Mission Lead - Minneapolis (Clearance Required)

Vannevar; Minneapolis (MN); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Remote friendly with WeWork access

Unlimited PTO

401(k) match

Wellbeing stipends

Military leave top-up

Parental leave (fully paid)

Care reimbursement during travel

Job summary

Vannevar, a defense technology company, is hiring a MissionLead to embed directly with Department of War customers across the United States. You will sit on site with uniformed service members and civilian operators to understand their goals, decompose complex problems into mission hypotheses, and test workflows within our products.

You will often travel and work in secure environments, earning trust and delivering value by configuring workflows, troubleshooting releases, and partnering with

Qualifications

• Active TS clearance.
• Based in Minnesota with about 75% travel to sit with users across the United States.
• Comfort in the field and ability to interact in operational environments.
• High ownership and the ability to operate independently.

Responsibilities

• Embed with DOW users on site to develop deep mission insight.
• Build trust by understanding user problems and delivering solutions over time.
• Turn ambiguity into testable mission hypotheses and workflows.
• Configure product workflows for high-value use cases and test releases on deployed systems.
• Troubleshoot releases and work with engineering to resolve issues in the field.
• Generate mission wins by onboarding users and documenting impact.
• Develop additional user groups on site and identify where Vannevar can create value.
• Operate independently on site while coordinating with product, engineering, and leadership.
• Represent Vannevar as the company face with DOW users and customers.

Skills

Travel readiness

Independent work

Trust building

Communication

Job description

Vannevar is a defense technology company building AI to deter our adversaries. In the 21st century, conflict moves at algorithmic speed and foresight equals firepower. Our agentic AI is purpose-built to compete with China—from cross-Strait conflict to gray zone coercion. Trained on the most mission-relevant datasets in defense, our technology models adversary behavior, simulates campaigns, and recommends the best course of action to decision makers. Our AI systems are some of the most trusted in the industry and actively used on the front lines of the Indo-Pacific to keep the peace and save lives.

Exceptional technology starts with exceptional people. Vannevar is a small agile team combining world-class engineers with veteran strategists who bring deep expertise in defense and tradecraft. We’re building a company defined by mission impact, user empathy, and disciplined growth. In just three years, we grew from $3M to $80M in ARR, achieved early profitability, and reached unicorn status—proving that disruption doesn’t require an ego, and staying power doesn’t mean standing still.

About the role

We’rehiring a forward deployed MissionLeadto embed directly with our Department of War (DOW) customersacross the United States.You’llwork as part of a mission-focused team of engineers and other missionleads to deploy software againstchallenging problems.While this role requires frequent travel,we’recommitted to hiring locally and strengthening Vannevar’s presence in communities—like Minnesota that our team members already call home.

You will travel onsite, sit alongside uniformed service members and civilian operators alike. Your job is to earn trust by creating value: understanding what users are trying to accomplish, decomposing ambiguous problems into specific mission hypotheses, testing those hypotheses through workflows in our products, and onboarding users when those workflows prove useful.

This is not a traditional customer success, solutions, or product role.Your role is to solve complex andambiguousproblems.You will configure product workflows, test and troubleshoot new releases, triage issues, and work closely withproduct andengineering to make our products more effectivefor the people using themin the field. Some of this work will be gritty. Configurations may take hours and multiple iterations each day to get right.Expect complex problems, murky answers, and moving targets – the payoff is work that directly shapes outcomes for our users.

You will partner with the Mission team to cultivate relationships with new user groups on site, generate wins with those users, and translate those wins into the stories that help Vannevarsustain and expand deployments. You will be the face of Vannevar for many of ourusers and customers.

You will oftenoperateindependently on site. You will have support from product, engineering, mission development, and leadership, but you willbe responsible fordeciding where to focus and how to maximize mission impact.Roles like this are how we grow outside of traditional defense hubs, investing in innovative environments across America.

U.S. Persons status with at least a current Top Secret clearance in required. This is a customer-facing role required to be based in Minneapolis. Work will require time in secure or classified environments and periodic travel.

What you’ll do

• Embed with users. Sit on site with DOW customer groups and build deep intuition for their mission.

• Build trust. Earn credibility by understanding user problems and helping solve them over time.

• Turn ambiguity into hypotheses. Break complex mission problems into specific workflows that can be tested.

• Configure product workflows. Set up high-value workflows for users through creative, iterative configuration.

• Test and troubleshoot releases. Debug product issues on deployed DOW systems and work with engineering to resolve them.

• Generate mission wins. Identifywhat works, onboard users, and translate wins into evidence of impact.

• Develop new user groups. Build relationships withadditionalteams on site andidentifywhere Vannevar can create value.

• Operate independently. Set priorities on site and push work through without waiting for perfect direction.

• Represent Vannevar. Be the face of the company withDOWusers and customers.

What we’re looking for

• Active TSclearance.

• This role isbased inMinnesota, andincludes about 75% timetravel out-of-state to sit side-by-side with users across the United States.

• Comfort in the field. You can build trust with users in operational environments.

• High ownership. You take responsibility for outcomes andoperateindependently.

• Grit and persistence. You work through ambiguity, iteration, and friction until you get toimpact.

• Strong mission judgment. You canidentifywhich user problems matter and where product can create value.

• Technical intuition. You can reason about how software systems, work, break, and how to improve them, creating real value for users.

• Curiosity about agentic AI. You are excited to understand, configure, and apply AI-enabled systemsto create mission impact for the warfighter.

• Professional presence. You show up in high-stakes government environments as a trusted technical partner—not a vendor.

What we offer

We’re proud to offer competitive benefits that support our employees. Some key highlights of our benefits package include:

• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Remote friendly with WeWork access
• Unlimited PTO, shared downtime during the federal holiday calendar, and company-wide off time at the end of each year
• 401(k) match
• Lifestyle & wellbeing stipends
• Salary top-up during military reserve duty
• Fully paid parental leave
• Child and pet care reimbursement during travel

Vannevar is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status.

We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply, even if you don’t feel like you’re a perfect fit. If you’re passionate about contributing to our mission, we’d love to hear from you!

IMPORTANT NOTICE
We are committed to protecting the privacy of all applicants. Official emails from the company will come from an @vannevarlabs.com domain. Under no circumstances will a legitimate representative from our company contact you to request passwords, financial information, or other sensitive personal data. Please be vigilant of potential scams.