Sr Dir Business Development - 90397545 - Washington/Philadelphia/Wilmington/New York
Washington, DC, US, 20001
Your success is a train ride away!
As we move America’s workforce toward the future, Amtrak connects businesses and communities across the country. We employ more than 20,000 diverse, energetic professionals in a variety of career fields throughout the United States. The safety of our passengers, our employees, the public and our operating environment is our priority, and the success of our railroad is due to our employees.
Are you ready to join our team?
Our values of ‘Do the Right Thing, Excel Together and Put Customers First’ are at the heart of what matters most to us, and our Core Capabilities, ‘Building Trust, Accountability, Effective Communication, Customer Focus, and Proactive Safety & Security’ are what every employee needs to know and do to be most impactful at Amtrak. By living the Amtrak values, focusing on our capabilities, and actively embracing and fostering diverse ideas, backgrounds, and perspectives, together we will honor our past and make Amtrak a company of the future.
This position can be located in either Washington DC, Philadelphia PA, Wilmington DE, or New York NY.
SUMMARY OF DUTIES:
The Sr Director and Head of the Business Development Office will spearhead Amtrak’s Business Development (BD) Office, proactively identifying, structuring, and executing private partnership opportunities that unlock non-core revenue, reduce operating costs, or enable flexible capital funding.
This role will be responsible for delivering a partnership portfolio that targets at least $10M in incremental revenue in Year One, with a goal of scaling significantly to accelerate Amtrak’s progress towards operational profitability.
This role involves leading the deal-making process from initial market engagement through contract execution, managing relationships with prospective private partners, coordinating across internal functions, briefing the executive team, and engaging external stakeholders. Ongoing operational management of finalized partnerships is owned by relevant functional teams and falls outside the scope of this role.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
The Sr Director , Head of the BD Office is responsible for leading end-to-end oversight of the deal-making process, including:
• Pipeline management and team resourcing
o Owns and actively manages full partnership pipeline, filtering hundreds of early-stage ideas through a structured process (diligence, partner engagement, internal approvals) to yield 5-20 high-impact signed partnerships annually.
o Prioritizes and shortlists pipeline of partnership opportunities, allocating team capacity to maximize impact and delivery.
o Integrates Amtrak’s Five Year Plan and additional strategic objectives into prioritization of partnerships
• Opportunity identification:
o Oversees identification of hundreds of potential partnership opportunities that unlock non-core revenue, reduce operating costs, or enable flexible capital funding, including constant market scanning and collecting ideas across the Amtrak organization.
o Performs preliminary assessment of potential impact, strategic fit, and market viability.
• Deal structuring:
o Along with team, develops potential deal structures, including outlining desired partner capabilities and identifying potential risks.
o Oversees comprehensive financial modeling of analyst team, including rigorous sensitivity analyses and scenario planning, to assess both estimated financial impact and risk exposure.
• Go-to-market strategy and execution:
o Leads the development and execution of go-to-market strategies
o Oversees the development of compelling engagement and pitch materials to communicate partnership opportunities effectively.
o Conducts market reachouts and integrates market feedback to refine partnership strategies.
o Manages the end-to-end Requests for Information (RFIs) process, including development of materials, coordination across internal functions, and timely responses.
o Manages the end-to-end Request for Proposal (RFP) process, including development of materials, selection of evaluation criteria, coordination across internal function, and timely engagement with prospective partners.
o Drives direct deal negotiations with prospective partners, aligning on value propositions, pricing, and contract terms.
• Partnership evaluation and partner selection:
o Defines evaluation criteria for external proposals and partners.
o Leads evaluation of external proposals and partners.
o Owns final partner recommendation and selection.
o Facilitates finalization of partnerships up to contract execution, coordinating across external partners, Legal functions, and any additional stakeholders.
The Sr Director , Head of the BD Office owns definition and reporting of success metrics for the BD Office as well as definition of success metrics for specific partnerships:
• Defines and tracks Business Development Office KPIs and performance targets, including incremental revenue, incremental cost savings, number of opportunities undergone full due diligence, speed to execution, and stakeholder engagement.
• In partnership with relevant functional teams, establishes KPIs and performance targets for specific partnerships and ownership of tracking over the course of the partnership.
• Aligns all metrics with Amtrak’s Five Year Plan, progress towards operational profitability, and additional strategic priorities; regularly reports on progress to executive leadership, highlighting contributions to these goals.
The Sr Director , Head of the BD Office is responsible for coordination across Amtrak’s internal functions to leverage internal expertise, align on shared accountabilities, and engage functional owners in development of partnerships they will ultimately manage, including:
• Facilitates recurring and ad hoc meetings to align internal stakeholders, track progress, and ensure timely input.
• Coordinates with Legal to ensure compliance and support contract development and negotiation.
