Head of Marketing

Swarmaero

Oxnard (CA)

Hybrid

USD 180,000 - 260,000

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

Meaningful equity in a high-growth def

Competitive base salary commensurate w

Medical, dental, vision, and 401k

PTO and paid sick leave

Monthly wellness stipend

Daily catered lunch (office)

Paid parental leave

Direct impact on a critical national安全

World-class team of engineers and ops

Job summary

Swarm Aero in Oxnard, CA is seeking a senior marketing leader to build the company’s identity from the ground up and tell its story to diverse audiences, including general audiences, program managers, reporters, investors, and engineers.

You will own launches, partnerships, and milestones, shape internal communications, craft external narratives, manage media relationships, and partner with recruiting to attract top engineers and operators.

Qualifications

8+ years in marketing or brand, including time as an early marketer at a high-growth startup where you built, not inherited.
You are a storyteller first and can make technical content unforgettable in one sentence.
You have shaped a company’s identity before or are eager to do so.
You care about internal comms as much as external; culture is a story too.
In defense, credibility is paramount; bold, yes, but never overpromising.
You work directly with founders and the CEO and aren’t afraid to push back on the story.
You are scrappy and prefer shipping this week over briefing an agency for next month.
You believe deterrence matters and want your work to contribute to it.

Responsibilities

Define the company’s identity from the ground up and craft the core narrative.
Turn complex autonomy and C2 technology into accessible stories for diverse audiences.
Own internal communications—narratives, leadership messages, milestones, and culture.
Lead launches, program wins, funding announcements, partnerships, and milestone moments.
Represent the brand at defense and industry events and manage media relationships.
Build relationships with defense media, prep leadership for stages and interviews, and manage agencies.
Partner with recruiting to build Swarm as the destination for top engineers and operators.
Shape the function with tools, budget, vendors, process, and your next hire.

Skills

Marketing leadership

Storytelling

Brand identity

Internal comms

Defense credibility

Executive collaboration

Scrappy execution

Stakeholder management

Job description

Swarm Aero is redefining air power, building the largest swarming UAV and the most versatile swarming aircraft network in the world. The company is moving quickly to launch the first aircraft designed specifically for swarming, as well as the Command & Control software to mobilize swarms of thousands of heterogeneous autonomous assets and empower human operators to achieve superhuman results.

The team has created and exited multiple startups, negotiated defense deals worth billions of dollars, and designed and built 30+ novel aircraft, with aerospace experience from Scaled Composites, Airbus, Archer Aviation, Blue Origin, and Boom Supersonic.

This is the one you've been waiting for

You've told other people's stories. You've polished brands someone else built. You've waited for the company where you get to help create that story.

This is that company.

Swarm Aero is building the autonomous systems the U.S. and its allies need to deter a peer conflict: Gamera, a Group 5 autonomous aircraft, the specialized manufacturing capacity to build them at incredible scale, and Legion, our autonomy and command and control software for coordinating swarms of uncrewed systems. Our autonomy software is already running on real programs and real hardware. Now we're scaling it onto our own aircraft.

We have never had a marketer. We have a mission, a team that ships, and a story that is growing and evolving everyday. You'll be the one to shape it and tell it.

What you’ll build

Who we are. Define the identity of Swarm Aero from the ground up: what we stand for, how we sound, how we look, and why anyone should care. When someone asks "what does Swarm do?", the answer everyone gives will be the one you wrote.
How we tell it. Turn complex autonomy and C2 technology into a story that lands with a general, a program manager, a reporter, an investor, and a senior engineer, without watering it down for any of them.
Internal comms. Make sure everyone inside Swarm knows where we’re going, why it matters, and what just happened. All-hands narratives, leadership messages, milestone moments, and the culture that holds a fast-growing team together. A company that understands its own story tells it better outside.
The big moments. Own launches, program wins, funding announcements, partnerships, and flight, delivery, and customer milestones. Make each one land.
Our presence in defense. Own our footprint at AUSA, Modern Day Marine, Sea-Air-Space, SOF Week, and the rooms where requirements get shaped. Be the booth, the panel, and the name people remember.
Press and platform. Build relationships with defense and tech media, prep leadership for stages and interviews, and manage agency partners who make us better.
Employer brand. Partner with our recruiting team to make Swarm the place the best engineers and operators in the country want to be.
The function itself. Tools, budget, vendors, process, and your next hire. You build it your way.

You, if we’re right

8+ years in marketing or brand, including time as an early marketer at a high‑growth startup where you built, not inherited
A storyteller first. You can take something technical and make it unforgettable in one sentence
You’ve shaped a company’s identity before, or you’ve been itching to
You care about internal comms as much as external. You know culture is a story too
You know that in defense, credibility is everything. Bold, yes. Overpromising, never
You work directly with founders and the CEO and aren’t afraid to push back on the story
Scrappy. You’d rather ship it yourself this week than brief an agency for next month
You believe deterrence matters and want your work to be part of it

Bonus points

Experience with DoD, defense procurement, or government affairs
A network across defense media, industry associations, or DC
You’ve built a marketing function from zero

Why now, why here

Timing. Defense tech is one of the most important categories in the country. The companies that define themselves now set the terms for everyone else.
Ownership. The whole brand, inside and out. Rarely does one person get this.
Backing. Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, and Coatue.
Equity. Real ownership in the thing you’re building.

Requirements

Remote/Hybrid with an ability to be onsite in Oxnard, CA on as needed basis
Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance
Travel to industry events and DC as needed

ITAR requirement

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Swarm Aero is an equal opportunity employer. We value diverse backgrounds and experiences and make employment decisions without regard to race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, or disability.

What We Offer