VP, U.S. Defense & Intelligence

blackshark.ai is at an important turning point. We serve government and commercial customers internationally, but U.S. defense and intelligence is where we intend to build our largest business first.

We already have customers, deployments and promising opportunities. Now we need to turn that foothold and early customer enthusiasm into a category-defining business. That means expanding where our software is already used, winning new customers and making blackshark.ai part of how they accomplish their mission.

Strong technology and successful demos will not get us there alone. Someone has to understand the mission, find who owns the decision, follow the funding and build a path to a signed contract. Where funding does not yet exist, someone has to build the case and work with the people who can get it prioritized and funded. Then do it again, with a team that can win beyond one person’s relationships.

That is your job. Your first priority is U.S. D&I revenue, and you will drive it yourself: opening doors, spending time with customers, shaping opportunities, negotiating and closing business. You decide where we place our bets and stop pursuits that will not lead anywhere. You know when to work directly with an agency, when a prime is the better route and when an opportunity needs to be shaped before there is anything to bid on.

You will start with the team and resources we have and build from there. We expect you to make clear choices about where people, partnerships and spending will accelerate the business. As opportunities justify it, you will build the Sales, Solutions Engineering and Business Development team, while staying personally involved in our most important deals.

You will also help us build the right U.S. foundation. Export control, certifications, FCL and FOCI mitigation need to be addressed before they become blockers to revenue. You know what each opportunity requires and bring up the commercial case and push for timely decisions, without building an expensive organization ahead of the business.

You will keep Product and Engineering close to the mission, bringing back what customers need to accomplish, where our software falls short and which improvements would drive adoption and expansion, within the boundaries of FOCI arrangements.

You will be part of our commercial leadership team, working closely with the Head of Sales and directly with the CEO and Head of Operations to build our U.S. defense and intelligence business.

This will be hard. The bar is high, the pace is fast and there is no large prime behind you. If you want to build a national security business rather than inherit one, and own its results, come build it with us.

• Own the U.S. D&I revenue target, pipeline and forecast across government customers, defense primes and integrators, with reviews grounded in real funding and procurement progress.

• Personally source, shape and close business. Spend time in the field with customers and partners, drive our strategic deals through award and stay involved as deployments turn into renewals and larger contracts.

• Assess the current team and build the one we need across Sales, Solutions Engineering and Business Development: start small, expand as the business grows, give each account a clear owner and coach people to close their own deals.

• Map each priority account (who needs the product, who can fund it, who can buy it and what must happen next) and build the relationships to match, from end users to program offices, contracting officers and budget stakeholders.

• Build funding paths for priority opportunities. Work with customer champions to get requirements into budget requests and funded programs, pursue available funding and contracting routes, and connect…