Business Development Lead

About the role

Redhelm Labs is a deep-tech startup that builds eyesafe, 1550 nm laser power-beaming systems that wirelessly power IoT, infrastructure, and defense-adjacent devices. We’re hiring a Business Development Lead to own the commercialization effort: build and run the pipeline, source and close pilots/LOIs/contracts across verticals, create partner/OEM channels, and turn technical demos into paying pilots. This is a hands-on role at a scrappy deep-tech startup where you will sell, build processes, and grow the function.

Key responsibilities

• Own the full sales lifecycle: prospecting, pipeline building, demos, pilot scoping, LOIs/POs and close.
• Source strategic enterprise customers (energy/O&G, industrial automation, security, infrastructure), and OEM/channel partners.
• Create and run sales processes, CRM workflows, forecasting and KPIs; build repeatable playbooks and pitch materials.
• Lead pilot and LOI negotiations, pricing, risk mitigation and pilot success criteria.
• Coordinate closely with engineering to scope feasibility and proposals.
• Recruit and manage sales support as the business scales.

Required

• Prior experience in sales, business development, or other customer-facing roles
• Comfortable working with complex technical products and collaborating with engineering teams
• Strong interpersonal skills and confidence speaking with new people (phone, email, events)
• Excellent written and verbal communication
• Strong organization and follow-through across multiple active conversations and tasks
• Self-starter mindset: able to operate with imperfect information and move work forward
• Interest in startups, business development, and building processes from scratch
• Flexible schedule to support customer calls across multiple time zones
• Willingness to travel occasionally for conferences and customer meetings
• Experience with outbound outreach (cold email, LinkedIn, structured follow-up)
• Due to U.S. export control regulations, this position is limited to U.S. Persons (U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, or individuals with protected status)

Preferred

• Experience using outbound and prospecting tools (Clay, Apollo, LinkedIn Sales Navigator)
• Experience supporting DoD proposals, grants, or government contracting
• Experience with B2B marketing, LinkedIn outreach, and/or early-stage brand building
• Familiarity with laser/optics, wireless power, or hardware demos/testing
• Interest or experience in design (graphics, slide decks, basic branding)
• Working experience with CRM tools (HubSpot, Salesforce, Airtable, etc.)
• Experience driving social media growth or content strategy

What we offer

High ownership, equity participation, flexible workstyle, and the chance to define commercialization for a cutting-edge deep-tech company.