Loft Orbital

Turnkey space missions via standardized satellites

Director – Business Development

Business Development & PartnershipsUpdated on Nov 11

Full-time

About the Job

Requirements

At least 8 years of experience in business development, strategic sales, partnerships, or an equivalent customer-facing role, with a strong track record of originating and closing complex opportunities.
Deep understanding of the space industry and commercial space ecosystem, including satellite operators, spacecraft manufacturers, launch providers, space data companies, and related technology and infrastructure providers.
Demonstrated success creating opportunities and opening new customers rather than primarily managing an established book of business.
Experience selling complex technical products, services, or infrastructure through a consultative or solutions-oriented approach.
Ability to build credibility with senior executive and technical stakeholders, including founders, CEOs, CTOs, engineering leaders, and program owners.
Ability to operate effectively in ambiguous, early-stage opportunities where the customer need, solution, or buying process may not yet be fully defined.
Experience owning complex opportunities through the full business development and sales cycle, including solution development, proposals, commercial negotiations, and contracting.
Strong commercial judgment and ability to prioritize opportunities based on strategic value, probability of success, and long-term potential.
Excellent communication, relationship-building, and negotiation skills.
Willingness to travel regularly to meet customers and partners across the Americas.

Responsibilities

Identify high-potential companies, emerging constellations, and new mission opportunities across the Americas; build relationships early and develop a deep understanding of customer strategy, funding, technical roadmaps, and mission plans.
Proactively originate opportunities instead of relying primarily on inbound leads or established accounts, identifying where company infrastructure can solve a customer problem before a formal requirement or request for proposal exists.
Build relationships with founders, CEOs, CTOs, engineering leaders, mission owners, and other senior decision-makers; understand their objectives and shape solutions that align company capabilities with their broader business and technical strategy.
Lead opportunities from initial concept through pathfinder missions, demonstrations, first missions, and repeat or constellation-scale programs.
Own opportunities through qualification, solution development, proposal, commercial negotiation, contracting, and close, partnering with appropriate internal teams throughout the process.
Develop relationships with spacecraft manufacturers, launch providers, data and analytics companies, systems integrators, and other ecosystem partners to create new customer opportunities or expand market reach.
Turn successful initial missions into long-term customer relationships and identify opportunities for additional spacecraft, missions, payloads, services, or constellation deployments.
Maintain understanding of the commercial space ecosystem, including emerging companies, funding activity, new mission architectures, competitive dynamics, and evolving customer needs.
Bring together technical, commercial, and operational stakeholders to turn ambiguous customer needs into executable programs.
Work closely with senior leadership and teams across sales engineering, product, engineering, mission operations, and the international organization.

Desired Qualifications

Existing relationships with commercial constellation companies, emerging space companies, or strategic players in the Americas space ecosystem.
Experience selling satellite, spacecraft, mission, launch, data, connectivity, or other space infrastructure services.
Experience developing strategic partnerships or channel relationships that generate measurable commercial opportunities.
Technical background in aerospace, space systems, engineering, or a related field.
Experience working with venture-backed or rapidly scaling companies.
Experience across multiple segments of the space ecosystem rather than a single product or customer category.
Experience with mission-as-a-service, satellite-as-a-service, hosted payloads, or other infrastructure-based space business models.

Salary Range: 130000 to 200000 (Currency: USD) (Pay period: per-year-salary)

Wanna join the adventure?

We are looking for a Director of Business Development, Americas to drive our next phase of commercial growth. This is a senior, highly autonomous business development and market creation role focused on identifying commercial space companies, emerging constellation operators, and strategic partners—and turning early relationships into funded missions and long-term programs.

You will create opportunities from the ground up. You’ll understand where companies are headed, identify where Loft can help, bring technical and commercial stakeholders together, and shape opportunities from early concepts into pathfinders, first missions, repeat spacecraft, or constellation-scale programs.

You will work closely with senior leadership and teams across sales engineering, product, engineering, mission operations, and our international organization. You'll be equally comfortable engaging founders and CEOs, CTOs and VPs of Engineering, and technical program leaders.

The best opportunities don't begin as traditional sales opportunities—they begin with a customer trying to solve a difficult problem.

About this role:

Market Development: Identify high-potential companies, emerging constellations, and new mission opportunities across the Americas. Build relationships early and develop a deep understanding of customer strategy, funding, technical roadmaps, and mission plans.

New Business Creation: Proactively originate opportunities rather than relying primarily on inbound leads or established accounts. Identify where Loft's infrastructure can solve a customer problem before a formal requirement or RFP exists.

Strategic Selling: Build relationships with founders, CEOs, CTOs, engineering leaders, mission owners, and other senior decision-makers. Understand their objectives and shape solutions that align Loft's capabilities with their broader business and technical strategy.

Program Development: Lead opportunities from an initial concept through pathfinder missions, demonstrations, first missions, and ultimately repeat or constellation-scale programs.

Full-Cycle Business Development: Own opportunities through qualification, solution development, proposal, commercial negotiation, contracting, and close, partnering with the appropriate internal teams throughout the process.

