---
title: 'Business Development Leader (Public Sector) at Niantic Spatial'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/business-development-leader-public-sector-niantic-spatial-san-francisco-dt2sfz1dknfb'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-14'
---

# Business Development Leader (Public Sector) at Niantic Spatial

- **Company:** Niantic Spatial
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Compensation:** $183k–$230k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-07-23
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-14
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/niantic-spatial/01cc7a66-5dd4-4cc5-acfd-883013f20b5e

## Job description

## About the Role

As Business Development Lead, Public Sector, you'll build and scale Niantic Spatial's partner ecosystem across the Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, and Federal Civilian agencies — owning the partner-sourced and partner-led revenue motion that sits alongside and accelerates the direct sales channel. You'll work cross-functionally with our Public Sector Sales Lead, Solutions Architects, Product, and Engineering teams to identify and close mission-focused opportunities through defense primes, system integrators, OEMs, cloud providers, and technology partners. This role demands a high-initiative business leader who can operate in a nascent market, move quickly from strategy to execution, and build the repeatable processes that scale a growing Public Sector business.

## What You'll Do

- Market Intelligence — Conduct in-depth research to identify mission priorities, customer segments, acquisition pathways, and partner ecosystems; assess the competitive landscape and track emerging technology trends across DoD, IC, and Federal Civilian markets.
- Business Development — Identify, negotiate, and close high-value opportunities for Niantic Spatial's spatial intelligence and physical AI technologies across public sector markets — executing deal types including licensing, reseller, OEM, revenue share, teaming, technology partnership, and proof-of-concept arrangements.
- Partner Ecosystem — Establish and grow strategic partnerships with defense primes, system integrators, cloud providers, OEMs, and technology partners to expand Niantic Spatial's reach, capabilities, and revenue opportunities in government markets.
- Revenue Ownership — Own partner-sourced and partner-led revenue opportunities from qualification through commercial negotiation and close; coordinate closely with the Public Sector Sales Lead on joint customer pursuits and shared pipeline.
- Go-to-Market Execution — Develop and execute joint GTM strategies with partners that generate measurable pipeline, drive customer adoption, and build recurring revenue across both direct and indirect sales channels.
- Product Influence — Gather structured feedback from customers and partners; work closely with Product and Engineering to translate field intelligence into roadmap priorities.
- Industry Presence — Represent Niantic Spatial at industry events, conferences, consortiums, and partner engagements to build brand visibility and thought leadership within the public sector and defense technology communities.
- BD Operations — Develop and scale repeatable business development processes, partner programs, and go-to-market motions as the Public Sector business grows.

## What You'll Bring

- 8+ years in business development, strategic alliances, capture, channel sales, or partnerships; JD, MBA, or Bachelor's degree in a relevant field, or equivalent experience.
- Demonstrated experience supporting the Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, Federal Civilian agencies, or adjacent public sector organizations.
- Established network across defense primes, system integrators, technology providers, government organizations, and partner ecosystems.
- Proven track record negotiating and executing complex commercial agreements — including reseller, OEM, licensing, teaming, technology partnership, and revenue-sharing arrangements — and working with legal counsel to initiate and interpret contract language.
- Strong communicator and negotiator, able to represent Niantic Spatial credibly in external discussions with partners, customers, and executive stakeholders.
- Cross-functional leader with a track record of aligning engineering, product, and sales teams around partner-driven opportunities.
- Data-driven and strategic, with the ability to move from market analysis to execution quickly in a fast-moving, ambiguous environment.

## Nice to Have

- Active U.S. security clearance (Secret, TS, or TS/SCI) or eligibility to obtain one.
- Deep understanding of geospatial technologies, spatial computing, mapping, GIS, artificial intelligence, robotics, or autonomous systems.
- Experience with developer platforms, APIs, or SDKs.
- Familiarity with federal acquisition processes including OTAs, SBIR/STTRs, IDIQs, and major defense procurement programs.
- Experience working with defense technology companies, cloud providers, or mission software platforms.

## Compensation & Benefits

The expected salary range for this role is $183,000 - $230,000 per year. Compensation also includes an annual bonus, equity, and a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, and vision coverage, 401(k), and more.

Location & Work Model This role can be based in our San Francisco, CA office or remote in Washington, DC. Bay Area-based candidates will be expected to operate on a hybrid schedule with a minimum of 3 days per week in the San Francisco office. DC-based candidates are remote and should expect regular travel to our San Francisco HQ to collaborate with Product and Engineering leadership, as well as travel for conferences, customer meetings, and partner engagements.

Inclusive Application We know the strongest candidates don't always tick every box. If you're excited about this role and believe you could do it well, we encourage you to apply even if your experience doesn't match every qualification listed — you may be exactly who we're looking for.

