Head Of Business Development, Middle East; r5057

Head Of Business Development, Middle East (r5057) Drive district-wide defense sales growth in the Middle East through strategic partnerships and government engagement

Location:

Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Emirate, United Arab Emirates

The Head of Business Development, Middle East serves as Shield AI's senior District leader, responsible for driving integrated District strategy, sales growth, and program sales execution across multiple priority markets (excluding Saudi Arabia). This role ensures successful and compliant execution of active deal programs, aligns cross-functional teams across countries, and serves as the primary interface with senior government, military, and industry stakeholders at both national and District levels.

This position holds accountability for District pipeline growth and development, order intake, and long-term market expansion while driving alignment and execution across Country Business Development Leads throughout the District. As such, this person will retain a sales quota for their district comprised of territory manager quotas within that district as well as their own individual quota. Through strategic oversight and coordinated execution across markets, the Head of Business Development strengthens customer trust, scales operational impact, and accelerates the sustained growth of Shield AI's District presence.

Additionally, this person will carry a sales quota for their assigned district.

• Serve as Shield AI's senior District representative across the Middle East, engaging senior military, government, and industry stakeholders while ensuring operational and regulatory compliance across activities in the district.
• Develop and execute a unified District strategy aligned with priorities in Middle East integrating country-level efforts into coordinated campaigns across CENTCOM, the GCC (excluding Saudi Arabia), and bilateral frameworks.
• Own district quota and sales performance, including pipeline development, forecast accuracy, order intake, and opportunity execution from shaping through close.
• Provide strategic direction and coordination for Country Business Development Leads across the District, setting priorities, driving execution discipline, and aligning stakeholder engagement and market strategy.
• District business growth across Shield AI's product portfolio, including V-BAT, X-BAT, ViDAR and Hivemind, ensuring alignment with product and regional leadership priorities.
• Oversee cross-functional coordination across Business Development, Government Relations, Program Management, Legal, Contracts, PX, Marketing and Customer Operations to support successful capture, execution, and customer outcomes.
• Ensure successful execution of active district opportunities, maintaining accountability for performance, timelines, customer satisfaction, and long-term strategic growth.
• Build and maintain a disciplined, data-driven district pipeline and stakeholder engagement strategy to support sustained growth and follow‑on business opportunities.
• Develop and manage district partnerships, resellers, and strategic industry relationships to expand market access and accelerate operational execution.
• Identify and mitigate political, procurement, operational, and strategic risks across the district while providing executive visibility into performance, risks, and growth outlook.

• Typically requires 10+ years of experience in defence, military operations, business development, capture management, or international government relations.
• Deep technical and operational understanding of Shield AI systems and technologies, including V-BAT, Hivemind, and X-BAT, with knowledge of operational employment concepts, payload integration, training, sustainment, and deployed operations.
• Proven experience operating across multiple international markets within defence, aerospace, or national security environments, including navigating complex government procurement and stakeholder ecosystems.
• Demonstrated ability to lead distributed, cross-functional teams and align senior stakeholders across multiple countries, cultures, and operational environments.
• Strong executive presence with experience engaging senior military leadership, Ministries of Defence, U.S. Embassies/ODCs, CENTCOM/GCC stakeholders, and strategic industry partners in high‑visibility environments.
• Proven track record of driving pipeline development, capture strategy, and successful closure of complex, high‑value defence opportunities.
• Arabic and English language proficiency relevant to the assigned district.
• Bachelor degree or relevant military education preferred.

• Prior district leadership experience across allied defence markets, including CENTCOM, Middle East, GCC, and/or other international government environments.
• Existing relationships with CENTCOM/GCC, Ministries of Defence, senior military leadership, defence procurement organizations, and strategic industry stakeholders.
• Experience leading…