• Collaborates with Finance to assess financial impact and support partnership modeling.
• Involves functional owners (e.g. Commercial, Capital Delivery) early in the process, securing input on decision rights and long-term responsibilities.
• Oversees smooth handoff of finalized partnerships to relevant owners for implementation and ongoing management.
The Sr Director , Head of the BD Office also owns executive-level briefings and strategic recommendations on partnerships, including:
• Reports directly to the CTO, providing regular updates on partnership progress and seeking help on any issues and blockers.
• Briefs senior executives and the Board on key partnership milestones, risks, and projected outcomes; secures approval for key decisions.
The Sr Director , Head of the BD Office leads external stakeholder engagement, including:
• Actively engages external stakeholders affected by specific partnerships, e.g. state transportation agencies, FRA.
• Prepares briefings as needed on pursued partnerships and projected outcomes for external oversight organizations, including OIG, FRA, and Congress.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
• Master’s Degree in Business, Finance, Engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent combination of training, education, and relevant experience.
• Experience in business development, commercial partnerships, investment banking, or management consulting.
• Proven track record in structuring, negotiating, and executing complex partnership deals.
• Demonstrated leadership and team management experience.
• Advanced leadership and management skills with proven ability to motivate others and influence senior management and key stakeholders.
• Executive presence and comfort with displaying strong project advocacy.
• Proven project management skills in addition to strong problem-solving skills.
• Master of collaboration and strategic alignment across internal functions and external stakeholders.
• Exceptional oral and written communication skills, including ability to organize and present executive- and board-level reports and proposals, and ability to effectively negotiate and engage with external partners.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
• Experience in transportation, infrastructure, real estate development, or related industries.
• 13-16 years relevant experience preferred.
WORK ENVIRONMENT:
• General office environment
• May travel up to 25% of time
• Constantly works in a fast-paced, time sensitive environment with frequently changing priorities.
• After hours responsibilities may be required.
COMMUNICATIONS AND INTERPERSONAL SKILLS:
Must have excellent oral and written communication skills.
The salary/hourly range is $187,500-$242,892, Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to education, work experience, certifications, internal equity, etc. Depending on an employee’s assigned worksite or location, Amtrak may consider a geo-pay differential to be applied to the employee’s base salary. Amtrak may offer additional incentive and pay programs to recognize and reward our employees, including a short-term incentive bonus based upon factors such as individual and company performance that is commensurate with the level of the position and/or long-term incentive plan compensation. In addition to your salary, Amtrak offers a comprehensive benefit package that includes health, dental, and vision plans; health savings accounts; wellness programs; flexible spending accounts; 401K retirement plan with employer match; life insurance; short and long term disability insurance; paid time off; back-up care; adoption assistance; surrogacy assistance; reimbursement of education expenses; Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility; Railroad Retirement sickness and retirement benefits; and rail pass privileges. Learn more about our benefits offerings here.
Requisition ID:165096
Work Arrangement:06-Onsite 4/5 Days Click here for more information about work arrangements at Amtrak.
Relocation Offered:No
Travel Requirements:Up to 25%
You power our progress through your performance.
We want your work at Amtrak to be more than a job. We want your career at Amtrak to be a fulfilling experience where you find challenging work, rewarding opportunities, respect among colleagues, and attractive compensation. Amtrak maintains a culture that values high performance and recognizes individual employee contributions.
Amtrak is committed to a safe workplace free of drugs and alcohol. All Amtrak positions requires a pre-employment background check that includes prior employment verification, a criminal history check and a pre-employment drug screen.
Candidates who test positive for marijuana will be disqualified, regardless of any state or local statute, ordinance, regulation, or other law that legalizes or decriminalizes the use or possession of marijuana, whether for medical, recreational, or other use. Amtrak's pre-employment drug testing program is administered in accordance with DOT regulations and applicable law.
In accordance with DOT regulations (49 CFR § 40.25), Amtrak is required to obtain prior drug and alcohol testing records for applicants/employees intending to perform safety-sensitive duties for covered Department of Transportation positions. If an applicant/employee refuses to provide written consent for Amtrak to obtain these records, the individual will not be permitted to perform safety-sensitive functions.
In accordance with federal law governing security checks of covered individuals for providers of public transportation (Title 6 U.S.C. §1143), Amtrak is required to screen applicants for any permanent or interim disqualifying criminal offenses.
Note that any education requirement listed above may be deemed satisfied if you have an equivalent combination of education, training and experience.
Amtrak is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race/color, to include traits historically associated with race, including but not limited to, hair texture and hairstyles such as braids, locks and twists, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related conditions, such as lactation), national origin/ethnicity, disability (intellectual, mental and physical), veteran status, marital status, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, genetic information, citizenship or any other personal characteristics protected by law..
