Director of Business Development - Airlines

About the role

WHO WE ARE AeroVect is transforming ground handling with autonomy, redefining how airlines and ground service providers around the globe run day-to-day operations. We are a Series A company backed by top-tier venture capital investors in aviation and autonomous driving. Our customers include some of the world’s largest airlines and ground handling providers. For more information, visit www.aerovect.com http://www.aerovect.com. We are hiring a Director of Business Development to win new airline customers and expand AeroVect’s commercial presence globally. You will identify and develop opportunities, build relationships with customer decision-makers, and lead the commercial process from initial engagement through signed, funded agreements. You will work directly with AeroVect’s leadership and our Product, Engineering, Operations, Finance, and Legal teams. This is a hands-on individual contributor role. You will personally lead customer conversations, develop proposals and business cases, and manage the details required to move complex opportunities forward. You Will - Build and execute a focused business development plan for new airline customers. Prioritize opportunities based on fleet potential, customer readiness, commercial value, and fit with AeroVect’s deployment capabilities. - Develop new relationships and advance existing prospects through direct outreach, introductions, industry events, and customer visits. - Build relationships across airline operations, ground support equipment, finance, procurement, and executive leadership. - Understand customer workflows, operations, and deployment requirements. Work with internal teams to develop business cases that connect AeroVect’s solutions to measurable customer value. - Lead proposals, paid feasibility engagements, tenders, and commercial negotiations with support from AeroVect’s leadership, Finance, and Legal. Establish a clear path from initial deployment to fleet expansion. - Qualify funding, executive sponsorship, procurement timelines, and customer commitments early. Establish clear success criteria and commercial next steps for each engagement. - Work with Product, Engineering, and Operations to assess technical fit, implementation effort, and delivery capacity. Align scope and timing internally before making customer commitments. - Maintain accurate opportunity plans and forecasts, including next steps, owners, decision dates, expected revenue, and commercial risks. You Have - 10+ years of experience in business development, enterprise sales, or commercial roles, with direct responsibility for winning new enterprise customers. - A track record of personally originating and closing complex agreements involving multiple stakeholders, complex buying processes, and significant implementation requirements. - Experience navigating customer budgets, procurement processes, business cases, and contract negotiations. - The ability to build credibility with frontline operating teams and senior executives, and lead substantive discussions about operational performance and investment decisions. - Strong financial and commercial judgment. You can evaluate customer economics, develop an ROI case, and distinguish early interest from an opportunity with a credible path to funding. - Exceptional written and verbal communication, including executive presentations, commercial proposals, and negotiation. - Strong follow-through and the ability to manage several complex opportunities independently. You are comfortable personally preparing materials and handling the details needed to advance a deal. - Willingness to travel regularly, domestically and internationally. We Prefer - Experience selling to airlines and airports, with an established network in aviation. - Experience commercializing robotics, industrial automation, or other technology deployed in industrial operations at scale. - VC-backed startup experience.