## Equal Opportunity

Niantic Spatial is an equal opportunity employer. Individuals seeking employment at Niantic Spatial are considered without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, creed, age, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding or related medical conditions), marital status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, military or veteran status, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, or any other protected category under applicable laws. Niantic Spatial will also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in accordance with applicable laws. Please contact your recruiter if you want to request an accommodation for the job application or interview process.

Candidate Privacy I understand that by submitting my job application, the information I provide as part of that application will be used in accordance with Niantic Spatial's Privacy Notice for Job Applicants and Candidates https://www.nianticspatial.com/applicant-privacy-notice.

## About Niantic Spatial

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Niantic Spatial builds real-world foundation models and spatial intelligence systems that enable machines to reconstruct, localize within, and understand the physical world at global scale.
- **Entity Type**: Private (startup, spun out of Niantic in 2025)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, CA, USA (with offices in Sunnyvale, Bellevue, London, and Tokyo)
- **Founded**: 2025 (as Niantic Spatial; roots trace back to Keyhole, founded 2001, and Niantic Labs, 2011)
- **Founders**: John Hanke (Founder & Executive Chairman); Thomas Gewecke (CEO), Brian McClendon (CTO), Inhi Cho Suh (President & COO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Geospatial AI, physical AI infrastructure, spatial computing, robotics, defense, energy, construction, logistics
- **Target customers**: B2B – enterprises in robotics, oil & gas, defense, large venues, construction, logistics; public sector; also powers consumer apps via Scaniverse
- **Mission or purpose statement**: “Build a living model of the world that people and machines can talk to.”

## Products & Services
- **Large Geospatial Model (LGM)** – The core engine trained on one of the largest datasets of real‑world spatial imagery. It powers reconstruction, localization, and understanding capabilities at global scale. Accessed via Scaniverse and licensed to partners. (Model/API)
- **Reconstruct** – High‑fidelity, geo‑referenced 3D models (meshes and Gaussian splats) created from any standard camera, 360° camera, drone, LiDAR, or satellite imagery. (Technology/Service)
- **Localize (Visual Positioning System)** – Precise global positioning and orientation for humans and machines, even in GPS‑degraded or denied environments (indoors, outdoors, anywhere). (Technology/API)
- **Understand** – Spatial foundation models that give AI the ability to reason about the physical world: semantic understanding at every 3D point, queryable in natural language. (Technology/API)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Over 300 million user‑contributed scans; 30+ billion posed images from real‑world locations; 140+ patents filed or pending
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Backed by Niantic (the Pokémon GO creator) and its internal resources; no external funding round publicly announced. Partnerships in defense, energy, construction, logistics, and large venues.
- **Growth Signals**: Formed as an independent company in 2025; actively hiring for senior engineering roles (Computer Vision, Tech Lead, AI Data Operations); expanding from consumer AR into enterprise and government sectors.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Deep heritage**: Founders built Keyhole (acquired by Google, became Google Earth/Maps) and later created the world’s first global Visual Positioning System at Niantic.
- **Unique data moat**: 300M+ crowdsourced scans and 30B+ posed images provide a proprietary dataset of real‑world spatial imagery that competitors would find extremely difficult to replicate.
- **Planetary‑scale deployment**: Proven ability to operate at global scale (Pokémon GO had 500M+ users); technology already battle‑tested in demanding consumer and enterprise environments.
- **Patent portfolio**: 140+ patents covering spatial reconstruction, localization, and understanding.

## Strategic Focus
- Continue building spatial foundation models that can reason about the physical world in natural language
- Expand vertical markets: robotics (warehouse, delivery, autonomous), defense (DDIL environments), oil & gas (facility digital twins), large venues, and construction
- Drive adoption of the Large Geospatial Model (LGM) as the standard for physical AI reasoning
- Integrate consumer‑facing Scaniverse as the front door to the LGM, simultaneously feeding the model with new user scans

## Why Work Here
- **Culture & mission**: High‑impact startup environment focused on a mission to create a living 3D model of the world; employees describe it as fast‑moving and collaborative
- **Work model**: Hybrid – blends in‑office collaboration with flexibility. Offices in San Francisco, Sunnyvale, Bellevue, London, and Tokyo.
- **Benefits**: 100% paid healthcare for employees, short‑/long‑term disability & life insurance (premiums covered), generous parental leave, flexible time off, 401(k) with company match, stock option grants (equity participation), and legal assistance (ARAG).
- **Engineering culture**: Deep technical challenges in computer vision, geospatial AI, large‑scale ML, and robotics; tight‑knit team of experts from Google Earth, Niantic, and the AR industry.
- **Growth trajectory**: Newly independent company with strong backing, ample opportunity to shape the product and technical direction.

## Sources
1. [nianticspatial.com – Homepage](https://www.nianticspatial.com/)
2. [nianticspatial.com – Careers](https://www.nianticspatial.com/careers)
3. [nianticspatial.com – About](https://www.nianticspatial.com/about)
4. [nianticspatial.com – About (alternate)](https://www.nianticspatial.com/en/about)

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