Title: Director of Commercial Strategy & Business Development (Geospatial Focus)
Location: Brooklyn HQ or Remote (US-based)
Reports to: C-Suite TBD
About Near Space Labs
Near Space Labs is transforming how Earth is observed with our proprietary stratospheric imaging platform. Delivering 7cm resolution data at unprecedented speed, frequency, and scale, we support industries like insurance, utilities, and emergency response with the freshest and most precise imagery on the market. Our stack spans custom-built flight systems, autonomous operations, and a fully automated imagery pipeline - making us the only full-stack commercial provider of this kind.
As we scale nationwide, we’re looking for a senior commercial leader to define and execute our strategy for new market verticals and partnerships.
The Role
We’re seeking a Director of Commercial Strategy & Business Development to lead our expansion into adjacent and emerging commercial markets. This is a highly cross-functional role at the intersection of GTM strategy, product innovation, and strategic partnerships - with a focus on unlocking large-scale geospatial use cases beyond our existing customer base.
You’ll identify where our data is uniquely valuable, validate those opportunities, and develop repeatable paths to market through direct channels and partnerships. You’ll be a key member of the commercial leadership team, owning the charter for discovering and scaling our next growth engines.
Responsibilities
● Market Strategy Leadership: Define and own Near Space Labs’ strategy for expanding into new commercial markets (e.g., logistics, infrastructure, ESG, government services, defense dual-use).
● Opportunity Development: Prioritize opportunities based on market size, differentiation, and technical feasibility. Build robust business cases for investment and execution.
● Partner Ecosystem Expansion: Source, negotiate, and scale strategic partnerships with analytics platforms, SaaS providers, and other downstream data users.
● Customer Discovery: Lead early customer conversations to refine use cases, test hypotheses, and build conviction in go-to-market approaches.
● Product Alignment: Partner with Product and Engineering teams to scope requirements and ensure new market insights inform roadmap decisions.
● Revenue Growth: Establish and grow a pipeline of high-value opportunities that can scale into material revenue streams.
● Thought Leadership: Represent the company in strategic customer and investor discussions. Present findings and strategies to the executive team and board.
Qualifications
● 10+ years of experience in product strategy, business development, or go-to-market roles within geospatial, analytics, or frontier tech
● Deep understanding of geospatial ecosystems - imagery providers, analytics platforms, and end-user workflows
● Track record of building commercial functions or scaling new product lines from 0 to 1
● Executive presence and proven ability to influence C-level stakeholders, customers, and internal teams
● Experience with API-based data products and platform business models
● Strong analytical and strategic planning skills; able to move from whiteboard to execution
● Comfortable operating in high-ambiguity, high-velocity startup environments
Nice to Have
● Familiarity with remote sensing technologies (optical, thermal, multispectral)
● Background in insurance tech, utility analytics, or other target markets
● Prior experience in a company scaling a dual-use or B2B SaaS + data model