Business Development Engineer - Mission Engineering & Defense Ma

Threat Tec, LLC, a rapidly growing Veteran-Owned Business, is the leader of Operational Environment (OE) replication and Threat Emulation/Wargaming solutions. Threat Tec brings innovative thinking and extensive experience to complex challenges for public and private sector customers. We work alongside our nation's defenders, developing solutions that drive success and protect our future. Join a team that is embodied by an unwavering commitment to professionalism, honesty, and innovation.

THIS IS NOT A TRADITIONAL BD ROLE
If you have never read a technical drawing, estimated machining hours, or walked a DoD customer through a manufacturing capability brief, stop here. We are not hiring a relationship manager who takes PMs to lunch and waits for RFPs. We need someone who can look at a broken part on a program manager's desk, pull out a caliper, and come back with a quote and a production plan by end of week. You sell by solving manufacturing problems - not by sending capability decks into the void.

Position Summary
Threat Tec is building a defense manufacturing and prototyping business inside a $50M+ services company. We have a 5-axis CNC machining center (Haas UMC-1000SS), CNC lathe, additive manufacturing, fabrication, inspection, and a team of mechanical and electrical engineers. What we do not have is someone finding and closing the work that puts these assets into production.
This role is the tip of the spear for Mission Engineering revenue. You will identify manufacturing, prototyping, and fabrication opportunities across DoD - primarily Navy, SOCOM, and Army - and convert them into funded work. You are equally comfortable in a program office pitching a prototype solution as you are on the shop floor reviewing a first-article inspection report. You own the pipeline from identification through contract award, and you stay involved through first delivery to ensure the customer gets exactly what was promised.
Your success is measured in one thing: signed contracts that put parts on machines. Not meetings held. Not slides produced. Revenue.

The Role: 60% Hunter / 40% Technical

Business Development

• Identify, qualify, and pursue manufacturing, prototyping, and fabrication opportunities across DoD customers - including Navy shipyards, NAVSEA, NAVAIR, SOCOM logistics, Army PEOs, and defense primes.
• Build and maintain a qualified pipeline of $5M+ in annual manufacturing/fabrication opportunities within your first 12 months.
• Conduct customer discovery visits - walk shops, maintenance bays, and logistics depots to identify problems we can solve with machined or fabricated hardware.
• Respond to RFQs, Sources Sought, and RFIs for manufacturing and prototyping work. You write the technical response, not a proposal team.
• Identify OTA, SBIR/STTR, and rapid prototyping funding vehicles that can get work on contract fast without 18-month procurement cycles.
• Develop and maintain relationships with defense prime contractors (Huntington Ingalls, BAE, L3Harris, General Dynamics) who need subcontract machining and fabrication support in the Hampton Roads / Norfolk corridor.
• Attend industry days, NDIA events, Navy Gold Coast, and SOF Week - not as a spectator, but with a target list and a meeting schedule.

Technical Estimating & Feasibility

• Review incoming opportunity drawings, models, and specifications. Provide rough-order-of-magnitude (ROM) estimates for machining hours, material costs, and delivery timelines.
• Work with the CNC machinist and engineering team to validate manufacturability before committing to a customer.
• Identify when work requires subcontracted operations (heat treat, plating, EDM, grinding) and build those costs into estimates.
• Develop and maintain a pricing model for standard machining operations on the Haas UMC-1000SS and Milltronics ML18/60 - hourly shop rates, setup charges, material markups, and inspection costs.
• Support proposal development with technical volumes, past performance narratives, and manufacturing capability briefs tailored to specific opportunities.
• Conduct post-delivery customer debriefs to capture feedback and identify follow-on opportunities.

Hard Requirements - Non-Negotiable

• Minimum 5 years selling or business-developing machining, fabrication, prototyping, or manufactured products into DoD or defense primes
• Demonstrated ability to read and interpret engineering drawings and GD&T (ASME Y14.5). You do not need to program a CNC machine, but you must be able to look at a drawing and understand what it takes to make the part.
• Working knowledge of CNC machining processes - milling, turning, 5-axis operations. You must be able to have a credible technical conversation with a customer's engineering team and with our shop floor.
• Understanding of defense procurement vehicles: OTAs, BPAs, IDIQs, SeaPort NxG, GSA MAS, and how to get manufacturing work on contract quickly.
• Proven track record of closing manufacturing/fabrication contracts - not just building pipeline. Provide specific examples of contracts you personally brought from identification to award.
• Knowledge of materials commonly used in defense manufacturing: aluminum (6061/7075), steel (4140/4340), stainless (304/316), titanium, composites, and engineering plastics.
• U.S. Citizen with active Secret clearance (minimum).
• Willing to travel 40-60% - primarily East Coast DoD installations, shipyards, and prime contractor facilities.

