Director of Business Development, Test and Targets

Job description

Advanced Reentry Technologies Who We Are: Inversion is an aerospace and defense company pioneering advanced reentry technology to enable next-generation capabilities from space. By combining high-performance materials, precision aerodynamics, and mission-driven autonomy, Inversion is transforming reentry into an operational capability for an entirely new class of missions. The company’s highly maneuverable reentry spacecraft, Arc, is designed for rapid global cargo delivery, hypersonic testing, and other national security missions that require precise, controlled flight through the atmosphere. Arc creates an entirely new transportation domain, unlocking unprecedented speed and global reach. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Inversion designs, manufactures, and integrates its spacecraft under one roof, enabling the company to move rapidly from concept to flight. The company is backed by leading investors including Y Combinator, Spark Capital, and Lockheed Martin Ventures, with customers across the U.S. government and commercial space industry. Position Overview: As the nation advances its hypersonic capabilities, there is an increasing need for hypersonic flight testing and targets to facilitate the development of these technologies. The Director of Business Development Hypersonic Test & Targets is an exciting new position at Inversion focused on providing high value and affordable hypersonic flight tests and targets to address this increasing demand. This role is highly outbound-focused, combining cold outreach, trade show engagement, and early-stage customer development. You will be on the front lines, introducing our hypersonic technologies to government, defense, and commercial aerospace stakeholders. Key Responsibilities: This position will focus on identifying, qualifying, pursuing, and capturing hypersonic flight tests and targets in support of the USG and industry partner needs. You will work closely with the leadership team across BD, Engineering, Missions, and Contracts to provide best value and executable flight tests to buying customers. Responsibilities include: Proactively identify and engage new customers via phone, email, LinkedIn, and in-person outreach. Represent the company at aerospace and defense trade shows, conferences, and industry events. Qualify inbound and outbound leads and convert them into active sales opportunities. Conduct introductory calls and meetings to understand customer needs and align them with our hypersonic capabilities. Build and maintain a pipeline of qualified opportunities in CRM. Coordinate with engineering and leadership to support technical discussions and proposals. Track market activity, competitor positioning, and customer feedback. Support early capture activities for government and defense programs (as applicable). Required Qualifications: Typically 10+ years in one or more of the following: Overall technical sales leadership for hypersonic capabilities. Procuring hypersonic flight tests and/or targets. Directly managing hypersonic flight experiments or target exercises. Prior experience in a technical sales role for commercial or government for hypersonic capabilities. Comfortable with high-volume outbound calling and follow-up. Experience engaging technical and executive stakeholders. Strong communication skills with the ability to translate complex technical concepts into customer value. Willingness to travel for trade shows and customer meetings. Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret/Top Secret security clearance. Desired Qualifications: Aerospace engineering or technical background. Strong understanding of the various hypersonic flight test modalities and targets. Strong understanding of the various current options for hypersonic flight tests and targets. Knowledge of various test options for hypersonic systems, subsystems, and components, including via wind tunnel testing. Knowledge of various hypersonic target options. Experience working with government customers, commercial customers, and stakeholders for hypersonic tests and/or targets. Active DoD security clearance.  Our office headquarters is located in Playa Vista, CA. This position requires in office presence. The California annual base salary for this role is currently $220,000 - $290,000. Pay Grades are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual pay will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: interviews and an assessment of several factors that are unique to each candidate, job-related skills, relevant education and experience, certifications, abilities of the candidate and internal equity. ITAR Compliance: To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here . Equal Employment Opportunity: Inversion provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, veteran status, or disability. Inversion collects and processes personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws. If you are a US Job Applicant see the CCPA Privacy Policy Notice for further details.