Marketing Manager, Founding Marketing Hire

Lever, Inc.; Herndon (VA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

4% 401k match

PTO and Sick Leave

Job summary

Aventra is seeking its founding marketing hire in Herndon, VA to own the full marketing function from day one and scale into a leadership role. You will work directly with the founders and executive team to shape how Aventra presents itself in the defense-tech landscape and to build the teams and systems needed as the company grows beyond Series B.

Strong performers will guide inbound/outbound marketing, manage vendors, and drive campaigns across events, content, and product materials while

Qualifications

• Experience owning a marketing function or major workstream independently.
• Ability to brief and manage outside creative vendors effectively.
• Experience running both inbound (content, SEO, campaigns) and outbound (event marketing, ABM) motions.
• Comfortable operating with minimal structure and building process rather than inheriting it.
• Client-facing and comfortable representing the company at industry events and with customers/partners.

Responsibilities

• Own Aventra's marketing function end-to-end and set the strategic direction.
• Lead content generation from concept through production in collaboration with external resources.
• Plan, execute, and track inbound and outbound marketing campaigns.
• Develop a social/content calendar aligned to milestones and events.
• Source, hire, and manage photography and video vendors/contractors.
• Develop product collateral with engineering and product teams.
• Support conferences, demos, and partner-facing marketing activities.
• Build foundational marketing systems (CRM/automation, brand guidelines, workflows).

Skills

Marketing experience

Content creation

Inbound marketing

Outbound marketing

Vendor management

Client-facing

Tools

CRM

Marketing automation

Job description

About Aventra

Aventra builds long-range, low-cost strike and ISR systems for the US and its allies: stratospheric platforms, precision glide vehicles, and ultra long range attack drones. Mass at range, at a price that changes the math. We're venture-backed, based in Herndon, Virginia, and flying hardware today.

We are a mission-driven team moving at startup speed with defense-grade accountability. Our programs span contracted deliveries, government demonstrations, and ongoing system development, and our pace reflects the urgency of the problems we’re solving.

The Role

We're hiring our founding marketing hire — someone who can own the full marketing function end to end from day one and grow into a leadership role as the team scales. You'll work directly with the founders and executive team, shape how Aventra shows up publicly in a fast-moving defense-tech and national security landscape, and build the systems and team needed to support a company scaling through Series B and beyond. Strong performance in this role comes with a clear path to Head of Marketing, including hiring and managing a team.

What You'll Own

• Aventra's social media presence and brand voice across all platforms
• Content generation, from concept through production, in partnership with outside creative resources
• Inbound and outbound marketing campaigns, including planning, execution, and performance tracking
• A social and content calendar aligned to product milestones, funding announcements, and industry events
• Sourcing, hiring, and managing photography and video vendors/contractors
• Product collateral development (data sheets, one-pagers, web content, trade show materials) in partnership with engineering and product
• Client and partner-facing marketing support at conferences, demos, and industry events
• Building the marketing function's foundational systems (CRM/marketing automation, brand guidelines, content workflows) as the team scales

Who You Are

Minimum Qualifications

• 3-6+ years of marketing experience, with a track record of owning a marketing function or major workstream independently
• Strong written and visual eye; able to brief and manage outside creative vendors effectively
• Experience running both inbound (content, SEO, campaigns) and outbound (targeted outreach, event marketing, ABM-style campaigns) motions
• Comfortable operating with minimal structure and building process rather than inheriting it
• Client-facing and comfortable representing the company at industry events and in front of customers/partners

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience at a venture-backed startup, ideally at or near the founding marketing hire stage
• Prior exposure to defense, aerospace, government, or dual-use tech markets is a strong plus
• Willing to be based in Herndon, VA and travel roughly 20% of the time

$120,000 - $165,000 a year

Compensation Package

• Competitive salary commensurate with experience
• Generous health coverage for employee and family, premium fully covered
• 4% 401k match
• PTO and Sick Leave

Travel & Work Environment

Travel Requirements

• Travel up to 25% to customer sites, and field test locations
• Ability to work in austere field conditions and military operational environments
• Flexibility to support urgent operational requirements and schedule changes

Work Environment

• In-person role based in Herndon, VA
• Collaborative environment supporting critical national security missions
• Direct support to warfighter capabilities and mission success

This is a ground-floor opportunity to build a marketing function at a Series A defense-tech company backed by a tier-1 venture syndicate, led by a multi-time defense founding team, with direct access to the founders and a clear growth path into a leadership role as the company and team scale. Aventra Defense Systems, Inc is a venture-backed startup building scalable, precision-guided capabilities for the next generation of combat. We are assembling a team of engineers and operators who believe in speed, simplicity, and delivering real capability to the field—not just PowerPoint slides.