Business Development Executive - Drones & UAV Solutions

Role & responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

1. Market Development

• Identify and develop new business opportunities in the drone/UAV market.
• Research emerging applications and market segments for drones.
• Identify potential customers, channel partners, system integrators and institutional clients.
• Develop territory-wise and sector-wise business opportunities.
• Monitor competitor products, pricing, applications and market activities.
• Maintain a database of prospective customers and opportunities.

2. Customer Segments

Develop business opportunities across sectors such as:

• Agriculture and precision farming
• Infrastructure inspection
• Power transmission and distribution
• Solar and renewable-energy projects
• Mining and quarrying
• Construction
• Land surveying and mapping
• GIS and geospatial services
• Telecommunications
• Railways and road infrastructure
• Disaster management
• Public safety and emergency response
• Logistics and delivery applications, where permitted
• Industrial inspection
• Environmental monitoring
• Government departments
• PSUs
• Defence and security-related applications, subject to applicable requirements
• Universities, research institutions and technology organisations

3. Lead Generation

• Generate leads through direct sales, industry networks, exhibitions, conferences, digital channels and referrals.
• Conduct market research to identify organisations with potential drone requirements.
• Make outbound calls, emails and professional approaches to prospective customers.
• Arrange meetings with decision-makers.
• Maintain a structured sales funnel and opportunity pipeline.

4. Customer Requirement Analysis

Understand the customer's operational requirement and translate it into a potential drone solution.

This may include understanding:

• Area to be surveyed
• Flight duration
• Payload requirements
• Camera/sensor requirements
• Accuracy requirements
• Data-processing requirements
• Operating environment
• Frequency of operations
• Required manpower
• Training requirements
• Maintenance requirements
• Software requirements
• Regulatory/compliance requirements
• Budget and commercial expectations

Coordinate with the technical team wherever detailed technical assessment is required.

5. Product Demonstrations

• Organise product demonstrations for prospective customers.
• Coordinate with technical and flight-operation teams for demonstrations.
• Present product capabilities, use cases and commercial benefits.
• Collect customer feedback and identify opportunities for product improvement.
• Convert successful demonstrations into commercial proposals and orders.

6. Proposal & Quotation Management

• Prepare business proposals, quotations and presentations.
• Coordinate with technical and finance teams to develop accurate commercial offers.
• Prepare scope-of-work documents.
• Support preparation of RFP/RFQ responses and tender documentation.
• Track proposal status and customer feedback.
• Negotiate commercial terms within approved company limits.

7. Government & Institutional Business

Support development of opportunities with:

• Central Government departments
• State Government departments
• Municipal bodies
• PSUs
• Government-supported institutions
• Universities and research institutions
• Defence-related organisations, where applicable
• Public infrastructure organisations

The candidate should develop an understanding of government procurement processes, tenders, GeM and other applicable procurement mechanisms.

8. Channel & Strategic Partnerships

Identify and develop relationships with:

• Drone distributors
• Dealers
• System integrators
• Survey companies
• GIS companies
• Agriculture companies
• Infrastructure companies
• Technology companies
• Sensor manufacturers
• Software companies
• Training organisations
• Service providers
• Research institutions

Explore opportunities for joint offerings, technology partnerships and long-term commercial agreements.

9. Sales Pipeline Management

Maintain an updated CRM/sales pipeline covering:

• Leads
• Qualified prospects
• Customer meetings
• Demonstrations
• Proposals
• Negotiations
• Purchase orders
• Contracts
• Repeat business

Provide weekly/monthly business-development reports to management.

Preferred candidate profile

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

The position will be evaluated on measurable business-development activities and outcomes, including:

• Number of qualified leads generated
• Number of customer meetings
• Number of product demonstrations
• Number of proposals submitted
• Value of active sales pipeline
• Number/value of purchase orders
• New customers acquired
• Revenue generated
• Repeat business
• Strategic partnerships developed
• Conversion rate of qualified opportunities
• Customer retention and satisfaction
• Accuracy and timeliness of CRM reporting

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business Administration, Marketing, Commerce, Management or a related field.
• MBA/PGDM in Marketing, Sales or Business Development will be an advantage.
• 25 years of experience in business development, B2B sales, technology sales or industrial sales preferred.
• Fresh graduates with strong technical understanding and excellent communication skills may also be considered for an entry-level position.

Preferred Industry Experience

Experience in any of the following industries will be advantageous:

• Drones/UAVs
• Aerospace
• Defence
• Electronics
• Robotics
• GIS/geospatial technology
• Surveying
• Agriculture technology
• Industrial automation
• IoT
• AI/Computer Vision
• Infrastructure technology
• Engineering products
• Industrial equipment

Technical Understanding

The candidate should have a basic understanding of:

• UAV/drone platforms
• Multirotor and fixed-wing drones
• Payloads and sensors
• RGB/thermal/multispectral cameras
• LiDAR, where applicable
• Mapping and surveying
• Photogrammetry
• Drone data and analytics
• Battery and flight-time considerations
• Remote pilot operations
• Drone software and mission planning
• Basic drone regulations and compliance requirements

Deep technical expertise is not mandatory, but the candidate must be capable of understanding customer requirements and communicating effectively with technical teams.

Essential Skills

• Excellent communication skills
• B2B sales skills
• Lead generation
• Customer relationship management
• Negotiation
• Presentation skills
• Proposal preparation
• Market research
• Business networking
• Sales forecasting
• CRM management
• Strong follow-up ability
• Ability to work independently
• Willingness to travel extensively for customer meetings and demonstrations

Personal Attributes

The ideal candidate should be:

• Result-oriented
• Self-motivated
• Professionally persistent
• Customer-focused
• Comfortable meeting senior decision-makers
• Curious about emerging technologies
• Willing to travel
• Capable of working in a start-up/entrepreneurial environment
• Strong in relationship building
• Ethical and transparent in business dealings

Perks and benefits

A performance-linked incentive may be provided based on:

• Revenue generated
• New customers acquired
• Qualified pipeline
• Successful conversion of opportunities
• Strategic accounts developed