Business Development Associate

Skyward Wildfire Technologies is building the next generation of wildfire mitigation solutions. Leveraging proprietary lightning forecasting and prevention technologies, our mission is to help governments, utilities, and private‑sector partners anticipate, mitigate, and prevent lightning-driven risks. We operate at the intersection of advanced science, technology, and urgent global need.
The opportunitySkyward is building a fundamentally different way to fight wildfire.
Over the past three years, we have moved from asking “Can we do this?” to proving we can and building statistical evidence across geographies and approaches that our AI forecasting and wildfire suppression capabilities work. Now comes the next challenge: turning that proof into transformative, scalable solutions that can fundamentally change how wildfire is managed.
Skyward is a small but mighty team spanning AI, software, operations, business development, and partnerships, supported by an exceptional network of partners, advisors, investors, and board members. We have strong government leadership and partnerships, great early customer engagement, and the capital to execute.
Skyward develops first-of-its-kind wildfire prevention and prediction technologies. Bringing these offerings to market means helping customers understand a new approach, building support across multiple stakeholders, and navigating long funding and procurement cycles.
We are looking for a hands‑on Business Development Associate to help turn customer interest into presentations, pilots, proposals, procurement steps, and contracts. You will play a central role in government pursuits across Canada and the U.S. and work with executive leadership to explore new private‑sector opportunities. This is an individual contributor role and a chance to help create a world‑first category at a formative stage.
You will report to the Director of Business Development and Government Partnerships, who leads priority government relationships and major deals. You will also work with the incoming Chief Commercial Officer, who will lead broader commercial strategy and offerings. As you learn the business, you will begin to own selected customer opportunities.
What you’ll do
Present to customers.
Build and deliver tailored presentations for audiences ranging from senior government decision makers and operational wildfire staff to private‑sector customers. Explain a complex offering clearly, handle questions, and earn the next conversation.
Create useful sales materials.
Draft and tailor decks, one‑pagers, and other customer materials using approved claims and input from technical and operational teams.
Move opportunities forward.
Prepare stakeholder briefs and meeting objectives;
draft customer communications;
coordinate internal actions;
and follow through until agreed next steps are complete.
Drive proposal execution.
Draft and coordinate proposals, pilot scopes, and RFP/RFQ responses using approved commercial, technical, operational, and financial inputs. Manage reviews and deadlines, and surface missing inputs early.
Explore private‑sector opportunities.
Work hand in hand with executive leadership to identify promising customers and use cases, help shape and test how Skyward’s offerings meet their needs, and potentially lead selected opportunities.
Keep the pipeline useful.
Maintain clear opportunity records, including decision makers, deal owners, next actions, dates, risks, and evidence needed for the weekly forecast.
Make conferences count.
Help shape booth concepts, messaging, and visual materials;
schedule priority meetings;
brief attendees;
support selected events;
and manage follow‑up afterward.
Grow into account ownership.
Develop relationships with operational users and take responsibility for a selected set of suitable opportunities as your knowledge and judgment grow.
What you bring
Experience personally advancing complex, multi‑stakeholder sales opportunities with long decision cycles. You are comfortable selling a concept that requires customer education and internal alignment.
A record of creating and delivering customer presentations, adapting your message to different audiences, and securing meaningful follow‑up.
Hands‑on experience personally drafting customer proposals. Experience with formal RFP or RFQ responses is strongly preferred.
Strong writing, organization, and judgment. You follow through without prompting and know when to bring a decision to the right person.
An eye for clear, persuasive visual communication—whether in a presentation, a one‑pager, or a conference booth—and the ability to turn an idea into a usable concept with colleagues or vendors.
Proficiency with Google Workspace and comfort creating presentations and materials in tools such as Google Slides, PowerPoint, or Canva. We care more about the quality of your work than your choice of software.
Good old‑fashioned startup grit: you roll up your sleeves, take ownership, and get things done.
Experience selling to government or large enterprise customers—especially complex products with long procurement cycles—is preferred. Wildfire, defence, aviation, or software experience would also be valuable.
What success looks likeIn the first 90 days, priority opportunities have clear next steps and dependable follow‑up. You have created and delivered customer presentations, drafted a substantive proposal, and taken ownership of follow‑up on selected opportunities. Sales materials are ready when needed, missing inputs are visible early enough to resolve them, and you have helped leadership define next steps for promising private‑sector opportunities.
Hiring process
1. Application.
Submit a resume and a short cover letter describing your experience with complex sales, customer presentations, and proposals you have personally developed.
2. Initial interview.
Meet with the Director of Business Development and Government Partnerships to discuss your experience, examples of work you have owned, and how you move opportunities forward.
3. Finalist presentation.
Selected candidates will receive the same customer brief and prepare a short proposal presentation. They will deliver it as though speaking to a prospective wildfire customer, followed by questions from the hiring team.
4. Executive interviews.
Finalists will meet with members of the executive team and the CEO to discuss judgment, collaboration, and fit with the role.
5. References and decision.
We will complete reference checks and make a hiring decision.
Location and compensationThis is a full‑time role based in Vancouver, British Columbia, with regular work from our office and occasional travel for customer meetings and selected conferences.
The annual base salary is CAD 80,000–110,000, depending on experience, plus a performance‑based bonus.
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