Customer Targets

• This is not an open-ended "go find business" role. We know where the work is. Your job is to go get it:
• Customer Segment
• Opportunity Type
• Navy / NAVSEA / NAVAIR
• Ship component prototyping, hull fittings, repair parts, maintenance depot support, weapons system hardware
• SOCOM / MARSOC
• Tactical equipment prototypes, weapons accessories, training aids, UAS/drone hardware, operator-requested modifications
• Army PEOs & T2COM
• VISMOD components, training system hardware, simulation device housings, rapid prototypes for Futures Command
• Defense Primes (HII, BAE, L3Harris, GD)
• Subcontract machining, overflow production, prototype-to-LRIP bridge manufacturing, specialty short-run parts
• Shipyards & Maintenance Depots
• Replacement parts, obsolete part re-manufacturing, custom fixtures and tooling, emergency repair fabrication

What are you selling

• You need to know this equipment cold. When a customer asks "can you make this?" your answer must be immediate and credible:
• Haas UMC-1000SS - 5-axis simultaneous machining center, 12,000 RPM super-speed spindle, 40" x 25" x 25" travel, 30+ tool capacity. This is the centerpiece.
• Milltronics ML18/60 - CNC/manual combination lathe, 19" swing, 63.5" between centers, 8-station turret. Turned parts up to 19" diameter.
• Modix BIG-120X V4 - Large-format industrial 3D printer, 47" x 24" x 25" build volume, carbon fiber and high-temp nylon capable.
• CNC hot wire foam cutter (3000 Shaper) - Precision EPS/XPS cutting for lightweight cores, packaging, and aerodynamic prototypes.
• Sylvac portable CMM arm - First-article and in-process inspection to government specification.
• Cerakote oven and spray booth - Professional tactical surface finishing.
• Soldering and electronics bench - Electro-mechanical integration capability.
• 3 engineers (2 mechanical, 1 electrical) - Full design-to-production support from SolidWorks model to finished, inspected part.

What success looks like

• First 90 Days
• Complete immersion in shop capabilities - you can brief any customer on every machine, material, and process we run without notes.
• Mapped the top 25 potential customers within a 4-hour drive of Hampton Roads (Navy, primes, depots, program offices).
• Conducted a minimum of 15 face-to-face customer meetings or facility visits.
• Submitted a minimum of 5 RFQs, quotes, or capability responses.
• Identified and qualified at least $2M in pipeline opportunities.
• First 12 Months
• $1M+ in closed manufacturing/fabrication contracts on the books.
• $5M+ qualified pipeline under active pursuit.
• Established recurring relationships with at least 3 defense primes or Navy program offices generating repeat orders.
• Shop utilization on the Haas UMC-1000SS at 60%+ of available capacity.
• Demonstrated ability to identify, quote, win, and deliver machining work end-to-end with minimal CEO involvement.

Preferred but not required

• Navy or SOCOM veteran with acquisition, logistics, or maintenance background
• Experience with NAVSEA, NAVAIR, or shipyard procurement processes
• Existing relationships with Hampton Roads defense primes (HII, BAE Systems Norfolk, etc.)
• Experience selling into OTA / SBIR / rapid prototyping programs
• Familiarity with AS9100 or ISO 9001 quality environments
• Active Top Secret clearance
• Experience with additive manufacturing sales or hybrid machining/additive solutions

The Mindset We Require
You are not a business development professional who happens to sell manufacturing. You are a manufacturing professional who happens to be great at business development. The distinction matters.
You have spent time on shop floors. You know what a 5-axis setup looks like. You can estimate whether a part is a 2-hour job or a 20-hour job by looking at the drawing. When a customer shows you a failed component, you are already thinking about how to re-engineer it for manufacturability.
You do not wait for RFPs. You create demand. You walk into a maintenance depot and find the problem nobody has funded a solution for yet. You call the program manager and say "We can build you a prototype in 3 weeks. Here's what it costs. Here's a vehicle to fund it." That is how this role generates revenue.
If your BD experience is limited to responding to posted solicitations and attending industry days, this is not the right fit. We need a hunter who creates opportunities from nothing.

Nothing in this job description restricts management's right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time. This description reflects management's assignment of essential functions; it does not proscribe or restrict the tasks that may be assigned. This job description is subject to change at any time.

Threat Tec, LLC is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employers (EEO/AA). All employment and hiring decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and business needs without regard to race, religion, color, sexual orientation, nationality, gender, ethnic origin, disability, age, sex, gender identity, veteran status, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

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