Senior Business Development Lead
Shield AI is a U.S. defense-technology company developing mission-autonomy software and autonomous aircraft for military and allied operations.
Funding history
Investors
About Shield AI
Founded in 2015, Shield AI builds Hivemind autonomy software and V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft for operations in contested, GPS- and communications-denied environments. Its current site also presents Aechelon synthetic-reality simulation and Vision Systems detection and tracking products.
Skills
Candidate Availability
Required and preferred rules are kept separate and reflect the wording in the original posting.
About the Role
You will own territory strategy, pipeline development, account growth, and opportunity execution across Italy. You will lead deal closure, engage military and government stakeholders, develop partnerships, coordinate cross-functional capture efforts, maintain forecasts, provide market intelligence, and support customer growth after award.
Requirements
- 6+ years of business development, capture, sales, strategic engagement, account management, or related customer-facing experience
- Experience advancing complex opportunities with long sales cycles and senior stakeholders
- Ability to build credibility with military, government, industry, and strategic partner stakeholders
- Communication, negotiation, stakeholder management, and cross-functional collaboration skills
- Fluency in English and regional languages relevant to the assigned market
Responsibilities
- Execute go-to-market strategy across assigned markets
- Build and grow a pipeline across autonomy, aircraft, ISR, and mission-system opportunities
- Lead account planning, customer shaping, proposal development, negotiation, and contract close
- Engage military leaders, defense ministries, procurement authorities, and industry partners
- Articulate mission outcomes, operational advantages, and integration pathways
- Develop regional partnerships and offset-aligned strategies
- Coordinate cross-functional teams to support capture and delivery
- Maintain forecasting, pipeline management, opportunity tracking, and campaign reporting
- Provide regional market intelligence
- Support customer engagement and long-term account expansion after award