Title:
Commercial Development Lead - Critical Minerals
Position Summary
The Commercial Development Lead will play a central role in advancing deployment of the company’s critical minerals technologies by originating and maturing project opportunities with third-party developers, strategic partners, feedstock suppliers, and offtakers.
Unlike a direct project developer, this role focuses on enabling and accelerating external project success through commercial structuring, partnership development, and value case articulation. The successful candidate will help customers understand the commercial potential of the technology, build business cases, support project financing readiness, and guide stakeholders through the commercialization pathway.
Key Responsibilities
Market Development & Opportunity Origination
- Identify and cultivate strategic projects and partner opportunities that align with technology deployment priorities.
- Support evaluation of potential project partners with respect to feedstock, technology fit, regional policy, and market dynamics.
- Qualify project opportunities and guide them through a structured project development funnel
Commercial Support for Deployment
- Work closely with developers and internal business and technical team to build techno-economic business cases using licensor data, benchmarks, and market intelligence.
- Assist project sponsors and mature developments in structuring commercial pathways for feedstock, offtake, site selection, and incentives.
- Support regional sales and business team in commercial discussions on licensing terms, performance guarantees, and technology commercial frameworks.
Stakeholder Engagement & Ecosystem Building
- Own full value chain (brine to battery) and act as the commercial point of contact with developers, engineering partners, feedstock suppliers, offtakers, and industry bodies.
- Build and mature strategic alliances that reduce development friction and accelerate project readiness.
- Represent the technology platform at industry events, investor meetings, and government program briefings; support grant applications as necessary
- Build internal business cases to progress each opportunity development based on value creation and long-term engagement to commercialize technologies
Investor/Financing Enablement
- Support preparation and communication of investment-grade narratives and materials tailored to equity sponsors, debt providers, and government financiers.
- Educate lenders and investors on technology, performance assumptions, and risk-mitigation structure.
- Provide upstream commercial support but not act as the responsible financial sponsor.
Collaboration With Technical Teams
- Translate market and customer needs into product/technology roadmap input; support grant applications as necessary
- Work together with process engineering, R&D, and licensing teams to ensure alignment of commercial terms and deployment requirements.
Qualifications Required
- 8+ years in critical minerals space, energy transition, project development, licensing, or industrial commercialization roles.
- Experience engaging with external developers and financial stakeholders.
- Strong commercial acumen, contract familiarity, and techno-economic understanding.
- Ability to build and defend financial and commercial models.
- Clear communicator capable of influencing strategic partners and investor audiences.
Qualifications Preferred
- Background in technology commercialization, licensing, or EPC/engineering environments.
- Knowledge of critical minerals value chain, feedstock markets, global policy/incentives
- Experience supporting capital-intensive projects through early development stages.
Key Attributes
- Partnership-builder & ecosystem thinker
- Ability to guide vs. control project direction
- Comfort in pre-commercial and scale-up environments
- Structured, analytical, proactive, and mission-aligned
Belong, Connect and Grow at KBR
At KBR, we are passionate about our people and our Zero Harm culture. These inform all that we do and are at the heart of our commitment to, and ongoing journey toward being a People First company. That commitment is central to our team of team’s philosophy and fosters an environment where everyone can Belong, Connect and Grow. We Deliver – Together.
KBR is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, union status and/or beliefs, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.