Mission Director - Space (FedS171B)

Defense Unicorns; United States; Remote; USD 145,000 - 185,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401k matching

Company stock options

Home office budget

Paid parental leave

Conferences (travel, lodging, fees)

Job summary

Defense Unicorns is seeking a Mission Director to spearhead full-lifecycle capture efforts across the Space ecosystem. You will own the acquisition of new Mission Heroes from early qualification through proposal, driving win strategies and aligning technical solutions to mission outcomes.

This high-impact role influences the company\u2019s pipeline, revenue targets, and national security impact, requiring leadership, government-facing collaboration, and deep knowledge of DoD procurement and

Qualifications

• Proven ability to win complex technical pursuits through full capture lifecycle.
• Experience with Space Force acquisition processes (FAR-based contracts, OTAs, SBIR, IDIQ) is preferred.
• Excellent communication, strategic thinking, and leadership across technical and executive audiences.

Responsibilities

• Drive new Mission Hero acquisition across the Space ecosystem and align efforts with growth objectives.
• Develop and execute capture plans, win strategies, and competitive positioning.
• Engage early with government stakeholders, primes, and ecosystem partners to shape opportunities.
• Translate capabilities into persuasive win themes and support RFI/RFP responses.
• Prepare reports on BD activities and use data-driven insights to improve results.

Skills

Capture lifecycle

DoD acquisition

Strategic leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Proposal development

Job description

Location: United States

This position offers a base salary of $145,000 - $185,000. (Total on-target earnings of $290,000 to $370,000)

Role Description:

Defense Unicorns is seeking mission-driven Mission Directorsto spearhead full-lifecycle capture efforts across the Space ecosystem. In this high-impact role, you will shape and lead strategic pursuits that align Defense Unicorns’ unique strengths—secure software delivery, DevSecOps, tactical edge enablement, and cybersecurity with emerging government needs.

You will own the acquisition of new Mission Heroes (what we call our customers) from early qualification through proposal, driving win strategies, forming key partnerships, and aligning technical solutions to mission outcomes. This is a pivotal role within our growth team that directly influences the company’s pipeline, revenue targets, and national security impact.

Responsibilities:

• Drive new Mission Hero acquisition across the Space ecosystem, ensuring alignment with Defense Unicorn’s strategic growth objectives and solution capabilities.
• Develop and execute capture plans, win strategies, and competitive positioning to secure new business.
• Engage early with government stakeholders, primes, and ecosystem partners to shape opportunities ahead of solicitation.
• Understand customer pain points, acquisition timelines, and funding paths across multiple branches of the DoD.
• Identify and lead teaming arrangements that enhance technical capabilities, socio-economic positioning, or incumbent advantage.
• Translate technical capabilities—such as the Unicorn Delivery Service (UDS), cATO acceleration, and edge deployments—into persuasive win themes.
• Support RFI/RFP responses with market intelligence, SWOT analysis, and pricing strategy input.
• Prepare regular reports on business development activities, track key performance indicators (KPIs), and analyze the effectiveness of various strategies. Use data-driven insights to refine approaches and achieve better results.
• Represent the company at industry and government events to raise visibility and gather market intelligence.

You are measured by:

• Number and quality of qualified Space opportunities identified and advanced.
• Maturity of pipeline supporting growth goals.

• Development and execution of capture strategies, including capture plans, customer shaping, and teaming.
• Achievement of annual bookings target.
• Contribution to overall proposal win rate and contract awards.
• Success in building lasting relationships that lead to competitive advantage.

Travel Expectations/Requirements: 20%-30%

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.

Preferred Experience and Qualifications:

• Proven ability to win complex technical pursuits through the full capture lifecycle.
• Working knowledge of Space Force acquisition processes (e.g., FAR-based contracts, OTAs, SBIR, IDIQ).
• Excellent communication, strategic thinking, and leadership skills across technical and executive audiences.
• Experience coordinating multi-disciplinary teams to deliver successful proposals.
• Familiarity with software factory environments, DevSecOps, cybersecurity, or tactical edge deployments is a strong plus.
• Deep Cyber operational experience.

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

• Kubernetes
• Cloud Environments (AWS/GCP and Azure)
• Infrastructure-as-code (like Terraform/Pulumi)
• Continuous Delivery and automation tooling
• GitOps
• Containers
• CNCF projects and open source products and packages
• Helm/Kustomize-Value Stream Mapping
• Building and improving security delivery
• Building Kubernetes and cloud native applications

Benefits Our Unicorns Enjoy

Health:

• Medical/Dental/Vision
• Premiums are 100% Company Paid
• Health Savings Account
• Life Insurance
• Disability Insurance

Financial:

• 401k Retirement Plan
• Company Stock Options
• Home Office Budget

Leave:

• We offer all full-time Unicorns Flexible Time Off (FTO) plus all Federal Holidays, one week for Thanksgiving, and two weeks for Christmas and New Year’s
• Paid Parental Leave

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.

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