Application Guide
How to Apply for Head of Business Development
at Seabound
🏢 About Seabound
Seabound is pioneering direct onboard carbon capture technology specifically for the shipping industry, a sector responsible for nearly 3% of global CO₂ emissions. Unlike broader climate tech companies, they offer a targeted, scalable solution to decarbonize maritime transport, making them a unique player at the intersection of deep tech, industrial engineering, and environmental impact. Working here means directly tackling a massive, hard-to-abate sector with an innovative technical approach.
About This Role
As Head of Business Development, you will be the commercial engine for Seabound, responsible for transforming their groundbreaking carbon capture technology into contracted revenue and long-term partnerships. This role involves navigating complex, multi-stakeholder sales cycles with shipowners and operators to secure demonstration projects, early deployments, and fleet-wide agreements, directly accelerating the adoption of maritime decarbonization solutions.
💡 A Day in the Life
A typical day might involve a morning strategy session with the CEO and technical team to refine the value proposition for a target shipowner, followed by outreach to a potential partner in the maritime supply chain. The afternoon could be spent leading negotiations on a term sheet for a pilot deployment, followed by analyzing market data to inform the evolving pricing strategy and pipeline prioritization.
🚀 Application Tools
🎯 Who Seabound Is Looking For
- A seasoned commercial leader with 10+ years of experience closing material, complex B2B deals in industrial, energy, maritime, or climate tech sectors, where sales cycles involve technical evaluations and capital expenditure decisions.
- Has a proven track record of not just managing, but originating and negotiating agreements with senior stakeholders like shipowners, C-suite executives, and technical teams, often in regulated environments.
- Possesses a strategic mindset to build Seabound's commercial function from the ground up, balancing near-term deal execution with establishing long-term sales, partnership, and pricing strategies.
- Is genuinely passionate about maritime decarbonization and can articulate the commercial value of hard tech solutions to both sustainability-focused and financially-driven industry players.
📝 Tips for Applying to Seabound
Quantify your impact in past roles using metrics relevant to long-cycle B2B sales (e.g., 'negotiated a $XM agreement with a shipowner over a 14-month cycle,' 'built a pipeline of 50+ qualified leads in the energy sector').
Explicitly connect your past experience to maritime, industrial, or climate tech. If you haven't worked in maritime directly, detail how your experience in similar complex sales (e.g., energy infrastructure, heavy industry) translates.
Demonstrate you understand Seabound's specific technical challenge and business model. Avoid generic climate tech enthusiasm; show you grasp the nuances of selling capital equipment to shipping companies.
Highlight experience engaging with the specific stakeholder types mentioned: shipowners, C-suite, technical teams, and regulators. Provide concrete examples of managing these relationships concurrently.
Tailor your resume to show both strategic business development (building functions, pricing strategy) and hands-on deal execution. Seabound needs a builder who can also close.
✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter
["Open with a clear thesis on why maritime decarbonization, and Seabound's specific onboard capture approach, is a critical commercial opportunity you are equipped to lead.", 'Provide one concise, powerful example of originating and closing a complex, material B2B agreement, emphasizing the stakeholders involved and the negotiation process.', "Articulate your vision for building Seabound's commercial function: how you would approach early customer pipeline development, partnership strategy, and pricing for a novel technology in this sector.", "Express specific knowledge of the shipping industry's decarbonization drivers (e.g., CII, EEXI, EU ETS) and how they create commercial urgency for Seabound's solution."]
Generate Cover Letter →🔍 Research Before Applying
To stand out, make sure you've researched:
- → Deep dive into Seabound's technology: understand their specific carbon capture process (e.g., limestone looping), the unit's proposed placement on ships, and their announced partnerships or pilot projects.
- → Research the key regulations and market drivers for shipping decarbonization (e.g., IMO's CII and EEXI, EU Emissions Trading System inclusion, Poseidon Principles) and how they financially impact shipowners.
- → Investigate the competitive and partner landscape: who are other players in onboard carbon capture (e.g., Value Maritime) or alternative fuels? Who are potential channel partners (shipyards, engine makers, fuel suppliers)?
- → Learn about the structure and economics of the shipping industry: major shipowner companies, chartering models, newbuild vs. retrofit decisions, and how CAPEX decisions are typically made.
💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics
Based on this role, you may be asked about:
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Presenting a generic B2B sales background without making explicit, credible connections to the complexity, stakeholders, and cycle length of industrial/maritime sales.
- Focusing solely on short-term, transactional sales achievements without demonstrating experience in strategic business development, function-building, or partnership cultivation.
- Showing only superficial knowledge of climate tech or sustainability, without demonstrating a grasp of the specific technical and commercial challenges of decarbonizing the shipping industry.
📅 Application Timeline
This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.
Typical hiring timeline:
Application Review
1-2 weeks
Initial Screening
Phone call or written assessment
Interviews
1-2 rounds, usually virtual
Offer
Congratulations!