Business Development Manager Data Center & AI Infrastructure

Data Center & AI Infrastructure

 | Department | Sales
| Reports To | VP of Sales
| Location | Remote (U.S.) — preference for candidates near a major data center market
| Travel | 40–50%
| Employment Type | Full-time, Exempt
 

ABOUT BNS

BNS, Inc. is a data center infrastructure services firm headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon. We deliver network deployment, structured cabling and conveyance, physical infrastructure build-out, and on-site technical operations for the operators building out AI compute capacity. Our work runs from greenfield fabric deployment and large-scale network refreshes through cutover and handback, into steady-state Layer 1 support, backed by our OpusWorks platform for proactive infrastructure management.

Our customers are hyperscalers, colocation and wholesale data center operators, neocloud and AI compute providers, and Forbes Global 2000 enterprises running their own critical facilities. Engagements range from fixed-bid deployment programs to multi-year, multi-site resource commitments. This is a market moving faster than the supply of people who can execute in it, and we are building the commercial team to match.

POSITION SUMMARY

We are hiring a Business Development Manager to own new logo acquisition and account growth across data center operators, hyperscalers, neoclouds, and Global 2000 enterprises. This is a hunter role selling complex infrastructure deployment programs — not hardware resale, not a transactional product.

You will originate and close engagements that run from $250K single-site deployments to multi-year, multi-million-dollar resource commitments spanning several facilities. Success requires credibility with data center operations leadership, network engineering, and capital project teams simultaneously, and the ability to navigate a procurement process that runs through master services agreements, work orders, rate cards, and change control.

You will be supported by a Sales Engineer who owns technical solutioning and estimating across your accounts, alongside delivery leadership, project management, and a deal desk. What you bring is territory ownership, pipeline generation discipline, and the commercial judgment to structure deals that BNS can deliver profitably.

WHAT YOU WILL BE SELLING

•   Network deployment and refresh programs. Greenfield leaf-spine fabric deployment including top-of-rack leaf build-out, large-scale switch refreshes, EVPN/VXLAN and InfiniBand fabrics, staging and lab rehearsal, instrumented cutover, and per-rack handback against measured acceptance criteria.

•   Structured cabling and physical infrastructure. Fiber and copper plant, cable tray and conveyance, rack and stack, main and horizontal distribution area build-out, port mapping, and as-built documentation at data hall scale.

•   Layer 1 resource commitments and on-site technical operations. Dedicated, committed technical teams staffed on-site under multi-year agreements, including local recruiting and transition programs.

•   OpusWorks platform licensing. Our proactive infrastructure management platform, licensed per monitored interface and integrated with customer fabric diagnostics, monitoring, and ticketing stacks.

•   Program and project management services. Technical project management, migration planning, method-of-procedure development, change advisory coordination, and closeout documentation.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Territory Ownership and Pipeline Generation

•   Own a named territory of data center operators, hyperscalers, neocloud and AI compute providers, and Global 2000 enterprise accounts; build and maintain a written territory plan with named target accounts, entry strategies, and quarterly objectives.

•   Generate the majority of your own pipeline through direct outbound, industry relationships, site and campus mapping, conference presence, and referral development — marketing-sourced leads supplement your pipeline, they do not constitute it.

•   Track and act on market signals: new site announcements, capacity expansions, power procurement filings, GPU deployment news, and construction milestones that indicate an infrastructure services need 6–18 months out.

•   Build multi-threaded relationships across data center operations, network engineering, capital projects and construction, procurement, and executive sponsorship — no single-threaded opportunities in your forecast.

•   Own vendor prequalification and onboarding for your accounts, including safety and compliance platforms such as ISNetworld or Avetta, certificates of insurance, licensure, and bonding documentation, coordinating with operations and finance to clear those gates ahead of award.

•   Maintain accurate opportunity records, forecast categories, and next-step documentation in the CRM. Your forecast is a commitment, not an estimate.

Opportunity Pursuit and Capture

•   Lead discovery to establish the customer's decision process, funding source, timeline, and commercial constraints, and bring the Sales Engineer in to establish technical scope.

•   Direct the pursuit team — Sales Engineering, delivery leadership, project management, and finance — through solution development, estimating, and proposal construction.

•   Own the commercial content of every proposal: pricing basis (fixed bid, time and materials, or resource commitment), rate application, margin, payment terms, and the decision to submit. Technical scope, assumptions, exclusions, and the estimate are authored by the Sales Engineer; you are accountable for confirming they match what you have sold.

•   Negotiate commercial terms including rate cards, annual escalation, travel and living expense treatment, payment terms, and change order process, in coordination with deal desk and legal.

•   Prepare and present deal desk reviews for opportunities that exceed approval thresholds or deviate from standard terms. Pricing below the published margin floor requires VP of Sales approval; no discount authority sits with this role unilaterally.

•   Drive opportunities to a decision. Manage the close plan, mutual action plan, and executive alignment required to convert a technically sound proposal into a signed agreement.

