Original listing text, shown exactly as published by the company.
Key Responsibilities
- Identify, qualify, shape, and capture Navy and maritime defense opportunities aligned with HavocAI’s strategic priorities
- Develop and execute account and capture strategies across key Navy customers, program offices, operational commands, and related defense organizations
- Build and maintain trusted relationships with Navy stakeholders, primes, shipbuilders, defense partners, and industry leaders
- Lead opportunity-shaping activities, including customer engagement, teaming strategy, competitive positioning, requirements influence, and win strategy development
- Partner cross-functionally with Growth, Product, Engineering, Mission Operations, and leadership teams to align customer needs with HavocAI’s technical and operational capabilities
- Support proposal development, pricing strategy, customer messaging, and overall pursuit execution
- Maintain accurate pipeline forecasting, opportunity tracking, and customer engagement records within CRM systems
- Represent HavocAI at industry events, exercises, demonstrations, customer meetings, and partner engagements
- Help expand HavocAI’s presence across maritime autonomy, unmanned systems, distributed operations, and related mission areas
- Translate customer needs and operational feedback into actionable product, engineering, and program priorities
- Support the development of repeatable go-to-market strategies for Navy and maritime defense customers
Qualifications
- 7+ years of experience in defense business development, capture, program development, or Navy-focused sales
- Strong understanding of U.S. Navy acquisition processes, organizations, funding pathways, and operational priorities
- Demonstrated experience leading or supporting successful captures within the defense market
- Existing relationships across Navy, DoD, maritime, shipbuilding, or defense industry stakeholders
- Ability to operate effectively in fast-moving, highly collaborative environments
- Strong communication, presentation, negotiation, and strategic thinking skills
- Ability to engage at both the executive and operator level, translating mission needs into actionable business and product opportunities
- Willingness and ability to get into the details of customer requirements, product capabilities, and technical solution development
- Experience with autonomous systems, maritime platforms, robotics, defense technology, or related fields preferred
- Ability to travel up to 60% as needed for customer engagement, demonstrations, exercises, and industry events
Preferred Background
- Experience working with unmanned systems, maritime autonomy, naval operations, or distributed maritime capabilities
- Familiarity with OTAs, SBIRs, RFIs, RFPs, program offices, POM cycles, and other defense acquisition pathways
- Prior military service, especially within the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, or maritime-focused joint environments
- Direct experience supporting Navy customers, naval acquisition organizations, operational commands, or maritime defense programs
- Experience working in a high-growth defense technology startup or scaling business development function
- Strong understanding of autonomy, ISR, C2, unmanned surface vessels, or related maritime mission areas
Success ProfileThe successful Director of Navy Programs will be a strategic, customer-facing leader who can identify and shape high-value opportunities while working internally to ensure HavocAI is positioned to win and deliver.
This person will bring strong Navy and maritime domain knowledge, trusted customer relationships, disciplined capture execution, and the ability to operate with urgency in a fast-paced startup environment. They will be comfortable building structure where it does not yet exist, moving between strategy and execution, and representing HavocAI with credibility across customers, partners, and industry stakeholders.
Key attributes include
- Mission-driven and customer-focused
- Strong Navy and maritime defense network
- Commercially minded with disciplined capture instincts
- Forward-leaning and proactive in shaping opportunities early
- Comfortable operating in ambiguity and building scalable processes
- Strong cross-functional collaborator with Product, Engineering, Operations, and Growth
- Excellent communicator with executive presence
- Able to translate operational needs into product and business priorities
- High ownership, urgency, and accountability
Location: Flexible / Hybrid
Travel: Up to 60%
