ Air Dominance portfolio across the Air Force, expanding our opportunity pipeline, leading capture efforts, and driving revenue growth for our Anura platform. You will take opportunities and shepherd them through the full capture lifecycle, from shaping requirements to contract award, working across MAJCOMs, program executive offices, and operational units. This is a high-impact role for someone who thrives in a fast-paced, small-team environment and wants to see their work directly influence the lethality of our warfighters and our company’s trajectory.

Own the full capture lifecycle for priority Air Force opportunities, from early shaping through proposal submission and closing contract awards.

Develop and execute capture plans, including win strategies, competitive assessments, teaming strategies, and pricing analysis.

Contribute to the new business pipeline process across Air Force programs, develop the business case for top priorities, and work across functional orgs to execute capture.

Collaborate with Primes & OEMs on joint opportunities and identify landing points for existing opportunities.

Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders across Air Combat Command, AFLCMC program offices, AFSOC, and operational wings and groups.

Engage across customer personas early in the acquisition cycle to shape requirements in alignment with Anura’s capabilities, from aircrew and operators to requirements staff and program leadership.

Maintain relationships with existing Prime partners and spearhead new relationships with strategic partners who we have not engaged yet.

Represent Primordial Labs at industry days, demonstrations, conferences, and customer meetings, articulating our value proposition with authority and clarity.

Maintain a deep understanding of the defense acquisition landscape, relevant contracting vehicles, and Air Force program funding cycles.

Track developments across relevant Air Force programs and translate them into capture strategy.

Track competitor activities and emerging customer requirements to inform capture strategy and product roadmap.

Identify and evaluate new market segments and adjacencies aligned with Anura’s platform capabilities.

Partner closely with engineering and program management to ensure proposals and customer commitments are technically sound and deliverable.

Contribute customer and market insights to inform product roadmap priorities and go-to-market strategy.

Support proposal development efforts, including writing, review, and coordination with any teaming partners.

4+ years of experience in business development, capture management, or government sales, with a strong track record of winning defense contracts.

Direct experience working with Air Force customers and navigating defense acquisition processes.

Demonstrated success owning and winning opportunities across the full capture lifecycle.

Established relationships within Air Force program offices, MAJCOM staffs, or combatant commands.

Previous experience within the Air Force air domain (e.g. pilot, RPA operator, programmatic, requirements, etc) is a major plus.

Active U.S. government security clearance preferred; ability to obtain and maintain clearance required.

Familiarity with manned USAF platforms, autonomous systems, human-machine teaming, and human-computer interaction technologies

Experience capturing programs related to crewed aircraft, RPA, or unmanned systems

Working knowledge of OMS/UCI, especially A-GRA and AMS-GRA, and experience in a MBSE program environment

Understanding of Air Force command & control and mission planning workflows

Prior experience in a startup or early-stage defense technology company

Our interview process is designed to be thorough and respectful of your time. It typically includes:

Conversation with the People Team: Lets get to know one another first!

Manager Conversation: A chat with the hiring manager to discuss responsibilities, team dynamics, and your relevant experience.

Team & Process Deep Dive: A 60 minute discussion with cross-functional team members currently supporting our BD efforts. You'll learn about our day to day operations, and we'll discuss your past experience.

Strategy Discussion: A 45 minute conversation with our Director of Strategy to align on our growth objectives, market opportunities, and long term vision.

Q&A with our CEO: Final call with our CEO to discuss company culture and get all of your lingering questions answered.

We are committed to a low-stress interview experience. No trick questions or brain teasers!