Account Growth and Retention

•   Co-lead the handoff to delivery and project management at contract signature, documenting commercial terms, customer commitments made during the sale, and any verbal expectations set with the customer.

•   Own change orders commercially once delivery is underway — identify them, price them with the Sales Engineer, secure customer authorization in writing, and book them. Scope growth that goes unpapered is margin BNS does not recover.

•   Convert first engagements into programmatic relationships — expand from a single data hall to a full campus, from one facility to a customer's national or global portfolio.

•   Position BNS onto master services agreements and preferred vendor lists so subsequent work moves through work orders rather than full competitive procurement.

•   Sustain executive relationships through delivery, participating in operational reviews and quarterly business reviews so that BNS is present in planning conversations rather than responding to RFPs.

•   Serve as the customer's commercial escalation point and act as the internal advocate for their outcomes when delivery issues arise.

Commercial Discipline and Internal Collaboration

•   Qualify hard and disqualify early. Protect the organization's pre-sales capacity by walking away from pursuits BNS cannot win or cannot deliver profitably. The Sales Engineer recommends on technical fit; the call is yours.

•   Ensure every proposal reflects an honest cost basis, defensible margin, and a scope that delivery leadership has confirmed is executable with available resources.

•   Develop and maintain OEM, manufacturer, and distributor relationships that support your territory, with attention to optics and cable lead times that can gate an AI build schedule.

•   Contribute competitive intelligence, pricing observations, and win/loss findings back to sales leadership and marketing.

•   Represent BNS at industry events, customer sites, and partner engagements as a credible voice on data center infrastructure delivery.

FIRST-YEAR EXPECTATIONS

 | First 30 days | Complete onboarding on the BNS service portfolio, rate card structure, delivery model, and OpusWorks platform. Build and present your territory plan with named target accounts and entry strategies.
| First 90 days | Sustained outbound activity generating first meetings against plan, with three or more qualified opportunities in the pipeline and a working rhythm established with your Sales Engineer and delivery leadership.
| First 6 months | First signed engagement in a new account, or a material expansion in an assigned account, with pipeline coverage at 3x or greater against the balance of your ramped year-one quota.
| First 12 months | Attainment against a ramped year-one quota, typically $4M–$8M in signed contract value depending on territory and mix, against a full-year run rate of $8M–$12M. At least one account converted to a master services agreement or preferred vendor position.

 

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

•   Five or more years of quota-carrying B2B sales experience, including at least three years selling complex technical services, infrastructure deployment, construction services, or professional services into data center, telecommunications, or critical facilities environments.

•   Demonstrated record of new logo acquisition — you have opened accounts, not just farmed inherited ones.

•   Experience selling to at least one of: hyperscale or colocation data center operators, neocloud or AI compute providers, or Global 2000 enterprise infrastructure organizations.

•   Working fluency in data center infrastructure sufficient to lead a credible first conversation with a network engineering or data center operations leader: fabric topologies, structured cabling, rack and power basics, and the operational realities of working in a live data hall.

•   Experience with complex, multi-stakeholder sales cycles of six months or longer involving technical evaluation, procurement, and legal review.

•   Fluency constructing and defending pricing on a services basis — labor hours, rate cards, gross margin, travel and expense, and materials pass-through.

•   Disciplined CRM hygiene and a track record of forecast accuracy.

•   Ability to travel 40–50%, including to active construction and operating data center sites, and to obtain site access clearances as required by customers.

•   Valid driver's license and the ability to travel internationally, including to Canada.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

•   Existing relationships within hyperscaler, colocation, or neocloud infrastructure and operations organizations.

•   Experience selling into AI or HPC cluster deployments, including exposure to InfiniBand or RoCE environments and GPU cluster build-out timelines.

•   Background in low-voltage, structured cabling, electrical, or mechanical contracting sales within a licensed and bonded environment.

•   Familiarity with master services agreement and work order commercial structures, rate card negotiation, and change order administration.

•   Experience navigating contractor prequalification platforms and hyperscaler vendor onboarding.

•   BICSI, Uptime Institute, or comparable industry credential; or a prior technical career in data center operations or network engineering.

•   Experience selling managed services or staffing-based resource commitments alongside project work.

•   Zoho CRM experience.

Benefits include medical, dental, and vision coverage, 401(k) , paid time off, and company holidays. Business travel and expenses are reimbursed under BNS expense policy and are not treated as compensation.

LOCATION AND TRAVEL

This role is remote-eligible within the United States, with a preference for candidates based near a major data center market — Northern Virginia, Dallas–Fort Worth, Phoenix, Atlanta, Columbus, Chicago, Portland–Hillsboro, Salt Lake City, or comparable. Candidates near BNS headquarters in Hillsboro, Oregon may work from the office.

Expect 40–50% travel: customer sites, active data center campuses, construction sites, industry conferences, and periodic time at BNS headquarters. Site work requires the ability to pass customer background and site-access screening, wear personal protective equipment, and move safely through active construction and live data hall environments, including areas with limited clearance, elevated noise, and restricted access. Reasonable accommodations will be made for qualified individuals with disabilities.

BNS, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.