Senior Director, Public Sector Business Development

About XTAM Public Sector

XTAM Public Sector is the federal, defense, and civilian arm of XTAM. We are SAM-registered and CAGE-coded, operating under a dedicated entity, with capability statements, branded outreach infrastructure, and contract vehicles in flight. We are currently delivering a multi-hundred-thousand-dollar subcontract to a prime on an applied AI program, running an active DARPA SBIR/STTR motion, and positioning a working V-JEPA video prediction model into a SOCOM Direct-to-Phase-II opportunity.

The technology is real. The relationships are warming. The credibility is in place. The constraint is BD muscle, and that is what we are hiring you to be.

About the role

This is the first senior sales hire for XTAM Public Sector. You will own the federal pipeline end to end — agencies, primes, partners, vehicles, teaming, and the bid table. You will inherit the existing momentum and you will build everything else from scratch. Sourcing, qualifying, shaping, teaming, and closing. Player first, with the room and authority to build a team behind you as the book grows.

This is not a chair-warming director seat at a prime. It is a senior, owner-operator role at a founder-led firm with deep technical credibility, real capability in the door, and uncapped earnings tied directly to what you bring in.

What you will own

• A federal pipeline across DoD, IC, civilian, prime sub, and SLED, focused on agencies and programs where XTAM's AI capability lands cleanly (DARPA, SOCOM, AFRL, CDAO, the IC, civilian modernization, and education-adjacent federal).
• Partner-level prime relationships: Booz Allen, Leidos, SAIC, CACI, Peraton, Arcfield, ManTech, GDIT, RTX, Lockheed, and the AI-forward boutiques. Both directions — who we sub to and who subs to us.
• A teaming and partnership playbook, including teaming agreements, joint pursuits, and prime-sub positioning.
• Vehicles strategy: which GWACs, IDIQs, and contract vehicles we pursue, how we get on them, and how we leverage what we already have.
• BD operations: CRM discipline, pipeline reviews, forecast accuracy, capture rhythm, and win/loss reviews.
• The conversion of our active SBIR/STTR pipeline into awarded Phase II and Phase III work.
• Expansion of the existing prime subcontract relationships into a sustained book of follow-on work.
• Industry presence at AFCEA, SOFIC, AUSA, DAFITC, AI-focused agency events, and the relevant industry days.
• Capture support to delivery leadership on shaped opportunities — you own the BD half of capture, technical leadership owns the proposal half.

Responsibilities

• Carry and own the federal revenue number across both prime and subcontract work.
• Build, qualify, and advance pipeline across all target markets.
• Own and grow partner-level prime relationships, including teaming agreements and reciprocal pursuits.
• Drive the SBIR/STTR motion to award, including agency engagement, white paper positioning, and capture coordination.
• Represent XTAM Public Sector at industry events, agency engagements, and prime relationship meetings.
• Maintain a clean CRM, accurate forecast, and weekly operational rhythm with leadership.
• Build out the BD team as pipeline justifies it — capture, proposal, BD ops, and additional sellers.
• Partner with delivery leadership on positioning, capability development, and capture strategy.

Required experience

• 15+ years in federal or public sector business development, with a clear, verifiable track record of carrying and hitting a federal revenue number.
• A real, working rolodex. Partner-level prime relationships and program office contacts that you can activate inside the first 90 days. We will reference-check this directly.
• Demonstrated track record of standing up or scaling a federal practice from early stage to material revenue (think growing a book from sub-$10M to $25M+).
• Direct experience across the full federal sales motion: agency engagement, prime sub positioning, teaming, capture, vehicles, and award.
• Comfort with the SBIR/STTR pathway, including DARPA and DoD component programs. We are mid-motion here and need someone who can run with it.
• Senior presence. Equally credible in front of a 3-star, an SES, a prime CTO, and a program manager.
• Active or recently active Secret clearance required; active TS/SCI strongly preferred given our SOCOM, DARPA, and IC targets.
• Operator mindset. You can build the muscle, not just inherit it. Player first, coach as the team grows.

Bonus

• Existing relationships at SOCOM, DARPA, AFRL, CDAO, or the IC.
• AI, ML, or applied data science domain familiarity. You do not need to be technical, but you should be able to credibly position computer vision, LLMs, retrieval systems, and agentic AI to a federal buyer.
• Prime-side experience — you have sat on the other side of the teaming table.
• Familiarity with AI-specific federal procurement pathways (Tradewinds, CDAO, JWCC, Project Maven lineage).
• DC/NOVA based.

Compensation

• Competitive base salary.
• Uncapped commission on closed federal revenue.
• Full benefits package.

Engagement details

• Full-time, permanent role.
• DC/NOVA strongly preferred; remote considered for the right candidate, with regular travel to DC, client sites, and industry events.
• Reports to the Managing General Partner.