Position Summary The Business Development Manager for SLED is the strategic owner of RS21's New Mexico SLED (State, Local, Education) market expansion and revenue growth. This role is designed for a business development professional with strong government procurement expertise, real-world experience closing complex multi-stakeholder government deals, and the entrepreneurial drive to build a market presence from the ground up. The primary mission is detecting market opportunities across New Mexico's state agencies, local governments, education systems, and public utilities and surfacing actionable approaches to close them. The SLED domain requires deep understanding of government procurement processes (RFPs, sole-source opportunities, state purchasing vehicles), budget cycles, compliance requirements, and the ability to translate RS21's data and analytics capabilities into business value for government buyers. This role owns the full sales cycle from qualification through proposal, negotiation, and close. The BD Manager works in daily collaboration with the Principal Software Systems Architect and Client Solutions Manager, who surface expansion opportunities from delivery-team visibility into active accounts. Together they define strategic account growth roadmaps, identify new SLED opportunities, and drive them through to signed work with rigor and ownership. They serve as the primary point of contact for RS21's existing New Mexico state and local government accounts, own renewals, amendments, scope expansions, and overall account health.
Key Responsibilities
Business Development and Pipeline
- Own the strategic focus on New Mexico SLED opportunity detection and capture, including net-new business across state agencies, counties, municipalities, public utilities, school districts, and health systems.
- Build and maintain a robust, qualified pipeline of SLED opportunities. Qualify against RS21's ideal customer profile, assess data maturity, budget, strategic fit, and decision-making timeline.
- Lead complex, multi-stakeholder government sales processes. Understand and navigate RFPs, RFIs, sole-source opportunities, state purchasing vehicles, approval cycles, budget constraints, and compliance requirements. Translate client needs into clear RS21 solutions.
- Own the full sales cycle end-to-end, from opportunity qualification through proposal development, pricing, negotiation, contracting, and closure. Document assumptions, deal structure, pricing rationale, and performance expectations in a form that supports business audit and review.
- Work directly with Principal Software Systems Architect and Client Solutions Manager to define the technical approach and solution design that supports SLED clients' decision-making and data readiness goals.
Account Management and Growth
- Serve as the primary strategic relationship owner for RS21's existing New Mexico state and local government accounts, with accountability for account health, retention, and revenue growth.
- Identify and drive land-and-expand motions within existing accounts. Surface expansion opportunities from Client Solutions Manager and delivery-team visibility into active engagements. Scope new projects, build proposals, negotiate terms, and drive closure with Principals.
- Lead account renewals and amendments proactively. Anticipate evolving client needs and proactively propose analytical approaches, capability investments, or scope expansions that deepen partnership and drive revenue.
- Maintain accurate account and opportunity tracking, forecast accuracy, and reporting. Document account strategy, growth plans, and assumptions in a form that supports business review and decision-making.
Market Strategy and Operations
- Become the resident expert on New Mexico SLED market dynamics, including key players, decision-makers, budget cycles, procurement trends, competitive landscape, and emerging opportunities.
- Build and maintain relationships with government decision-makers across state, local, and education sectors. Represent RS21 at industry conferences, community forums, government agency events, and advisory councils.
- Monitor and track state and local government RFPs and procurement opportunities across all agencies and municipalities. Contribute to go-to-market strategy for SLED and advise leadership on market opportunities, competitive threats, and capability gaps.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with Client Solutions Manager, Principals, Finance, Legal, and Delivery teams. Ensure alignment on resource planning, delivery readiness, and success metrics for all SLED engagements.
- Demonstrate resilience, entrepreneurial ownership, and sound judgment in navigating the complexity of government sales. Manage ambiguity, long sales cycles, and stakeholder dynamics with professionalism and strategic thinking.
Required Qualifications
- 3-7 years of professional business development, account management, or sales experience, with demonstrated expertise in government procurement or complex B2B enterprise sales.
- Proven track record of closing mid-to-large government or enterprise deals (500K-5M+ contract values). Evidence of success in qualifying, proposing, negotiating, and closing complex deals.
- Deep understanding of government procurement processes, including RFPs, RFIs, sole-source opportunities, state purchasing vehicles, budget cycles, and compliance requirements.
- Experience navigating complex, multi-stakeholder sales environments with executive-level buyers, CIOs, CFOs, procurement officers, and government decision-makers.
- Ability to translate technical and analytical solutions into clear business value for non-technical stakeholders. Strong communication skills (written and verbal).
- Demonstrated success building and growing strategic accounts over time, not just closing one-time deals. Evidence of land-and-expand or account expansion experience.
Preferred Qualifications
- Direct experience with SLED (State, Local, Education) procurement or federal/state government contracting.
- Background in data, analytics, AI, or technology services selling to government or public sector clients.
- New Mexico market knowledge or existing relationships with state/local agencies, universities, public health systems, or government decision-makers.
- Familiarity with GSA, state purchasing vehicles, cooperative procurement agreements, or other government contracting mechanisms.
- Entrepreneurial experience from startup or early-stage company environment, demonstrating comfort with ambiguity, ownership mentality, and scrappiness.
Success Metrics (Year 1)
- Pipeline: Build and maintain $3M-$5M qualified pipeline of SLED opportunities by month 6.
- New business: Close $1M-$1.5M in net-new SLED deals within year 1.
- Account growth: Identify and close $500K-$1M in expansion opportunities within existing state/local government accounts.
- Market presence: Become the resident expert on NM SLED market; establish relationships with 20+ government decision-makers across state, local, and education sectors.
- Forecast accuracy: Maintain accurate pipeline, forecast, and reporting. Hit monthly/quarterly targets and demonstrate disciplined sales process.