Sales Operations Manager

Position Summary

Blue Ops is seeking a Manager of Sales Operations to build and manage the sales infrastructure required to support the rapid growth of Red Cat's autonomous maritime business.

Reporting to the Senior Director of Sales, the Manager of Sales Operations will be responsible for creating the processes, systems, reporting, forecasting and operating discipline that allow the Blue Ops sales team to scale efficiently and convert customer interest into revenue.

This individual will serve as the operational backbone of the sales organization—connecting Sales with Marketing, Contracts, Finance, Production and other Blue Ops and Red Cat functions to ensure opportunities move efficiently from initial customer engagement through proposal, contracting, delivery and revenue recognition.

A particularly important component of the role will be serving as the primary Sales Operations liaison to Red Cat's Contracts and government-contracting organization.  The Manager of Sales Operations will not replace the Contracts team or act as contracting authority; rather, this role will ensure that the Blue Ops sales organization understands, anticipates and satisfies the operational requirements necessary to compete for and execute government business.

This is a highly collaborative, hands-on role suited for an experienced sales-operations professional who is comfortable building structure inside a rapidly scaling organization.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Sales Operations & Process

• Partner closely with the Senior Director of Sales to translate Blue Ops revenue objectives into a disciplined sales operating plan.
• Design, implement and continuously improve the Blue Ops sales process from lead generation through customer engagement, proposal, contracting, delivery and follow-up.
• Establish clear sales stages, qualification standards, probability criteria, ownership and accountability throughout the pipeline.
• Create scalable processes for managing government, defense, international and commercial opportunities.
• Build and maintain sales policies, SOPs and operating standards.
• Coordinate sales activity across multiple geographic markets and customer segments.
• Identify operational bottlenecks that prevent Sales personnel from spending time on customer-facing and revenue-generating activity.
• Provide the administrative and operational infrastructure necessary for the sales team to operate efficiently as Blue Ops scales.

Pipeline, Forecasting & Revenue Visibility

• Own the integrity and operating discipline of the Blue Ops sales pipeline.
• Work with Sales leadership to maintain accurate forecasts by customer, program, probability, timing and anticipated revenue.
• Develop weekly and monthly pipeline and forecast reporting for Blue Ops leadership.
• Track opportunities from initial engagement through contract award, delivery and revenue.
• Identify pipeline risks, stalled opportunities and required leadership actions.
• Coordinate sales forecasts with Production and Finance to improve production planning, inventory decisions, headcount planning and cash forecasting.
• Provide leadership with visibility into expected bookings, backlog, deliveries and revenue.
• Establish measurable KPIs for sales activity, pipeline conversion, forecast accuracy and revenue performance.

CRM Ownership & Sales Technology

• Serve as the primary business owner and administrator for Blue Ops' CRM and sales technology environment.
• Establish CRM standards for opportunity creation, account ownership, contact management, activity tracking and pipeline reporting.
• Ensure consistent CRM adoption and data quality across the sales organization.
• Develop dashboards and executive reporting that provide real-time visibility into customer activity and sales performance.
• Create automated workflows for lead assignment, opportunity follow-up, customer engagement and internal notifications.
• Partner with Marketing to ensure leads generated through digital activity, trade shows, demonstrations and campaigns are captured, assigned and followed through to conversion.
• Evaluate technologies, integrations and AI-enabled tools that can improve sales productivity and reduce administrative workload.

Government Contracting & Contracts Liaison

• Serve as the primary operational link between Blue Ops Sales and Red Cat's Contracts and government-contracting teams.
• Responsibilities include:
  • Coordinate with Contracts early in the opportunity lifecycle to identify contracting requirements and appropriate acquisition pathways.
  • Maintain visibility into RFIs, RFQs, RFPs, IDIQ opportunities, task orders, solicitations and other government procurement activity relevant to Blue Ops.
  • Coordinate information and documentation required from Sales, Engineering, Production and other Blue Ops teams in support of government proposals.
  • Track proposal deadlines, customer requirements, submissions, awards, modifications and contract actions.
  • Ensure awarded opportunities transition cleanly from Sales into contract execution and delivery.
  • Maintain visibility into contract deliverables, customer acceptance requirements, invoicing triggers and other milestones that affect revenue.
  • Partner with Finance and Contracts to align bookings, backlog, delivery expectations and revenue forecasts.
  • Help educate the Blue Ops sales organization on Red Cat's internal contracting processes and government-business requirements.
  • Develop an efficient working relationship between Blue Ops' fast-moving sales organization and the governance required of a publicly traded defense contractor.
• The Manager of Sales Operations does not replace Red Cat Contracts, Legal or Compliance and will not hold independent contracting authority.

Sales & Marketing Integration

• Work closely with Marketing to develop an integrated Sales and Marketing operating process.
• Develop pre-event customer targeting and outreach plans for trade shows, military exercises and demonstrations.
• Establish lead capture, qualification, assignment and follow-up processes for every major event.
• Track event-generated opportunities through the pipeline to measure conversion and return on investment.
• Coordinate account-based marketing efforts against priority government and international customers.
• Develop processes that ensure Marketing activity supports specific sales objectives rather than operating independently from the sales pipeline.

