--- title: 'Business Development Manager at Terra AI' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/business-development-manager-terra-ai-redwood-city-w514ga8cgqm5' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-10' --- # Business Development Manager at Terra AI - **Company:** Terra AI - **Location:** Redwood City, CA - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-05-22 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/terraai/a2b1530d-a693-4776-a322-16bdb8eff16c ## Job description Terra AI is building a new category at the intersection of artificial intelligence, geoscience, and critical resource development. As global demand for copper, lithium, nickel, rare earth elements, geothermal energy, and other strategic resources accelerates, the mining and subsurface industries face a growing challenge: traditional exploration methods remain slow, expensive, and highly uncertain. Terra AI was founded to help solve this problem by redefining how critical resources are discovered, evaluated, and developed. By combining advanced machine learning, probabilistic modeling, and deep geoscience expertise, Terra AI helps exploration and mining companies make faster, more informed subsurface decisions with greater confidence and capital efficiency. The company’s platform integrates geological, geophysical, and drilling data into intelligent systems designed to improve targeting accuracy, accelerate discovery timelines, and reduce exploration risk. Backed by leading investors including Khosla Ventures and working alongside strategic industry partners including Rio Tinto, Ero Copper, and Ramaco Resources, Terra AI is emerging as one of the more closely watched AI-native companies operating within the mining and critical minerals sector. Terra AI’s mission is to define the new global standard for data-driven critical resource development — breaking the cost and time curve required to support electrification, energy security, and the global energy transition. The company operates with a strong partnership mentality, combining technical rigor, candid communication, continual learning, and environmental stewardship to help modern exploration teams solve some of the world’s most important resource challenges. ## Role Terra AI is hiring a Business Development Manager to help build the commercial engine behind the company’s next stage of growth. This is a highly collaborative and strategically important role focused on helping shape commercial strategy, build meaningful industry relationships, and support the development of scalable business development infrastructure. This role will help drive pipeline development, partnership strategy, and go-to-market initiatives while taking increasing leadership responsibility within a defined market segment over time. ## What You’ll Do - Build and develop Terra AI’s commercial presence across the mineral exploration ecosystem - Identify, prioritize, and engage high-value exploration companies, operators, and strategic partners - Develop trusted relationships with technical leaders, executives, investors, and commercial stakeholders - Build and manage a high-quality pipeline of partnership opportunities across a defined market segment - Partner with the Head of Growth to help develop commercial strategy, market segmentation, and partnership priorities - Help establish and refine business development KPIs, reporting cadence, and funnel discipline - Translate market conversations into structured commercial insights that inform product and go-to-market strategy - Represent Terra AI at conferences, technical forums, and industry events Required Qualifications - Significant experience in business development, partnerships, commercial strategy, or related market-facing roles - Strong commercial judgment and ability to manage complex external relationships - Ability to help build structure, process, and accountability in evolving commercial environments - Experience supporting pipeline development and measurable commercial initiatives - Strong communication and stakeholder management skills - Comfort navigating evolving priorities within technical environments and learning complex subject matter quickly - Willingness to travel regularly for conferences, site visits, and partner meetings ## Preferred Experience - Background in mining, mineral exploration, geology, or adjacent technical environments - Experience partnering with or operating within mining or natural resource markets - Exposure to technical software, data platforms, or AI-enabled products - Familiarity with capital markets, natural resources investing, or mining finance - Additional language skills (Spanish, Portuguese, or French) We recognize that exceptional candidates may come from a variety of commercial, technical, and industry backgrounds. If your experience aligns closely with the role, we encourage you to apply even if you do not meet every listed qualification. ## Compensation $110,000 – $150,000 base salary + performance bonus + equity In accordance with California law, the above range reflects the reasonably expected base salary for this role. Actual compensation will be determined based on experience, skills, qualifications, and market considerations. Terra AI is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to building a diverse and inclusive team. We consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. ## About Terra AI ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Terra AI uses patented, purpose-built AI to model subsurface uncertainty and optimize drill planning for mining, geothermal, and carbon storage projects, accelerating the discovery of critical natural resources. - **Entity Type**: Private (early-stage, founded 2023; funding stage not publicly disclosed) - **Headquarters**: Palo Alto, California, USA (with an office in Sunnyvale, CA and remote options) - **Founded**: 2023 - **Founders**: John Mern (CEO, Co-founder), Markus Zechner (CTO, Co-founder), Anthony Corso (Co-founder), and a General Manager of Reservoirs (Co-founder, name not publicly listed) ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Natural resources exploration (mining, energy, geothermal, carbon storage) powered by artificial intelligence - **Target customers**: Mining and energy companies (B2B, enterprise), including mine developers, reservoir engineers, and investors in critical mineral supply chains - **Mission or purpose statement**: “Accelerating exploration to meet energy transition needs” and “turn subsurface uncertainty into better decisions” to bring critical resources to markets faster ## Products & Services - **Terra AI Platform**: A SaaS/AI platform that characterizes deposits, quantifies uncertainty, and optimizes drill planning. It answers questions like “Where should we drill to reduce the most resource uncertainty?” and “What is the possible range of net present values?”. The platform claims to deliver a 2.5x increase in resource definition vs. traditional methods and 50-60% fewer drilling meters throughout exploration. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available - **Key Metric**: Total Funding – Not disclosed (company is private, no funding rounds reported in public sources) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not listed in available sources (likely early-stage, no investor details public) - **Growth Signals**: Founded in 2023 and already actively hiring across multiple senior roles (ML Engineer, Geologist, Geophysicist, Business Development, etc.). The company targets a critical bottleneck in mineral supply – post-discovery exploration – which is seeing increased demand from clean energy, defense, and AI-driven growth. ## Competitive Advantages - **Patented, purpose-built AI** for subsurface uncertainty modeling, not generic data visualization - **Decision-focused platform** that quantifies financial risk (e.g., net present value ranges) and reduces drilling costs by 50-60% - **Founding team with deep domain expertise**: PhDs from Stanford in Aeronautics & Astronautics, Petroleum Engineering, and AI; experience at Kobold Metals, Boeing, and Stanford Center for AI Safety - **Bridges academia and industry**: CTO Markus Zechner is an Adjunct Professor at Stanford; Anthony Corso is a visiting scholar at Stanford ## Strategic Focus - Accelerate and de-risk post-discovery exploration for critical minerals, geothermal, and carbon storage - Expand adoption among mining and energy companies to reduce the “exploration bottleneck” and boost downstream industries - Grow the team of geoscientists, AI researchers, and engineers to build the subsurface foundation for a clean energy future - Target both mining and reservoir (oil & gas, geothermal, carbon storage) verticals ## Why Work Here - **Culture highlights**: Mission-driven to solve a critical climate challenge; team of AI PhDs, geophysicists, and engineers; flat structure with a focus on innovation - **Remote/hybrid/office policy**: Mostly remote (US-based) with some roles labeled “hybrid” or “on-site” in Palo Alto/Sunnyvale. The company has two locations (Palo Alto HQ and Sunnyvale) and offers remote flexibility. - **Notable perks** (from careers page): - Company-subsidized medical, dental & vision insurance - 401k plan with company matching - Flexible PTO plus company holidays - Annual company-wide winter break (December 24 – January 1) - Paid parental leave - One-time home-office set up stipend - Professional development budget (conferences, events) - Mental health support (if not covered by insurance) - **Engineering culture**: Emphasis on AI/ML, scientific computing, and geoscience; open roles for Senior/Staff ML Engineers, ML Researchers, Computational Scientists, and Software Engineers ## Sources 1. [Terra AI Website](https://www.terraai.com/) 2. [Terra AI About Page](https://www.terraai.com/about) 3. [Terra AI Careers Page](https://www.terraai.com/careers) 4. 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