Development Assistant Jobs in Conroe, TX (NOW HIRING)

Patriot Maritime is a maritime government contracting company providing management, crewing, and vessel support services to the U.S. government under contracts with the Military Sealift Command (MSC) and MARAD. With approximately 83 shoreside employees and operations across multiple vessel programs — including the Ready Reserve Force (RRF), Watson-class vessels, Bob Hope vessels, and other federal maritime programs — Patriot operates at the intersection of commercial maritime expertise and federal government contracting. Patriot also owns and operates commercial vessels, including shallow draft product tankers, in the commercial chartering market. Headquartered in Houston, TX, our team supports the nation's strategic sealift mission and military readiness.

Patriot is looking for a Business Development & Chartering Manager to support company growth across two connected fronts: (1) identifying and directly owning new government (MSC, MARAD, USTRANSCOM) and commercial business opportunities, building relationships, and developing growth strategy, and (2) serving as the commercial chartering lead for Patriot's own vessels (shallow draft tankers and related tonnage), managing charter parties, broker relationships, and voyage/freight economics. This role also has direct oversight of the company's USC-10 activities — booking and chartering third-party commercial vessels to move USTRANSCOM cargo (P# cargoes) under Patriot's USTRANSCOM contract, including rate iterations, CARE submissions, and day-to-day coordination with the broker/agency intermediary on offers and vessel nominations. We're looking for someone who is comfortable embracing AI tools day-to-day — using them to work faster and smarter across research, analysis, and reporting. This position is on-site with the opportunity for a hybrid work schedule.

Roles and Responsibilities

Business Development

• Assist the company President and other executives with strategic planning, goal setting, and forecasting of sales targets and growth projections.
• Prospect and research target markets, identify leads, and pursue new business opportunities across government (MSC, MARAD, USTRANSCOM) and commercial maritime segments.
• Take direct ownership of the bid/proposal process for government and commercial opportunities — from opportunity identification through proposal submission — including drafting proposals, preparing sales presentations, and leading sales meetings.
• Support the Finance team in the annual operating budget and forecast processes.
• Evaluate strategic options and provide advice to leadership with regard to new business and bid structuring.
• Analyze and interpret data to provide accurate, useful, and timely reports, using AI tools where helpful to work through data faster.
• Act as liaison between the business and accounting shared services group.
• Identify business process improvement opportunities and develop solution options.
• Proactively bring forward AI tools and applications that could help the team research markets, draft proposals, or streamline reporting.
• Ad hoc reporting and analysis.
• Maintain strong working knowledge of U.S. government contracting, particularly MSC, MARAD, and USTRANSCOM frameworks and how they apply to Patriot's contracts.
• Stay up-to-date on industry developments and competitors.

Chartering (Company-Owned Vessels)

• Serve as the commercial chartering lead for Patriot's owned vessels, including shallow draft product tankers, managing voyage and time charter fixtures from inquiry through completion.
• Negotiate charter party terms, freight/hire rates, laytime, demurrage, and off-hire matters directly with charterers, brokers, and counterparties.
• Build and maintain relationships with brokers, charterers, and commercial counterparties across the coastal and shallow draft tanker trades.
• Monitor freight markets, bunker prices, vessel positions, and competing tonnage to inform fixture strategy and vessel positioning, using AI and market data tools to speed up research and analysis.
• Coordinate with vessel operations, technical, and legal teams to ensure smooth voyage execution, vetting/inspection readiness, and contract compliance.
• Track and resolve commercial disputes (e.g., billing, demurrage, off-hire) in coordination with legal counsel and operations.
• Prepare voyage estimates, P&L analysis, and post-fixture reviews to support pricing and chartering decisions.

Qualifications

• BS. in Business Management, Maritime Business/Transportation, or similar field; MBA preferred.
• Prior experience in vessel chartering, shipbroking, or commercial vessel operations strongly preferred (tanker/shallow draft experience a plus).
• Familiarity with U.S. government maritime contracting (MSC, MARAD, USTRANSCOM) strongly preferred.
• Strong financial planning & Excel background; comfort building voyage estimates and P&L models.
• Strong analytical background with strict attention to detail.
• Comfortable using AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude) as part of everyday work; curiosity to learn new tools and apply them to research, analysis, and reporting.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to make effective presentations and convey reporting to stakeholders.
• The ability to read, analyze, and interpret complex documents, including charter parties and government contracts.
• Proficient using Microsoft Office applications; familiarity with maritime market data platforms (e.g., Kpler, Clarksons) a plus.
• Ability to prioritize tasks, perform detailed execution of tasks, and adapt to a changing environment.
• Strong business acumen and comfort operating across both government contracting and commercial chartering environments.

Patriot is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. Patriot is committed to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment without regard to race, color, religion or belief, national or social or ethnic origin, gender, age, physical, disability, sexual/identity or orientation.