Vice President of Business Development

El Segundo, California, United States

Company Overview:
Second Order Effects (SOE) is an engineering consulting firm that specializes in electrical, electromechanical, and embedded systems. Founded in 2016, SOE has grown from a 3-person operation to a team of over 40 members across offices in El Segundo, California and Redmond, Washington. Over the last nine years, we have completed over 250 projects and serviced over 100 different customers. Our designs control rocket engines, manage satellite communications, instrument fusion reactors, and are enjoyed by consumers around the world. The only thing we won’t build are weapons.

Second Order Effects practices a “first principles approach” to technical problems. We break down complex challenges to their most fundamental components. This enables us to find solutions across industries, use cases, and engineering functions. 

As an engineering consulting firm, we focus on solving the right problems and building teams to take them on. Going beyond just resolving tough issues, we want to answer impactful questions. 

How do we do this? We empower others, build the right thing, lead with curiosity, and own the outcome. Learn more at soeffects.com!

Job Overview:
The Vice President of Business Development (“VP of BD”) is responsible for shaping and executing the company’s revenue sustainment and growth strategy. This role reports directly to the CEO and owns the full business development lifecycle, from market strategy and opportunity qualification through deal execution. This requires the VP of BD to lead, hire, and train a business development team to meet company goals and objectives. This role partners closely with all teams and areas of SOE especially engineering leadership to ensure commercial decisions align with SOE values, reinforce technical excellence, and generate impactful outcomes.

What You Will Do:

  • Define and execute a business development strategy focused on large, complex, multi-year engineering and R&D engagements, while bringing in smaller projects and opportunities that align with SOE’s goals
  • Implement and improve business development processes, including a rigorous deal and opportunity qualification framework so that SOE can better prioritize opportunities and focus efforts
  • Partner with engineering and finance to shape offerings, pricing models, and technical narratives while developing repeatable capture and account expansion motions for long-cycle, high-credibility sales
  • Personally lead, negotiate, and close SOE’s highest-complexity opportunities, owning all aspects of the engagement from deal economics and margin discipline to logistics
  • Build, train, and mentor a high-performing business development team capable of independently owning complex opportunities end-to-end, from discovery and qualification through deal shaping and technical value articulation
  • Drive individual and team accountability via core business development key performance indicators (“KPIs”), including revenue growth, time-to-close, and gross margin
  • Create clear feedback loops across sales, leadership, and engineering execution to improve execution and outcomes 
  • Develop strategic partnerships that expand deal size, scope, and long-term value

What You Will Need: 

  • Bachelor's degree in a technical or business-related field (Engineering, Business, Finance, Mathematics, etc.)
  • 10+ years of business development and sales experiences in at least one highly regulated industry, such as aerospace, defense, medical, or energy
  • Proven experience closing $1M–$10M+ complex engineering, R&D, or technical services deals that require complex, multi-year, multi-workstream contracts 
  • Demonstrated ability to lead high-performing sales and capture teams with a high sense of ownership and accountability for results
  • Deep expertise in consultative and strategic selling methodologies and their applicability
  • Strong financial literacy and the ability to evaluate technical tradeoffs and align commercial terms with engineering realities
  • Fluency in business development pipeline management, forecasting, and CRM-based performance tracking and information management
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills with experience presenting to senior executives and customers

What Would Be Useful:

  • Technical foundation in engineering, through education and/or prior individual contributor experience 
  • Demonstrated ability to sell into government and multiple highly regulated industries 
  • Strong financial modeling skills for services economics, pricing, and margin analysis
  • Experience leading business development efforts in commercial, civil, and/or new space markets
  • Prior experience working with US government program offices and a strong understanding of US government contracting methods and practices

Benefits:

  • Compensation range of $229,500-$280,500 + equity incentive plan
  • Flexible work hours and work from home policy 
  • 100% employer-paid health insurance (Medical, Dental, Vision) for employees + 50% dependent coverage
  • Unlimited paid time off policy, 11x paid company holidays, 12x paid sick days
  • 401(k) retirement account and employer matching (Safe Harbor 4%)
  • Generous paid parental leave
  • Relocation assistance available if 50+ miles away from the office
  • Electric Vehicle (EV) charging ports
  • Catered lunches, snacks, and accessible kitchen

Additional Requirements:

  • Applicant must be willing to work 40 hours a week on-site in El Segundo, California, USA
  • Applicant must be eligible to work on export controlled projects
  • Job Type: Full-time (Salary)

Export Control Requirements:
To conform with U.S. Government export control regulations, including the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide sponsorship at this time.

If you don’t meet 100% of the preferred skills and experience, we encourage you to still apply!
Second Order Effects is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with SOE is governed on the basis of excellence and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status.

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