Strategic Partnerships: Develop relationships with spacecraft manufacturers, launch providers, data and analytics companies, systems integrators, and other ecosystem partners that can create new customer opportunities or expand Loft's reach.

Account Expansion: Turn successful initial missions into long-term customer relationships. Identify opportunities for additional spacecraft, missions, payloads, services, or constellation deployments.

Market Intelligence: Maintain a strong understanding of the commercial space ecosystem, including emerging companies, funding activity, new mission architectures, competitive dynamics, and evolving customer needs.

Cross-Functional Leadership: Bring together technical, commercial, and operational stakeholders to turn ambiguous customer needs into executable programs.

Must Haves:

8+ years of experience in business development, strategic sales, partnerships, or an equivalent customer-facing role, with a strong track record of originating and closing complex opportunities.

Deep understanding of the space industry and commercial space ecosystem, including satellite operators, spacecraft manufacturers, launch providers, space data companies, and related technology and infrastructure providers.

Demonstrated success as a net-new business developer and hunter—someone who has created opportunities and opened new customers rather than primarily managing an established book of business.

Experience selling complex technical products, services, or infrastructure through a consultative or solutions-oriented approach.

Ability to build credibility with senior executive and technical stakeholders, from founders and CEOs to CTOs, engineering leaders, and program owners.

Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in ambiguous, early-stage opportunities where the customer need, solution, or buying process may not yet be fully defined.

Experience owning complex opportunities through the full business development and sales cycle, including solution development, proposals, commercial negotiations, and contracting.

Strong commercial judgment and the ability to prioritize opportunities based on strategic value, probability of success, and long-term potential.

Excellent communication, relationship-building, and negotiation skills.

Willingness to travel regularly to meet customers and partners across the Americas.

Nice to Haves:

Existing relationships with commercial constellation companies, emerging space companies, or strategic players in the Americas space ecosystem.
Experience selling satellite, spacecraft, mission, launch, data, connectivity, or other space infrastructure services.
Experience developing strategic partnerships or channel relationships that generate measurable commercial opportunities.
Technical background in aerospace, space systems, engineering, or a related field.
Experience working with venture-backed or rapidly scaling companies.
Experience across multiple segments of the space ecosystem rather than a single product or customer category.
Experience with mission-as-a-service, satellite-as-a-service, hosted payloads, or other infrastructure-based space business models.

Some of Our Awesome Benefits:

100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance option for employees and dependents
100% company-paid Basic Life (1x salary, up to $300K), AD&D, Short-Term, and Long-Term Disability insurance
Health Savings Account (HSA) with an employer contribution, plus Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) and pre-tax commuter benefits
Carrot Fertility, which provides comprehensive, inclusive fertility healthcare and family-forming benefits with financial support
One Medical membership for telemedicine and primary care
Free, confidential Employee Assistance Program through MetLife and TELUS Health
Fully paid parental leave: 16 weeks for birthing parents and 10 weeks for non-birthing parents (including adoption and surrogacy), plus an optional 2-week part-time return
Flexible Time Off policy for vacation and sick leave, and 12 paid holidays
401(k) plan and equity options
Daily catered lunches and snacks in office
International exposure to our team in France
Annual company off-sites and many social events and celebrations
Relocation assistance when applicable

*Research shows that while men apply to jobs where they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, women and other underrepresented people tend to only apply when they meet 100% of the qualifications. At Loft, we value respectful debate and people who aren’t afraid to challenge assumptions. We strongly encourage you to apply, even if you don’t check all the boxes.

Who We Are

Loft: Space Made Simple.

Founded in 2017, Loft provides governments, companies, and research institutions with a fast, reliable, and simple way to deploy missions in orbit.

We integrate, launch, and operate spacecraft, offering end-to-end missions as a service across Earth observation, IoT connectivity, on-orbit AI, national security missions, and more. Leveraging our existing space infrastructure and an extensive inventory of satellite buses, Loft is reducing years-long integration and launch timelines to months. With more than 30 missions flown, Loft’s flight heritage and proven technologies enable customers to focus on their mission objectives.

With a growing fleet on track to reach 30 satellites by 2027, we are scaling up quickly across our offices in San Francisco, CA | Golden, CO | and Toulouse, France to meet accelerating demand for space infrastructure.

As an international company your resume will be reviewed by people across our offices so please attach a copy in English.

About the Company

Loft Orbital

Turnkey space missions via standardized satellites

Loft Orbital provides space infrastructure as a service, offering turnkey access to satellite missions. It maintains an inventory of satellite buses and runs scheduled quarterly launches, enabling clients to deploy missions quickly without managing the technical details. The company handles all mission engineering, operations, and logistics, using identical satellite hardware for each mission to maximize flight heritage and reduce technical risk. Its payload-agnostic technology can support a wide range of payloads on a standard bus, giving it flexibility to serve diverse customers. Loft Orbital's model centers on delivering end-to-end space missions as a service, charging clients for deployment, operation, and the ongoing support needed to build and scale satellite constellations.

Company size: 201-500
Company stage: Series C
Total funding: $344M
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Founded: 2016

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