Head of Operations - Austin, TX

Role Overview

Reports to Mike Garlington, VP of Defense and Strategy.

Location:

Austin, Texas (Capital Factory).

Classification:
Full-time, exempt.

Travel:
Approximately 25–40 percent (Riverside HQ, Shaver Lake R&D, Detroit, DC corridor, customer and partner sites).

Direct reports:
Initially none. Responsible for building the Austin team over the first 12–18 months.

The Head of Operations, Austin is Glīd's senior leader in Texas and exists to build the Austin operation from the ground up, capture federal proposals, support commercial growth, and represent Glīd across the Texas defense and innovation ecosystem.

• Establish Glīd’s professional presence at Capital Factory: workspace, vendor relationships, supplier accounts, day‑to‑day operating cadence.
• Own procurement, hiring, finance coordination, safety, and quality for the Austin footprint.
• Hire and develop the Austin team over time, starting with the highest‑leverage capture, program, and operations roles.
• Manage the Austin operating budget, headcount plan, and reporting back to executive leadership.

• Drive proposal capture across the Department of War, including AFWERX, ONR, USTRANSCOM, Army Futures Command, and adjacent agencies.
• Manage proposal development end to end: opportunity qualification, teaming decisions, response drafting, pricing coordination, submission, and post‑award negotiation.
• Serve as the named operator and primary customer interface on awarded contracts in the Texas corridor, owning milestones, deliverables, invoicing cadence, and customer relationships.
• Maintain proposal pipeline visibility, CRM discipline, and a weekly capture review with Mike Garlington.
• Coordinate with engineering and product leadership to ensure proposed work is technically deliverable and resourced.

• Provide operational and contract execution support to the Mobility Solutions team on commercial programs that touch Texas, including oil and gas (T11 and adjacent partners), shortline rail, and industrial logistics.
• Be the on‑the‑ground operator for commercial customer engagements in the region when the Mobility Solutions team needs forward presence.
• Strategic direction, commercial customer ownership, and solution design remain with the Head of Mobility Solutions. Your job is to make their work easier in the Texas market.

• Build and maintain working relationships with prime contractors, system integrators, partners, customers, and government counterparts across the Texas corridor.
• Be Glīd’s professional face at Capital Factory, Army Futures Command, AFRL Texas presence, the Austin venture and defense communities, and select industry events.
• Represent Glīd at investor, partner, and government meetings in the region when senior presence is required.
• Travel regularly to Riverside HQ, Shaver Lake R&D, Detroit manufacturing, customer and partner sites, and the DC corridor.

• Report directly to Mike Garlington and contribute to the broader executive leadership operating cadence.
• Coordinate with the engineering, mobility solutions, finance, and executive teams on cross‑functional work that touches Austin.
• Bring the voice of the customer, partner, and ecosystem back into Glīd's strategy, roadmap, and operating decisions.

• Austin presence is operational at Capital Factory.
• Weekly reporting cadence with Mike Garlington is established and running.
• You have a complete inventory of active and pending federal programs and commercial mobility programs that touch Austin.
• You have established working relationships with the Head of Mobility Solutions, engineering leadership, and the executive team.

• Federal capture pipeline has visibility, discipline, and a defined cadence.
• First wave of Austin ecosystem engagements is complete, including Army Futures Command, AFWERX presence in Texas, defense primes with Texas operations, and key venture partners.
• Operational support cadence with the Mobility Solutions team is running and producing value.

• You have…