Director of Business Development (Drone Communications)

Responsibilities

Lead Ubiik's drone-communications business in the U.S. market by securing design-ins and program wins within the defense sector. Build and maintain relationships with drone OEMs, system integrators, and defense program stakeholders to drive scalable revenue.

Requirements

Requires 8+ years of experience in business development or technical sales within the drone, RF, or defense technology sectors. Candidates must possess a strong technical background in RF/datalink systems and an established network within the U.S. defense and UAS ecosystem.

Skills

• Business development
• Program capture
• Defense industry
• Drone communications
• RF communications
• Technical sales
• UAS
• SDR
• Link budgets
• Frequency hopping
• EW considerations
• MAVLink
• ArduPilot
• PX4
• Strategic partnerships
• Government procurement

Benefits

• 401(k)
• Employee discounts
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Equity

About this role

Benefits:
401(k)
Employee discounts
Health insurance
Paid time off
Director of Business Development — Drone Communications (Defense & Commercial)
Reports To: CEO, Ubiik Inc.
Location: Remote (U.S.); candidates based near key customer locations, particularly in Florida, are preferred.
Employment Type: Full-Time, Director level

Company Introduction
Ubiik Inc. is a telecommunications technology company developing advanced wireless communication solutions for mission-critical and critical-infrastructure applications. In 2023, Ubiik acquired New Zealand-based Mimomax Wireless, expanding its portfolio of reliable wireless technologies.

Ubiik is now entering the drone communications market with uC2™, a mission-critical command-and-control (C2) link, and uVTX™, a high-performance, EW-resistant video transmission link — NDAA-compliant and built for contested environments.

Position Overview
We are seeking a senior, hands-on, technically proficient Director of Business Development to lead Ubiik's drone-communications business in the U.S. market. This is a technical business-development and program-capture role — not a traditional sales-management or marketing position. The successful candidate opens doors at drone OEMs, system integrators, and defense program stakeholders; leads technical discussions, demonstrations, and integration evaluations; and converts opportunities into OEM design-ins, program wins, purchase orders, and scalable revenue.

The initial mandate is DEFENSE: win design-ins and U.S./allied programs . (Commercial and enterprise markets are a future phase the company will address separately, as the products and compliance path mature.)

Key Responsibilities
Defense Business Development & Program Capture
Own U.S. defense business development end to end: identify, qualify, pursue, and close design-in and program opportunities across relevant initiatives — the Drone Dominance Program/Gauntlet, Replicator, SRR, CLS, LASSO, Blue UAS, and allied equivalents.
Build and sustain relationships with the Department of War (DoW), DIU, and key program offices to gain early insight into emerging and future uncrewed-systems programs — and help shape requirements before solicitations are released.
Develop and leverage relationships with prime contractors, UAS manufacturers, and system integrators to position uC2™/uVTX™ for program adoption.
Lead technical capture: align uC2/uVTX capabilities with program requirements, evaluation criteria, and scoring; navigate defense procurement, Other Transaction Agreements (OTAs), consortiums such as NSTXL/S2MARTS, and UAS acquisition ecosystems.
Secure reference designs and teaming arrangements with defense integrators so uC2/uVTX ride into multiple program bids and accelerate production adoption.
Customer & OEM Business Development
Continue and advance active customers from discussion through evaluation, design-in, purchase order, and production adoption — and keep building new ones.
Identify and develop opportunities with drone/UAV OEMs, autopilot providers, and platform integrators — including the Auterion, PX4, and ArduPilot ecosystems.
Lead technical selling engagements: product demonstrations, integration discussions, and evaluation-kit activities. (Provide hands-on integration support in the early phase; a dedicated Field Applications Engineer assumes this as volume grows.)
Work with OEM engineering teams to understand RF/datalink requirements and position uC2/uVTX for platform integration.
Serve as the voice of the customer to Engineering, Product, and R&D — translate field and program feedback into roadmap priorities (MAVLink, Secure, Agile, Swarm, Locate).
BD Strategy, Market Development & Industry Reputation
Develop and execute the U.S. market-entry and business-development strategy, prioritizing defense; identify and prioritize target customers, applications, and opportunities by market demand, competitive positioning, and product capability.
Build Ubiik's reputation in the drone-communications sector: represent Ubiik and build relationships at the right venues — AUVSI XPONENTIAL, SOF Week, Modern Day Marine, selected AUSA — and contribute technical thought leadership (with Marketing producing the supporting content and assets).
Develop strategic partnerships that expand market access and credibility, and maintain competitive awareness to sharpen positioning.

Qualifications

Required
8+ years in business development, technical sales, or program capture within drone/UAS, RF communications, datalink, aerospace, or defense technology.
Bachelor's in Electrical/Telecom/Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, Business, or related — or equivalent technical, military, or industry experience.
Proven success developing and closing opportunities with drone/UAS OEMs and U.S. defense customers (technical evaluations, design-ins, program capture, purchase orders, or production contracts).
Hands-on technical selling capability: solid grasp of SDR/RF, link budgets, frequency hopping, EW considerations, and UAV control protocols (CRSF, MAVLink, ArduPilot, PX4); able to lead demonstrations and technical integration discussions.
Established U.S. drone/defense network (OEMs, integrators, primes, program stakeholders — ideally including DoW/DIU relationships) that can be activated quickly.
Practical experience with U.S. defense capture and procurement: program qualification, teaming, and acquisition mechanisms such as OTAs and consortiums.
Self-driven and hands-on; strong communication and cross-functional skills; able to operate independently as Ubiik's senior U.S. representative, coordinate with Taiwan HQ, and travel extensively.

Preferred
Experience at an RF/datalink vendor, drone OEM, or defense-technology company.
Established relationships with DoD/DoW program offices and experience pursuing DDP/Gauntlet, Replicator, or Blue UAS.
Hands-on UAV/RF integration or field-applications experience; familiarity with FCC, CE/RED, ...

About Ubiik Mimomax

Appliances, Electrical, and Electronics Manufacturing · 11-50 employees · headquartered in Christchurch, Canterbury · founded 2007