Portfolio Development & Growth Development Director - Civil and Commercial Programs

The Aerospace Corporation is the trusted partner to the nation’s space programs, solving the hardest problems and providing unmatched technical expertise. As the operator of a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), we are broadly engaged across all aspects of space— delivering innovative solutions that span satellite, launch, ground, and cyber systems for defense, civil and commercial customers. When you join our team, you’ll be part of a special collection of problem solvers, thought leaders, and innovators. Join us and take your place in space.

Building on The Aerospace Corporation's reputation as a trusted, impartial, objective advisor, with integrity and dedication to mission success, the Civil Systems Group (CSG) combines deep technical expertise with market-leading innovation to help our customers solve complex systems engineering and integration challenges. CSG is organized by core customer-facing lines of business to manage and grow technical programs within NASA, NOAA, NNSA, and other Federal agencies, while extending our capabilities to other non-Federal organizations, when in the national interest.

The Civil Systems Group is seeking an a highly motivated and experienced Portfolio Development & Growth Development Director (Systems Director- Business Development Strategy & Planning) to lead strategy, capture, and client engagement for CSGs Civil and Commercial Programs portfolio. This role will drive new business growth by shaping new opportunities, leading capture efforts, managing key accounts, and building strong relationships with U.S. Government civil space agencies and commercial space industry partners. The ideal candidate brings both technical credibility and business development expertise - combining a strong technical background with proven experience in pipeline development, capture management, proposal leadership, and go-to-market execution.

Work Model

The selected candidate will be required to work full-time, on-site at our facility in Crystal City, VA.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Strategy & Planning: Develop and execute BD strategy and account plans for the civil and commercial space market aligned with CSG’s lines of business objectives
• Capture Management: Support end-to-end capture efforts, including shaping opportunities, customer engagement, competitive analysis, PI/Co-I partnering strategies, and technical solution development
• Proposal Leadership: Drive technical content development for bids and proposals; partner with proposal teams to ensure compliant, compelling, and winning submissions
• Pipeline Management: Build, maintain, and report on a qualified pipeline of opportunities in alignment with corporate growth targets; ensure pipeline progression through effective CRM management
• Account Management: In collaboration with CSG’s customer facing lines of business, establish and expand relationships with multi-level stakeholders across NASA, NOAA, FAA, commercial primes, and emerging space entrants, in collaboration with our customer facing lines of business
• Go-to-Market Execution: Identify market trends, assess emerging needs, and define differentiators to position the corporation for growth in space systems engineering and integration services
• Collaboration: Partner with engineering and program delivery teams to align BD pursuits with technical capabilities, staffing models, and past performance
• Lead and direct a BD team to maintain and expand customer relationships across the civil and commercial space industry landscape, and partner with program and project management to ensure customer needs are met
• Report and track: (1) growth against strategic plan goals; (2) Resource expenditure actuals vs. plan; (3) opportunity pipeline; and (4) Evolution of Account plans and (5) return on investment
• Think and act strategically and provide thought leadership to strategic planning cycle
• Support interfaces to Aerospace contracts, legal, and pricing for managing contract vehicles and renewals
• Review, update and maintain customer information and business development pipeline databases on a regular basis
• Participate with management in budget planning and allocation of resources and determining organization's structure and staffing
• Implement best practices, and operating processes and recommend improvements to management
• Conduct staff performance reviews and recommend performance improvement, career development, salary and promotion actions; establish staffing needs and recommend reassignments, training, transfers, and other staff deployments; assist other supervisors in evaluation and assignment of staff
• Monitor and direct organization's security processes, compliance, and safety awareness

What You Need to be Succ