Deployment Strategist

Foundry Robotics•San Francisco, CA

16h•Hybrid

About The Position

Foundry Robotics is building an AI-native robotics manufacturing company focused on deploying advanced assembly and production capability for leading robotics companies and national-security-critical hardware. We are building robots that build robots. Our mission is to rebuild American manufacturing as an AI-first, assembly-focused, dual-use contract manufacturer that makes the industrial base scalable, resilient, and competitive again. We are hiring a Deployment Strategist to open, own, and grow our most important defense relationships. You will be the human face of Foundry inside the Department of War, the primes, and the neo-primes reshaping the industrial base. Our Deployment Strategists run the full lifecycle: prospecting, capture, close, deployment, and expansion. The relationship is yours from the first call to the next contract, whether the customer is a commander in the field or a defense executive. You will be handed a market, an intent, and the keys to our most senior customer relationships. Closing matters here. So does the judgment to know which accounts to chase, which to walk away from, and which deserve a full-court press. We are not looking for someone who needs a playbook or weekly direction. We are looking for someone who can walk onto a prime's production floor, into an SES briefing, a KO's office, a Captain's wardroom, or a congressional meeting and know what to do. You should be equally comfortable walking a plant floor, structuring a multi-million-dollar contract, briefing an Admiral, and partnering with PhD roboticists to translate field feedback into product priorities.

Requirements

Senior Defense Closer
5+ years in defense capture, BD, or commercial / GTM roles with a track record of personally closing multi-million-dollar deals
Proven ability to land and expand within DoW program offices, primes, and neo-primes
Deep working knowledge of how DoW programs are funded and contracted, and the difference between a prime and a neo-prime
Hardware DNA: Background selling physical hardware into industrial or defense environments: robotics, automation, weapon systems, sensors, or similar
Direct production exposure: manufacturing, sustainment, depot operations, or weapon system production
Understands the difference between selling software and selling systems that have to work on a factory floor
Operator Mentality: Operates on intent: takes a one-line objective and returns with a plan, a customer, and a path to revenue
Full commercial accountability: pipeline, forecast, revenue, retention
High judgment on which deals to chase and which to walk away from
Clearance & Education: Active or ability to obtain a DoW/DoD Secret clearance preferred; ability to obtain TS/SCI

Nice To Haves

Prior military service, particularly operational leadership where you led people under pressure
DoW program office experience in industrial base, maintenance, sustainment, or procurement
Time inside a top-tier strategy consulting firm with defense or manufacturing exposure
Existing relationships across DoW, prime, and neo-prime executive buying centers
A pattern of moving faster than peers and taking outsized responsibility early

Responsibilities

Revenue Ownership & Capture: Carry a number against defense accounts; own forecast accuracy and pipeline hygiene
Run the full capture lifecycle from identify to close, converting pilots into programs of record and single cells into full production lines
Set deal structures for pilots, deployments, and contract manufacturing relationships
Account Strategy: Build account plans for the Department of War, defense primes (Lockheed, RTX, Northrop, GD, BAE, HII, L3Harris), and neo-primes (Anduril, SpaceX, Palantir, Shield AI, Saronic)
Decide where to invest, where to wait, and where to walk
Drive multi-stakeholder cycles end-to-end, from first conversation to signed contract
Stakeholder Navigation: Build executive relationships across program managers, contracting officers, senior uniformed leaders, and prime executives
Drive demos and briefings that make the technology real for the people who sign the contract
Navigate the Hill and the Department when required
Customer & Field Deployment: Own commercial outcomes through deployment, not just signature
Identify manufacturing pain points and assembly bottlenecks where Foundry creates asymmetric advantage
Partner with engineering to translate field feedback into product priorities
Develop reference accounts that become the foundation of expansion