Position Overview

Riverside Research is seeking an experienced Director or Executive Director of Business Development to lead growth across the Air Force Research Laboratory. This individual will develop and execute an enterprise-level AFRL growth strategy spanning the laboratory’s technical directorates, mission organizations, contracting pathways, and industry ecosystem. 

 

The successful candidate will have demonstrated results identifying, shaping, capturing, and winning research and development business with AFRL or closely related Air Force organizations. This is not primarily a proposal-management or customer-relations position. The role is accountable for building a qualified pipeline, positioning Riverside for future opportunities, creating customer-backed growth strategies, and converting those strategies into funded work. 

The individual will work closely with business-unit leadership, technical leaders, capture managers, contracts personnel, and corporate executives. The position may be filled at the Director or Executive Director level based on the candidate’s experience, relationships, record of wins, and ability to influence growth across Riverside. 

 

The strongest candidates will be proactive, accountable, commercially minded, technically credible, and comfortable operating in an environment where results are measured by qualified pipeline growth and contract wins. They will be able to work independently, challenge assumptions, make disciplined pursuit recommendations, and create momentum across organizational boundaries. 

 

Position based in Fairfax, VA (must be willing to relocate to the area)

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a comprehensive growth strategy for AFRL, addressing relevant technical directorates, locations, mission areas, and acquisition organizations.
• Develop account plans for priority AFRL organizations andmaintainclearobjectives, actions, milestones, and measures of progress.
• Cultivate and sustain high-trust, technical relationships with key AFRL decision-makers, laboratory directors, program managers, industry partners,academiccollaboratorsand other organizations that influence funding decisions.
• Build andmaintaina qualified, actionable pipeline of opportunities aligned with Riverside’s technical capabilities and strategic priorities.
• Qualify opportunities based on customer access, funding, technical alignment, competitive position, acquisition pathway, and probability of win.
• Identifyemerging customer needs, funding priorities, acquisition trends, competitive threats, and changes in the AFRL operating environment.
• InformBusiness Unit and Technical Group Strategies andinternal research and development (IRAD) investmentsto ensure close alignment withgrowth-orientedobjectives.
• Represent Riverside Research at defense technology conferences, industry days, academic forums, and community events in the Dayton region and nationwide.
• Lead early customer engagement and opportunity shaping to improve Riverside’s position before requirements and acquisition approaches are finalized.
• Translate customer priorities into specific opportunity strategies, technical investment recommendations, teaming approaches, and capture actionsSupport or lead capture activities when necessary, including win-strategy development, competitive analysis, teaming, customer engagement, solution shaping, reviews, and proposal transition.
• Identifypotential partners, subcontractors, prime contractors, and strategic relationships that improve Riverside’s ability to compete and grow.
• Coordinate with Riverside technical leaders to ensure that customer engagement is supported by credible technical solutions and differentiated capabilities
• Provide leadership with accuratepipeline forecasts, opportunity assessments, customer intelligence, and recommendations regarding investment and pursuit decisions.
• Helpestablishrepeatable business-development practices, customer-contact plans, and performance measures across the AFRL account

Qualifications

• 15+ years of business development, capture management, or program leadership experience within the Department of Defense (DoD) R&D sector, with a proven track recordof winning AFRL programs.
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Physical Sciences, Business, or a related technical field or 12 years with a Master's degree (Master’s degree preferred) or 8 years with a PhD.
• Deep understanding of AFRL organizational structures, procurement mechanisms (BAAs, OTAs, IDIQs, FAR-based contracts), and current S&T priorities.
• Strong understanding of how Air Force science and technology requirements, funding priorities, program transitions, and acquisition strategies are developed.
• Ability to converse fluently with senior engineers and scientists across technical areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Mission Planning, Radar, Electromagnetics, GEOINT/MASINT, Systems Engineering, or Modeling & Simulation.
• Ability to develop account strategies that connect customer needs, technical capabilities, acquisition pathways, and competitive positioning.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present clear recommendations to senior leadership.
• Ability to travel regularly to AFRL locations, customer meetings, industry events, and Riverside facilities.
• Active Secret clearance required.
• Based in or willing to relocate to Fairfax, VA

Preferred Qualification

• Top Secret/SCI strongly preferred.
• Established relationships across multiple AFRL technical directorates or locations rather than experience limited to a single laboratory organization.
• Experience growing research and development business involving one or more of the following areas: sensing, radar, electronic warfare, electromagnetic technologies, advanced materials, modeling and simulation, artificial intelligence, autonomy, software, space systemsor mission engineering.
• Experience developing relationships with program executive offices, operational commands, transition partners, and prime contractors that can move laboratory technologies into programs of record.
• Advanced degree in a technical, business, or national-security field.
• Experience navigating nonprofit or FFRDC/UARC-style business models and open innovation constructs.
• Proven ability to build multidisciplinary teams uniting industry, government, and university partners.
• Exceptional oral, written, and executive presentation skills.

Global Comp$000000_ $0000000 This represents the typical compensation range for this position based on experience, location and other factors.