Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Garuda Ventures is a company focused on delivering modular AI infrastructure for edge computing. As the Director of Business Development, you will support executive leadership in qualifying commercial opportunities and ensuring effective partnerships, while also conducting market intelligence to identify new strategic opportunities.
Responsibilities
- Join executive leadership for inbound commercial, partnership, and strategic meetings as a standing presence — providing context, capturing key outputs, and helping shape how Armada is positioned in the room
- Prepare executive leadership ahead of meetings with tight, actionable briefings: who we’re meeting, why it matters, what we know about them, and what outcomes we’re trying to achieve
- Serve as a trusted thought partner to executive leadership in real time — shaping the narrative, flagging risks, and ensuring Armada leaves every meeting with clear next steps
- Own follow-through from executive leadership meetings: document commitments, route action items, and ensure nothing falls through the cracks
- Act as Armada’s primary qualification layer for inbound commercial and partner opportunities. Apply rigorous, structured judgment to determine whether an opportunity merits Armada’s time and attention
- Develop and maintain a qualification framework that reflects Armada’s current priorities, growth strategy, and deal thresholds — and evolve it as the business changes
- Know when to say no. Close out opportunities that are not the right fit with professionalism and care — protecting Armada’s reputation and the time of senior leadership
- Route qualified opportunities to the appropriate team (sales, partnerships, or executive) with clear context, qualification notes, and a recommended path forward
- Work closely with sales reps and the partnerships team to ensure warm handoffs and continuity
- Proactively scan the commercial landscape to identify emerging opportunities, competitive signals, and market trends relevant to Armada’s growth priorities
- Synthesize market intelligence into clear, concise briefs for executive leadership that drive better decisions about where to invest attention
- Build deep understanding of Armada’s target verticals (defense, energy, public safety, manufacturing, sovereign AI) and the partner and customer ecosystems within them
- Develop profiles of key prospect organizations, track relationship status, and maintain institutional knowledge that persists across conversations
- Identify net-new strategic opportunities that align with Armada’s near- and long-term priorities — not just reactive work, but proactive deal shaping
- Build and maintain trusted relationships with senior decision-makers across potential customer, partner, and investor communities
- Collaborate with executive leadership, VP of Programs & Partnerships, and sales leadership to align on where Armada’s business development effort is focused and how success is measured
Skills
- 8–12+ years of experience in business development, strategic sales, or a commercial function where qualification, prioritization, and executive relationship management were core to the role
- Demonstrated qualification expertise: a strong track record of assessing commercial opportunities quickly and accurately, saying yes to the right things and closing out the wrong ones with professionalism
- Executive presence: polished and credible in senior-level settings. Comfortable representing Armada in executive-level meetings and high-stakes commercial conversations
- Exceptional communication: ability to synthesize a complex company or market into a crisp briefing, and to know when to lead versus when to listen
- Market research rigor: demonstrated track record of 'rapid immersion' in new technical domains, companies, or markets — with a bias toward being over-prepared for high-stakes engagements
- Technical fluency: comfort engaging on complex topics (AI infrastructure, edge computing, sovereign AI, defense, cybersecurity) and translating them for both technical and non-technical audiences
- Judgment under ambiguity: high personal standards around preparation, integrity, and long-term reputation. Able to build the playbook as you go in an early-stage, fast-moving company
- Familiarity with complex, long-cycle enterprise deals and the dynamics of selling to government, defense, or large enterprise customers
- Experience working directly with a C-suite or executive leadership team in a fast-moving, high-growth company
- Established network across defense, energy, public safety, or sovereign AI communities
- Prior experience in a non-commissioned business development or commercial strategy role at a technology company
- Comfort with CRM tools and pipeline tracking; ability to instrument your own workflow and maintain rigorous documentation
Benefits
- Equity
- Subsidized benefits (details available upon request)
- Competitive base salary and equity
- Medical, dental, and vision (subsidized cost)
- Health savings accounts (HSA), flexible spending accounts (FSA), and dependent care FSAs (DCFSA)
- Retirement plan options, including 401(k) and Roth 401(k)
- Unlimited paid time off (PTO)
- 14 paid company holidays per year
Company Overview