Mission Director - Defense Tech BD & P&L Leadership

Defense Unicorns; United States; Remoto; USD 145.000 - 185.000; Tempo pieno

Vantaggi offerti da questo lavoro

100% health premiums

Stock options

Flexible PTO

Learning budget

Home office budget

401k plan

Descrizione del lavoro

Defense Unicorns is seeking a Mission Director for Defense Tech BD & P&L leadership. This remote-based role targets Army systems, with a base salary of $145,000–$185,000 and total on-target earnings of $290,000–$370,000, reflecting a commission-heavy structure and senior ownership.

You will own new business within the Army, shape solutions, and lead contracts through delivery. Expect broad ownership, growth to portfolio leadership, and travel as needed.

Competenze

• Experience owning a quota and growing a diversified portfolio.
• Ability to shape solutions using Defense Unicorns products.
• Leadership across BD, contracting, staffing, and execution.

Mansioni

• Build the Business: identify net-new opportunities and grow trusted relationships.
• Shape and Close Opportunities: define problems and lead through proposal and contract award.
• Own Contract Execution: lead contracts through delivery with accountability for outcomes.
• Build and Lead the Team: define teams and scale delivery leadership as portfolio grows.
• Grow the Portfolio: maintain pipeline, pursue follow-on work, and drive gross margin.

Conoscenze

Quota carrying

Lifecycle ownership

Business development

Program management

P&L leadership

Kubernetes

DevSecOps

Cloud-native

Team leadership

GovCon experience

Descrizione del lavoro

Mission Director - Defense Tech BD & P&L Leadership in Wilmington

This is a high-upside, high-ownership role that blends business development, program management, and P&L leadership — a rare combination in the defense tech space. The on-target earnings of $290K–$370K put this well above median for federal BD roles (typically $120K–$160K OTE), reflecting both the seniority expected and the commission-heavy structure.

• Full lifecycle ownership (cradle-to-grave) builds a résumé profile that is highly valued across GovCon, defense primes, and venture-backed defense startups.
• Exposure to DevSecOps, Kubernetes, and cloud-native technologies in a national security context is a rapidly growing niche with limited supply of experienced practitioners.
• The explicit growth path — from individual contract ownership to portfolio leadership — signals real upward mobility rather than a static individual contributor role.

Company signals: Defense Unicorns is a venture-backed defense tech startup (Series A stage as of 2024), competing in the GovCon software modernization space against larger primes. Stock options could be meaningful if the company exits. Culture appears mission-driven and lean — expect startup pace, ambiguity, and significant autonomy.

Green flags: 100% paid health premiums, flexible PTO, strong learning budget, and stock options at an early-stage company. Watch for: quota-carrying roles in GovCon can have long sales cycles (12–24 months), so commission realization may lag performance significantly.

Role Description

The Mission Director is a quota-carrying, full-lifecycle business owner responsible for identifying, shaping, closing, and executing new business within the Army — specifically targeting PAE Fires/Maneuver Ground.

You will build trusted relationships with Mission Heroes (our customers), identify meaningful problems, shape solutions using Defense Unicorns products, and lead opportunities from initial discovery through contract award. Once awarded, you will remain accountable for the contract throughout its lifecycle, including cost, schedule, performance, staffing, margin, and customer satisfaction.

This role is designed for someone who wants broad ownership. As the portfolio grows in size and complexity, Mission Directors will increasingly lead through program managers and delivery leaders while retaining accountability for portfolio outcomes.

Responsibilities

The listed responsibilities are not exhaustive and additional responsibilities may be assigned based on the evolving needs of the organization. We are seeking a dynamic individual who is able to adapt and take on new responsibilities as they arise.

Build the Business

• Identify and develop net-new PAE Fires/Maneuver Ground opportunities and build trusted relationships with Mission Heroes and key stakeholders.
• Own a quota and grow a diversified portfolio of business.

Shape and Close Opportunities

• Define customer problems, scope, and desired outcomes to shape solutions using Defense Unicorns products and the right acquisition approach.
• Lead opportunities through proposal, negotiation, and contract award.

Own Contract Execution

• Serve as the program leader for new contracts you close, with direct responsibility for execution until the portfolio reaches the scale where additional program management support is warranted.
• Manage delivery risks, scope changes, and mission outcomes.

Build and Lead the Team

• Define and build the team required to execute each contract. Personally lead contract execution and, as the portfolio grows, lead program managers and other delivery leaders across the portfolio.

