Director of Product Sales and Commercialization
EXPANSIA · Pax River, MD · hybrid
USD 220,000 to 270,000 · period not stated
Start Date: January 2027
JHNA, CTSi, and EXPANSIA have come together to form a Defense Technology platform named Aether Aerospace focused on delivering high-impact technologies, technology-enabled services and advanced manufacturing solutions to the U.S. Department of Defense and related national security customers. Backed by Falfurrias Management Partners, the platform brings together deep domain expertise across Army, Navy, and Air Force and Space Force programs, digital engineering, systems integration, and specialized manufacturing capabilities.
The combined organization operates as a multi-entity aerospace and defense technology and tech-enabled services and manufacturing enterprise positioned for scalable growth, operational excellence, and long-term value creation.
OVERVIEW
Full-time/Permanent Employee
Location: Remote/Hybrid (Candidate must be within a commutable distance of the Patuxent River, MD area.)
Aether Aerospace is seeking a Director of Product Sales & Commercialization to lead sales, market development, and commercialization across Aether's portfolio of established products, differentiated technologies, and intellectual property (IP). The position will be responsible for driving product revenue growth and expanding market adoption across Aether's product portfolio.
Working closely with Growth, Product, Technology, Engineering, Manufacturing, and business unit leadership, the Director will develop and execute strategies to expand sales of existing products, identify new customers and applications, establish repeatable sales channels, and transition emerging technologies into market-ready, revenue-generating offerings.
The successful candidate will combine aerospace and defense product sales experience with an understanding of technology commercialization, government acquisition, and solution selling. This is a highly customer-facing position requiring the ability to develop customer relationships, communicate differentiated product value, establish acquisition pathways, and convert customer demand into funded orders, contracts, and follow-on business.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Develop and execute sales and commercialization strategies across Aether's established products, differentiated technologies, and IP offerings.
- Drive sales growth for existing products by identifying new customers, markets, applications, and opportunities for repeat or follow-on orders.
- Develop commercialization strategies for emerging technologies, including product positioning, market readiness, customer validation, and transition to repeatable sales.
- Establish product-specific go-to-market plans addressing target customers, market demand, competitive positioning, pricing approaches, sales channels, and revenue opportunities.
- Work with Product, Engineering, and Manufacturing leadership to understand product capabilities, production readiness, delivery constraints, and opportunities to scale sales.
- Provide market and customer input to product roadmaps, investment priorities, and decisions regarding product development and commercialization.
- Identify, develop, and qualify customer opportunities across the Department of Defense, defense industry primes, OEMs, and other relevant markets.
- Build relationships with Government program offices, acquisition organizations, technical decision-makers, and industry partners to understand mission requirements, funding priorities, and procurement approaches.
- Lead customer-facing product sales engagements, including capability discussions, demonstrations, technical interchange meetings, and commercialization discussions.
- Develop compelling product value propositions that communicate mission benefits, integration advantages, cost/schedule considerations, and differentiation from competing solutions.
- Build and manage a qualified sales pipeline across Aether's established products, differentiated technologies, and emerging IP offerings.
- Lead the development and advancement of product sales opportunities, including direct sales, repeat orders, follow-on contracts, product integration, and technology commercialization.
- Lead commercial customer engagements, including product discussions, quotation development, pricing coordination, and order development, in collaboration with Finance, Contracts, and applicable business units.
- Partner with Capture Leads and business unit leadership on complex Government pursuits requiring formal capture strategies, proposals, teaming, or acquisition planning.
- Coordinate with Product, Engineering, and Manufacturing to validate product availability, technical applicability, production capacity, cost, and delivery commitments.
- Maintain visibility into product sales opportunities, bookings, forecasts, and customer demand through Aether's established CRM and Growth processes.
- Identify and develop executable acquisition strategies that enable Government and industry customers to procure Aether's products and differentiated solutions.
- Work with Growth, Contracts, and business unit leadership to evaluate applicable acquisition pathways, including SBIR Phase III authority, IDIQ task orders, GSA MAS, Other Transaction Authority (OTA), and other appropriate contracting mechanisms.
- Develop product-specific sales and pricing strategies, including direct sales, repeat orders, licensing where applicable, and other procurement models, in coordination with Product, Finance, and Contracts.
- Identify opportunities for sole-source follow-on business where appropriate, repeat product orders, additional funded applications, and expanded adoption of existing Aether offerings.
- Coordinate with strategic partners, OEMs, and prime contractors to establish teaming, integration, and distribution approaches that expand market access.
- Partner with Communications/Marketing and Product leadership to develop and maintain an enterprise product catalog covering established products, differentiated solutions, and commercializable IP, along with supporting sales collateral, capability briefs, demonstration materials, and customer-facing product information.
- Establish consistent product positioning, messaging, and value propositions aligned with target customer requirements and mission applications.
- Identify appropriate industry events, customer demonstrations, technical forums, and targeted marketing activities that support product commercialization and qualified opportunity development.
- Provide market intelligence, competitive insights, and customer feedback to inform product marketing priorities and sales campaigns.
- Work closely with Product, Engineering, Manufacturing, and Operations leadership to ensure proposed product sales and applications are technically feasible, commercially supportable, and aligned with approved product capabilities, production capacity, and delivery requirements.
- Coordinate with Product Leadership, Solutions Engineering and other technical subject-matter experts to support customer discovery, demonstrations, solution development, and technical qualification.
- Collaborate with Capture Leads to ensure product sales activities are integrated with established customer relationships, capture strategies, and proposal processes.
- Provide Growth leadership with visibility into product market opportunities, commercialization progress, customer demand, and barriers to product adoption.
KEY QUALIFICATIONS:
- Demonstrated experience selling technical products, hardware, software, or integrated solutions to Government customers, defense contractors, OEMs, or other aerospace and defense markets.
- Strong understanding of DoD acquisition processes, procurement pathways, funding environments, and defense contracting practices.
- Experience translating complex technical capabilities into customer value propositions, sales strategies, and executable business opportunities.
- Demonstrated ability to develop customer relationships, identify requirements, qualify