Demonstrations, Exercises & Customer Engagement

• Blue Ops' sales model relies heavily on live demonstrations, exercises and operational testing.
• The Manager of Sales Operations will:
  • Maintain visibility into upcoming demonstrations, exercises, trade shows and customer engagements.
  • Coordinate Sales participation and priority customer attendance.
  • Ensure customer opportunities generated through demonstrations are captured and assigned.
  • Establish structured pre-event and post-event sales processes.
  • Coordinate with Military Operations, Marine Operations and Technology Operations when customer engagements require operational support.
  • Track resulting opportunities, next actions and conversion.

Sales Administration

• Establish the administrative processes necessary to support a growing national and international sales organization.
• Coordinate customer documentation, presentations, proposal materials and internal approvals.
• Maintain sales calendars, customer action items and important opportunity deadlines.
• Support onboarding and training of new sales personnel.
• Develop CRM and sales-process training.
• Help establish the future Sales Administrator/Coordinator function as sales volume increases.
• Maintain consistent sales documentation and organizational standards.

Reporting & Business Intelligence

• Develop executive dashboards covering:
  • Pipeline value and probability
  • Bookings
  • Backlog
  • Forecasted revenue
  • Customer activity
  • Opportunity aging
  • Conversion
  • Sales performance
  • Event-generated opportunities and Contract status
• Analyze sales and customer data to identify emerging opportunities, weaknesses and market trends.
• Translate sales data into actionable recommendations for the Senior Director of Sales and President.
• Develop monthly and quarterly sales operating reviews.

AI & Sales Productivity

• Blue Ops intends to use AI aggressively to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its commercial organization.
• The Manager of Sales Operations will work with Sales leadership and Blue Ops' AI resources to:
• Automate repetitive sales-administration tasks.
• Improve CRM data capture and maintenance.
• Assist with customer research and account intelligence.
• Improve proposal preparation and sales documentation.
• Summarize customer meetings and automatically generate follow-up actions.
• Improve pipeline analysis and forecasting.
• Capture and organize institutional knowledge.
• Reduce administrative workload so Sales personnel can spend more time with customers.

Key Working Relationships

• The Manager of Sales Operations will work closely with:
• Senior Director of Sales / Sales Team– primary operating partners
• President, Blue Ops – executive reporting and revenue visibility
• Marketing – lead generation, campaigns and events
• Red Cat Contracts / Government Contracting – proposals, awards and contract execution
• Finance – forecasting, backlog, revenue and invoicing
• Production – demand and delivery forecasting
• Military Operations – exercises and demonstrations
• Marine Operations – customer demonstrations and vessel availability
• Technology Operations – customer technical requirements and demonstrations

Required Qualifications

• Significant experience in Sales Operations, Commercial Operations or Revenue     Operations.
• Demonstrated experience supporting a complex, high-value sales organization.
• Strong CRM administration, governance and reporting experience.
• Experience developing sales forecasts, dashboards and performance reporting.
• Strong understanding of pipeline management, lead management and sales-process development.
• Experience managing budgets and supporting annual and multi-year planning.
• Demonstrated ability to work across Sales, Marketing, Finance and operational teams.
• Strong analytical and organizational skills.
• Ability to manage multiple high-priority opportunities and deadlines simultaneously.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• High degree of personal accountability and follow-through.
• Comfortable operating in a rapidly growing and evolving organization

Additional Desired Qualifications

• Marine, defense, aerospace or advanced-manufacturing experience.
• Experience working with government contracting or government customers.
• Salesforce administration and governance experience.
• Experience with high-value capital-equipment sales.
• Experience supporting geographically distributed sales organizations.
• Familiarity with RFIs, RFPs, IDIQs, task orders and federal procurement.
• Experience developing sales organizations during periods of rapid growth.

Physical Requirements and Working Conditions

• Must be able to walk, stand, and navigate large indoor and outdoor facilities for extended periods of time.
• Ability to lift, carry, and move materials and equipment weighing up to 25 lbs on a regular basis.
• Use of personal protective equipment (PPE) may be required in designated areas or when performing specific tasks, in accordance with safety protocols and company policy.
• May be required to climb ladders, stoop, kneel, or crouch during inspections, maintenance walk-throughs, or emergency response situations.
• Regular exposure to facility operations including noise, dust, temperature fluctuations, and industrial equipment.
• Occasional off-hours or weekend work required for emergency facility responses or projects as needed
• Requires frequent use of a computer and other standard office equipment for documentation, communication, and coordination tasks.

Background Check

This position will require successfully completing a post-offer background check. Qualified candidates with a criminal history will be considered and are not automatically disqualified, consistent with federal and state law.

EEO and ITAR/EAR Work Authorization Disclosure

Red Cat Holdings provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This position requires direct or indirect access to hardware, software, technology or technical data controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). Successful candidates for positions subject to ITAR/EAR restrictions must provide proof of U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Residence and must not require sponsorship for export-restricted work authorization.

E-Verify

The company participates E-Verify ensure eligibility for employment and compliance with Right to Work rules.

Compensation: Base pay, plus generous annual equity package and potential bonuses.