New Business Development Manager

New Business Development Manager

We are seeking a New Business Development Manager to drive growth for our investment casting foundry and rotational molding business. This role involves identifying new customers, expanding into new markets, and developing opportunities for a broader range of precision cast components and molded products.

• Identify and pursue new customers requiring precision investment castings.
• Develop target account lists across strategic markets such as aerospace, defense, energy, industrial equipment, medical, automotive, marine, pumps/valves, and general engineered components.
• Maintain an active pipeline of qualified opportunities and provide regular updates to leadership.
• Work with customers to understand part requirements, drawings, specifications, annual volumes, quality standards, and commercial expectations.
• Evaluate opportunities to diversify casting offerings by alloy, casting size, complexity, tolerance requirements, certification needs, or end-use market.
• Support technical discussions related to alloy selection, casting design, tooling, tolerances, surface finish, heat treatment, machining, inspection, and qualification requirements.
• Assist customers in converting machined, fabricated, forged, or welded components into investment castings where appropriate.
• Lead the commercial process for new business opportunities from initial inquiry through quote submission and award.
• Coordinate RFQs, NDAs, technical reviews, cost estimates, tooling quotes, lead times, and commercial proposals.
• Negotiate pricing, payment terms, tooling agreements, blanket orders, long-term agreements, and supply contracts.
• Track win/loss activity and use feedback to improve competitiveness.
• Serve as a bridge between the customer and internal teams during early-stage development.
• Ensure customer expectations are clearly communicated regarding lead times, quality requirements, documentation, and production readiness.
• Transition mature accounts to account management or customer service teams as appropriate while continuing to identify growth opportunities.

Skills and Abilities

• Strong ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, GD&T, specifications, and customer requirements.
• Proven track record of identifying, developing, and closing new business opportunities within manufacturing or engineered products.
• Excellent communication, presentation, negotiation, and relationship-building skills with technical and executive-level stakeholders.
• Ability to work cross-functionally with Engineering, Quality, Production, Estimating, Supply Chain, and Executive Leadership.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes, including investment casting, machining, fabrication, heat treatment, and finishing operations.
• Ability to evaluate component manufacturability and identify opportunities for design optimization and cost reduction.
• Experience managing long sales cycles involving multiple decision-makers and technical approvals.
• Strong commercial acumen with the ability to evaluate profitability, margins, pricing strategy, and business risk.
• Demonstrated success managing multiple RFQs, priorities, and customer opportunities simultaneously.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret sales data, market trends, forecasting, and pipeline metrics.
• Self-motivated with the ability to work independently while contributing effectively within a collaborative team environment.
• Excellent organizational and project management skills with strong attention to detail.
• Comfortable presenting technical and commercial proposals to customers, engineering teams, and senior leadership.
• Ability to travel domestically as needed to support customers, trade shows, supplier visits, and business development initiatives.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, or related field preferred.
• 5+ years of experience in business development, technical sales, account management, or commercial leadership in a manufacturing environment.
• Experience selling engineered components, castings, forgings, machined parts, fabricated assemblies, or similar industrial products.
• Willingness to travel approximately 10-20% of the time to customer sites, trade shows, and industry events.

Preferred

• Direct experience in investment casting, precision casting, foundry operations, or metal casting.
• Experience selling into aerospace, defense, medical, energy, pumps/valves, industrial machinery, or automotive markets.
• Understanding of industry certifications and customer requirements such as ISO 9001, AS9100, NADCAP, ITAR, PPAP, or customer-specific quality systems.
• Experience with CRM systems and formal sales pipeline management.
• Existing relationships with OEMs, Tier suppliers, engineering firms, or sourcing teams that purchase precision castings is a plus.