Responsibilities

• Maintain a current, evidence-based view of the Department of War (DoW) customer landscape, including the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Space Force, SOCOM, the Combatant Commands with INDOPACOM as the priority theater, DIU and the service innovation organizations, the service research laboratories, and adjacent agencies that fund and field capabilities relevant to Firestorm.
• Analyze policy, budget, and acquisition data (PPBE submissions, NDAA and appropriations language, service posture statements, and program office signals) and translate it into a written go-to-market and customer engagement strategy aligned with the xCell and aircraft product lines and the product development roadmap.
• Publish the initial go-to-market strategy within the first 90 days and keep it current as budgets, policy, and customer priorities shift.
• Define our value proposition by customer segment in plain language and hold the pipeline to it. Recommend which demonstrations, experiments, and revenue opportunities fit the value proposition and roadmap, and which do not.
• Inform the product roadmap by delivering demand signals, policy developments, customer feedback, and budget forecasts to product and engineering so that roadmap decisions are grounded in where the money and the requirements are going.
• Own the strategy and the senior business relationships for Firestorm's most important partners: primes with whom we act as a subcontractor or teammate, OEMs whose systems we integrate with or whose platforms integrate ours, and other public and private value-add partners.
• Direct the Strategic Partnerships Manager, who will execute the day-to-day work of building, maintaining, and documenting these relationships in line with the direction this role sets.
• Work with product and engineering to determine which OEMs fit the product ecosystem and roadmap and own the business side of those relationships once the fit is established.
• Apply the same quality test to partnerships as to revenue to identify partnerships that strengthen our value proposition or open a market we have decided to enter.
• Identify and assess international and OCONUS markets Firestorm has not yet entered and build the strategy for entering the ones that make sense for the company.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Engineering, International Relations, Public Policy, or a related field.
• U.S. citizenship required due to ITAR regulations, and the ability to obtain and maintain a DoW security clearance.
• 8+ years of experience in defense strategy, market analysis, capture, or government contracting within the national security sector.
• Understanding of the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) process, rapid acquisition pathways, and the congressional authorization and appropriations cycle.
• Experience reading policy and budget documents and turning them into a defensible market strategy.
• Established professional network across the services, the Combatant Commands, DoW innovation organizations, and the prime and OEM community.
• Experience shaping and structuring strategic partnerships, teaming arrangements, or OEM relationships in the defense industry.
• Experience communicating complex strategic and technical concepts clearly to senior government, military, and industry leaders.

Preferred

• MBA or advanced degree in Business, Strategy, Public Policy, or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience in defense strategy, market analysis, capture, or government contracting within the national security sector.
• Active DoW security clearance, Secret or higher.
• Experience with international defense markets, allied and partner nation engagement, or OCONUS market entry.
• Experience in defense innovation organizations such as DIU, AFWERX, or service-level R&D commands.
• Experience in a 0-to-1 environment where the market strategy had to be built rather than inherited.

Benefits

• We offer comprehensive medical, dental, and visions plans
• 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan to invest in your long-term retirement goals
• Equity grants for new hires
• Unlimited PTO
• Extremely generous company holiday calendar, including holiday hiatuses in July & December.
• Generous Parental Leave
• Lifestyle Spending Account
• FSA
• DCFSA
• HSA