Mission Partnerships Lead — Naval Aviation

Sorian Aero; Fallon, Northern (NV, KY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare benefits

Equity stake

Travel opportunities

Job summary

Sorian Aerospace is seeking a Naval Aviation Mission Partnerships Lead to cultivate direct relationships with instructors, adversary pilots, maintainers, and exercise planners across Fallon and the broader Navy and Marine Corps adversary community.

You will map operational gaps, identify credible internal champions, and connect Sorian engineers with instructors for substantive technical exchange, while navigating contracting pathways to advance validated needs within a six-month horizon.

Qualifications

• Meaningful experience in naval aviation communities such as TOPGUN/NAWDC or VFC squadrons.
• Proven ability to build direct relationships with instructors, pilots, and maintainers.
• Strong written and verbal communication with credibility in the Navy/Marine Corps aviation community.

Responsibilities

• Establish direct relationships within Fallon/Naval aviation circles.
• Identify primary and secondary relationships within priority organizations.
• Translate mission needs and training limitations into actionable insights.

Skills

Naval aviation experience

Stakeholder management

Relationship building

Job description

Sorian Aerospace is building autonomous supersonic aircraft for advanced training, test, and adversary-air missions.

We are hiring a Naval Aviation Mission Partnerships Lead to build direct, enduring relationships with the instructors, adversary pilots, maintainers, exercise planners, and tactics leaders who experience the mission problem firsthand.

Your first campaign will center on the Fallon ecosystem, including VFC-13, the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center, and TOPGUN. From that base, you will extend Sorian’s direct relationships to VFC-12, VFC-111, VFC-204, VMFT-401, and the wider Navy and Marine Corps adversary community.

A central focus will be understanding the operational gap created by the aging F-5 adversary fleet and what a credible modern successor must deliver.

Your job is not to sell to squadrons. Your job is to ensure Sorian knows the operators personally, understands their needs without acquisition filtering, and cultivates credible champions who can carry those needs upward.

Note: U.S. citizenship or permanent residency is required due to the nature of our work.

Responsibilities

• Establish direct relationships within VFC-13, NAWDC, TOPGUN, and the broader naval adversary-air community
• Build direct coverage of VFC-12, VFC-111, VFC-204, VMFT-401, and relevant training and test stakeholders
• Identify a named primary and secondary relationship within every priority organization
• Conduct recurring conversations about mission needs, threat replication, training limitations, availability, operating cost, and future requirements
• Develop an unfiltered understanding of the operational and economic limitations of the current F-5 adversary fleet
• Identify credible internal champions and distinguish them from supportive but inactive contacts
• Determine what performance, integration, data, or demonstration evidence operators require
• Connect Sorian engineers and pilots directly with instructors and operators for substantive technical exchange
• Map how unit-level needs travel through NAWDC, CNAF/CNAFR, Marine aviation organizations, NAVAIR, and related requirements and program channels
• Help champions advance validated needs while Sorian’s commercial team builds the contracting and acquisition pathway

What success looks like

For every priority organization, you can answer:

• Who do we know by name?
• What problem do they personally experience?
• What does the current F-5 or contracted-air solution fail to provide?
• Which capabilities matter in real training—not merely in a specification?
• What would a credible replacement have to demonstrate?
• Who is prepared to advocate for it?
• What concrete action will happen next?

Within six months, success means active primary and secondary relationships within Fallon’s core organizations, direct pathways into additional VFC and Marine adversary units, an operator-level understanding of the F-5 recapitalization problem, credible internal champions, and a defined technical exchange, visit, demonstration, exercise, or evaluation pathway.

Requirements

• Meaningful experience in TOPGUN, NAWDC, a VFC squadron, MAWTS-1, naval fighter aviation, test, or a closely adjacent mission
• Strong current credibility within the Navy or Marine Corps aviation community
• Direct understanding of adversary air, advanced training, fighter tactics, or operational test
• Ability to build new relationships beyond your existing personal network
• Ability to engage pilots, maintainers, instructors, engineers, and senior leadership with equal credibility
• Strong written discipline, high trust, discretion, responsiveness, and willingness to travel

Experience with naval requirements, NAVAIR, fleet replacement, contracted air services, or acquisition organizations is helpful but not required. Any post-government employment restrictions or account limitations must be disclosed and reviewed before work begins. Sorian is hiring for mission judgment and execution—not privileged access.

Availability

Fallon, NV preferred.
High-commitment fractional or full-time, with frequent travel to Long Beach.

Compensation Range

• fractional compensation prorated according to expected commitment
• meaningful equity for the appropriate long-term candidate
• complete healthcare benefits for full-time employees and their dependents