Director, Satellite Business Development & Commercialization - Domestic

Vast is looking for a Director, Satellite Business Development - Domestic (US), reporting to the SVP, Satellite Business Development & Commercialization, to lead commercial business development (communications, Earth observation, sensing, and in-orbit compute applications) for Vast Satellites in the United States. This role will lead customer engagement, opportunity development, capture strategy, and partnership efforts - including teaming with commercial primes - that advance Vast's initiatives to develop, manufacture, and operate advanced satellite bus platforms.

Vast maintains a dedicated National Security team that engages the US Government directly; this role owns the US commercial market and partners closely with that team where government programs route through commercial primes. This is a small, senior founding commercial team: the role demands both business development "hunter" instincts (creating markets and demand where none exist yet) and proven "closer" skills (negotiating and executing contracts from single-digit millions to hundreds of millions of dollars).

This will be a full-time, exempt position based in Long Beach, CA, with remote US considered on an exception-basis.

Responsibilities: 

• Develop and execute a comprehensive US commercial market strategy across satellite communications, Earth observation, sensing, and in-orbit compute, aligned with Vast's business objectives.
• Build and maintain a market and competitive intelligence view across US commercial space customers and merchant-bus competitors, distinguishing Vast's positioning in each vertical.
• Lead internal planning for opportunity prioritization, capture strategy, and pipeline development across the US commercial market.
• Lead customer engagement across opportunity identification, mission scoping, capability briefings, and early concept development with US constellation operators, Earth observation companies, and commercial primes.
• Develop and manage teaming relationships with commercial primes (e.g., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, L3Harris), working jointly with Vast's National Security team where programs involve US Government end customers.
• Leverage a strong, pre-existing senior-level network across the US space value chain to open doors with potential customers and identify competitive threats early.
• Lead proposal development and coordinate cross-functional contributions from engineering, program management, finance, legal, and export-control/compliance teams, supported by the team's BD analyst and pre-sales engineer.
• Own pipeline development, forecasting, and reporting across all US commercial accounts.
• Negotiate and close contracts for satellite bus platforms and associated services, from initial launch missions to constellation-scale production agreements.
• Represent Vast at US space and aerospace industry events, conferences, and trade shows.
• Deliver presentations, participate in panels, and provide senior/C-suite-level briefings that communicate the capabilities and value of Vast's satellite platforms to commercial and prime-contractor audiences.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 10+ years of relevant experience in US space/aerospace business development, sales, or capture management, with demonstrated success in commercial space markets.
• Proven track record of personally originating and closing contracts, including deals in the tens of millions of dollars or above.
• Established, verifiable senior and executive-level relationships with potential customers, and knowledge of the competitive landscape across the US commercial space market.
• Background in the space/aerospace value chain (launch, satellite bus, payload, prime integration, or operations), ideally complementary to satellite operations — e.g., Earth observation or prime-channel programs.
• Strong technical understanding and ability to communicate complex systems to commercial and prime-contractor audiences.
• Excellent communication, analytical, collaboration, and interpersonal skills; proven ability to work across internal team boundaries.
• Ability to operate independently, prioritize effectively, and manage multiple efforts simultaneously in a fast-paced, lean-team environment.

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance.
• Experience teaming with or selling through defense primes on space programs.
• Familiarity with export-control regimes (ITAR/EAR) and government-adjacent commercial contracting.

Additional Requirements:

• Ability to travel 40-50%+ of the time.

Pay Range:

• Director, Satellite Business Development: $151,000 - $215,000
• Senior Director, Satellite Business Development: $164,000 - $232,000