Director of Business Development (Hypersonic Flight Experiments)

Turning Space into a Transportation Layer for Earth Who We Are: Inversion builds advanced reentry systems to deliver next-generation capabilities from space.   Our mission is to make Earth radically more accessible by turning Low-Earth Orbit into an on-demand logistics domain. We see space not as a destination, but as a platform — one that unlocks unprecedented speed and global reach.   Our spacecraft are designed to deliver payloads anywhere on Earth in under an hour, operating through extreme reentry conditions and landing with high precision. These systems open the door to new ways of testing, delivering, and operating at hypersonic speeds.   Inherently dual-use, our technology is built to meet urgent national security needs while laying the groundwork for future commercial applications. Backed by leading investors including Y Combinator, Spark Capital, and Lockheed Martin Ventures, and working with partners such as the U.S. Space Force and NASA, Inversion is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in space-based defense and logistics. Position Overview:  As the nation advances its hypersonic capabilities, there is an increasing need for hypersonic flight testing to facilitate the development of these technologies. The Director of Business Development is an exciting new position at Inversion focused on providing high value, recoverable, and affordable hypersonic flight test to address this increasing demand. This role is highly outbound-focused, combining cold outreach, trade show engagement, and early-stage customer development. You will be on the front lines, introducing our hypersonic technologies to government, defense, and commercial aerospace stakeholders.  Key Responsibilities:  This position will focus on identifying, qualifying, pursuing, and capturing hypersonic flight experiments in support of the USG and industry partner needs.  You will work closely with the leadership team across BD, Engineering, Missions, and Contracts to provide best value and executable flight tests to buying customers. Responsibilities include:  Proactively identify and engage new customers via phone, email, LinkedIn, and in-person outreach  Represent the company at aerospace and defense trade shows, conferences, and industry events  Qualify inbound and outbound leads and convert them into active sales opportunities  Conduct introductory calls and meetings to understand customer needs and align them with our hypersonic capabilities  Build and maintain a pipeline of qualified opportunities in CRM  Coordinate with engineering and leadership to support technical discussions and proposals  Track market activity, competitor positioning, and customer feedback  Support early capture activities for government and defense programs (as applicable)   Required Qualifications:  Total 10+ years in one or more of the following  Overall technical sales leadership for hypersonic capabilities  Procuring flight tests for hypersonic flight experiments  Directly managing hypersonic flight experiments  Prior experience in a technical sales role for commercial or government for hypersonic capabilities.  Comfortable with high-volume outbound calling and follow-up  Experience engaging technical and executive stakeholders  Strong communication skills with the ability to translate complex technical concepts into customer value  Willingness to travel for trade shows and customer meetings  U.S. work authorization (and ability to obtain a security clearance if required)  Desired Qualifications:  Strong understanding of the various types of internal and external hypersonic flight experiments  Strong understanding of the various current options for hypersonic flight tests  Knowledge of various test options for hypersonic systems, subsystems, and components, including via wind tunnel testing  Experience working with government customers, commercial customers, and stakeholders for hypersonic flight experiments  Active DoD security clearance.   Our office headquarters is located in Playa Vista, CA. This position requires in office presence.   The California annual base salary for this role is currently $220,000 - $290,000.  Pay Grades are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data.  Individual pay will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: interviews and an assessment of several factors that are unique to each candidate, job-related skills, relevant education and experience, certifications, abilities of the candidate and internal equity.  ITAR Compliance: To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR https://www.pmddtc.state.gov/?id=ddtc_kb_article_page&sys_id=24d528fddbfc930044f9ff621f961987.     Equal Employment Opportunity: Inversion provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, veteran status, or disability.     Inversion collects and processes personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws.  If you are a US Job Applicant see the https://oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa for further details. Offices: Playa Vista, California, United States (Playa Vista (HQ));