Job Description
Business Development Specialist
Department: Growth
Employment Type: Full Time
Location: Hawthorne, California
Reporting To: Kelly Randell
Compensation: $86,000 - $116,000 / year
Venturi Astrolab, Inc. (Astrolab) is pioneering new ways to explore and operate on distant planetary bodies. We are singularly focused on designing, building, and operating a fleet of multi-purpose commercial planetary rovers to extend and enhance humanity’s presence in the solar system. We are seeking motivated, creative, and exceptional people to join our world-class team.
The Business Development Specialist works across civil, defense, and commercial markets to identify opportunities, develop relationships, and support the proposals and pursuit activities that translate pipeline into revenue. This role has a strong emphasis on proposal support, relationship development, and government market fluency, working across NASA civil programs, DoD and dual-use pursuits, and commercial payload customers.
You will work closely with the Head of Civil Space and Senior Sales manager to support implementation of growth strategies through lead generation (i.e., at events, conferences, and other growth opportunities) as well as through proposal work (i.e., produce capability statements, white papers, and proposal responses). — and you will own the day-to-day activity that keeps the sales machine running between major captures.
The ideal candidate is an execution-focused, highly motivated, and organized individual with experience in business development, proposal management, and government contracting. This role requires flexibility, creativity, and the ability to operate independently within a small team, with ample opportunities to shape new business focus areas and growth within the organization.
This role reports to the Head of Civil Space and works closely with the Senior Director on commercial strategy, defense ecosystem coordination, and key partner engagements.
What you'll do:
Proposal & Capture Support
- Draft and maintain standard proposal sections: executive summaries, past performance narratives, management approach, and capability statements.
- Support RFI and RFP responses by coordinating inputs across technical, program, and leadership teams.
- Maintain a proposal content library — keeping standard narratives, bios, org charts, and compliance matrices current and retrievable.
- Own document formatting and production quality: templates, version control, and on-time submission.
- Track active solicitations and coordinate internal review cycles and submission milestones.
- Support capture decision making based on current strategic direction and emerging opportunities.
Government Business Development
- Monitor procurement activity across relevant NASA, DoD, and agency programs — flagging new solicitations, RFIs, BAAs, and OTA opportunities to the Head of Civil Space.
- Research program offices, contracting vehicles, and acquisition timelines relevant to Astrolab product areas, and coordinate defense market exploration.
- Support Marketing and BD/Sales team in development of briefing packages and leave-behind materials for government meetings and conferences.
- Attend industry days, conferences, and site visits as needed; summarize key takeaways and action items.
- Cultivate and sustain relationships with key government stakeholders.
Commercial Sales Support
- Qualify and research inbound and outbound leads — building account profiles and mapping key stakeholders ahead of senior team engagement.
- Support commercial proposal and quote development, adapting government-facing materials into commercial-appropriate formats.
- Coordinate customer follow-up and maintain deal activity in CRM with clean, timely records.
- Help develop pitch decks and tailored capability presentations for specific customer verticals or opportunities.
Operations Support
- Help maintain accurate contact records, opportunity stages, and activity logs across the CRM.
- Track proposal deadlines, contract milestones, and BD calendar commitments.
- Support preparation of monthly Growth team status reports and internal BD/Sales reviews.
- Collaborate closely with Marketing team to ensure cross-functional coordination on key strategic BD/Sales initiatives.
What you'll bring:
- 2+ years of experience in sales/business development, proposal writing, or program coordination role — in government contracting, aerospace, defense, or a related field.
- Strong writing ability and capability to produce clean, persuasive content on deadline.
- Familiarity with government acquisition concepts: solicitation types (RFP, RFI, BAA, OTA), FAR basics, and how federal procurement works.
- Exceptional organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple workstreams and deliver content and maintain customer engagement in a timely manner
- Ability to work collaboratively across multiple functions, communicate proactively, and take initiative.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Exposure to DoD or civil space programs (NASA, AFWERX, SpaceWERX, DARPA) either through prior employment, internships, or academic work.
- Experience supporting capture efforts or contributing to multi-volume RFP responses.
- Understanding of defense dual-use markets and commercial space ecosystem (launch, satellites, surface systems, payload services).
- Familiarity with SBIR/STTR programs and how early-stage companies use them.
- Proficiency with CRM and proposal production tools: Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Hubspot (or similar), and document management platforms.
Benefits and Perks
- Join a team of best-in-class engineers building the foundation of planetary surface exploration
- Equity ownership in the company
- Comprehensive health benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and mental health support
- 401(k) plan with company match
- Flexible PTO and parental leave
- Home office set up reimbursement
- Fully flexible and remote friendly work environment
- Weekly lunch stipend, plus complimentary snacks and beverages on-site
- Once a month social hour on-site with food and drinks