Grow the Portfolio

• Maintain an active pipeline and continue developing new opportunities while executing existing contracts by identifying follow-on work, expansions, and adjacent opportunities.
• Own customer retention, portfolio growth, and gross margin.
• Grow from individual contract ownership into a broader portfolio leadership role.

Preferred Experience and Qualifications

• Experience within PAE Fires/Maneuver Ground or a closely related defense environment.
• Strong understanding of the culture, mission, stakeholders, and terminology within the domain you support.
• Experience in one or more of the following: military operations, government program management, acquisition, contracting, business development, or defense industry program leadership.
• Working knowledge of federal acquisition, including contract vehicles, acquisition strategies, and contract negotiations.
• Strong commercial judgment and comfort owning revenue-generating activities.
• Demonstrated ability to lead teams and hold accountability for outcomes.
• Willingness to operate across business development, contracting, staffing, and execution — personally driving critical work while building and leading the teams required to scale.
• Comfortable operating with ambiguity, identifying opportunities, and creating a path forward without a predefined playbook.
• Technical fluency sufficient to understand and communicate Defense Unicorns products, cloud-native technologies, DevSecOps, Kubernetes, and modern software delivery concepts.

Candidates located near major Army hubs are preferred.

Ability to travel approximately 25–40%.

Who We Are

Defense Unicorns delivers mission value by streamlining software delivery so our customers can focus on the most important challenges. We share a vision of freedom and security for the advancement of progress and innovation. Our commitment to this vision, and to our mission-driven customers, means a commitment to speed, user experience and optionality, without compromising security. Our team is composed of innovators, software engineers, and veterans with decades of experience delivering technology programs across the federal market.

What We Do

We create and deliver secure solutions for continuous software integration and delivery. Defense Unicorns consolidates the best practices for security pipelines, testing, and deployment automation in order to meet the high security requirements valued by mission owners. Our solutions are agnostic by design and we believe that growing a robust ecosystem of secure, cloud-native software solutions can help enterprise customers inside and outside the federal market buy and integrate software more easily.

Who We Serve

Defense Unicorns' customers are mission-focused leaders across public and private enterprises. We proudly support defense and civil agencies across the U.S. government and we work closely with the creators of leading-edge software solutions to deliver value to the mission-owner by improving the security and consumability of commercial software products.

What We Work On

• Cloud Environments (AWS/GCP and Azure)
• Continuous Delivery and automation tooling
• GitOps
• Containers
• CNCF projects and open source products and packages
• Building and improving security delivery
• Building Kubernetes and cloud-native applications

Benefits Our Unicorns Enjoy

Health:

• Premiums are 100% Company Paid
• Health Savings Account
• Life Insurance
• Disability Insurance
• 401k Retirement Plan
• Company Stock Options
• Home Office Budget

Leave:

• Flexible Time Off (FTO) plus all Federal Holidays, one week for Thanksgiving, and two weeks for Christmas and New Year's

Learning:

• Reimbursement for approved trainings/subscriptions
• Conferences (travel, lodging, and fees)

Don't have all the preferred experience or qualifications? Studies show that underrepresented groups like women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs if they don't meet every requirement listed.

At Defense Unicorns, we're committed to diversity. If you're enthusiastic about the role but don't match every criteria, we encourage you to apply. You could be the perfect fit for this or another role! Defense Unicorns is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, union status and/or beliefs, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

Is this role fully remote or does it require being in a specific location? The role is remote-based but candidates near major Army hubs are preferred. It also requires 25–40% travel to customer sites and military installations across the US. What is the total compensation for the Mission Director role? The base salary ranges from $145,000 to $185,000, with total on-target earnings of $290,000 to $370,000, reflecting a significant performance-based commission component. Do I need a security clearance for this position? The job posting does not explicitly state a clearance requirement, but given the role targets Army PAE Fires/Maneuver Ground customers, candidates with an active clearance or clearance eligibility will likely be strongly preferred. What background is preferred for this role? Defense Unicorns prefers candidates with experience in PAE Fires/Maneuver Ground or a related defense environment, combined with expertise in business development, federal acquisition, government program management, or defense industry leadership. Does Defense Unicorns offer equity or stock options? Yes, the company offers stock options as part of its financial benefits package, alongside a 401(k) retirement plan and home office budget.

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