Forward-Deploy Mission Strategist — USV Operations

Vannevar Labs; Norfolk (VA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, and vision insurance

Remote friendly with WeWork access

Unlimited PTO and year-end downtime

401(k) match

Salary top-up during military reserve

Fully paid parental leave

Child and pet care reimbursement

Job summary

Vannevar Labs in Norfolk is hiring a forward-deployed Mission Strategist to embed with the Navy's unmanned surface vessel community. This is an on-site role requiring you to work with USV operators at least 3 days per week, including relocation or weekly travel to Norfolk.

You will understand operator goals, decompose operational problems into software needs, drive capability development, and implement that capability with the Navy alongside mission and engineering teams.

Qualifications

• Experience with unmanned systems or software for planning/execution/monitoring hardware operations.
• Ability to decompose problems into component parts and creatively use technology to impact them.
• High ownership amid ambiguity; ability to work independently.
• Experience with autonomous or unmanned platforms.

Responsibilities

• Embed with USV operators on-site in Norfolk to build deep intuition for unmanned surface operations.
• Synthesize USV operational problems to prioritize the mission work.
• Configure and prove high‑value workflows through iterative configuration.
• Test and troubleshoot releases on deployed government systems with engineering.
• Generate mission wins by leveraging deployments with Navy counterparts.
• Operate independently, setting priorities on site and advancing work without waiting for direction.

Skills

Unmanned systems experience

Problem decomposition

Ownership amid ambiguity

Independent work

Autonomous platforms

Job description

Vannevar Labs in Norfolk is hiring a forward-deployed Mission Strategist to embed with the Navy's unmanned surface vessel community. This is an on-site role requiring you to work with USV operators at least 3 days per week, including relocation or weekly travel to Norfolk.

You will understand operator goals, decompose operational problems into software needs, drive capability development, and implement that capability with the Navy alongside mission and engineering teams.