Mission Director - Air Force

Defense Unicorns

13d•$145,000 - $185,000

About The Position

The Mission Director is a quota-carrying, full-lifecycle business owner responsible for identifying, shaping, closing, and executing new business within the Air Force, focused on Enterprise Cloud, Nuke & NC3, or AOCs/C2. The role builds trusted relationships with customers, identifies meaningful problems, shapes solutions using Defense Unicorns products, and leads opportunities from initial discovery through contract award. After award, the Mission Director remains accountable for the contract throughout its lifecycle, including cost, schedule, performance, staffing, margin, and customer satisfaction. This role offers broad ownership. As the portfolio grows in size and complexity, the Mission Director increasingly leads through program managers and delivery leaders while retaining accountability for portfolio outcomes. The company is hiring for Air Force focus areas in Enterprise Cloud, Nuke & NC3, and AOCs/C2. Candidates near Air Force customer and acquisition hubs—particularly Boston, Dayton, Denver, or the NCR—are preferred, but candidates elsewhere will be considered. Travel of approximately 25–40%, including regular travel to customer locations, is required.

Requirements

Experience in one or more of the following: military operations, government program management, acquisition, contracting, business development, or defense industry program leadership.
Working knowledge of federal acquisition, including contract vehicles, acquisition strategies, and contract negotiations.
Strong commercial judgment and comfort owning revenue-generating activities.
Demonstrated ability to lead teams and be accountable for outcomes.
Willingness to work across business development, contracting, staffing, and execution, personally driving critical work while building and leading teams to scale.
Comfort operating with ambiguity, identifying opportunities, and creating a path forward without a predefined playbook.
Technical fluency sufficient to understand and communicate Defense Unicorns products, cloud-native technologies, DevSecOps, Kubernetes, and modern software delivery concepts.
Ability to travel approximately 25–40%, including regular travel to customer locations.

Nice To Haves

Experience within Air Force Enterprise Cloud, Nuke & NC3, AOCs/C2, or a closely related defense environment.
Strong understanding of the culture, mission, stakeholders, and terminology within the supported domain.
Location near Air Force customer and acquisition hubs, particularly Boston, Dayton, Denver, or the NCR.

Responsibilities

Identify and develop net-new business and build trusted relationships with Mission Heroes and key stakeholders.
Own a quota and grow a diversified portfolio of business.
Define customer problems, scope, and desired outcomes to shape solutions using Defense Unicorns products and the appropriate acquisition approach.
Lead opportunities through proposal, negotiation, and contract award.
Serve as program leader for new contracts closed, with direct responsibility for execution until additional program management support is warranted.
Manage delivery risks, scope changes, and mission outcomes.
Define and build the team required to execute each contract.
Personally lead contract execution and, as the portfolio grows, lead program managers and other delivery leaders across the portfolio.
Maintain an active pipeline while executing existing contracts.
Identify follow-on work, expansions, and adjacent opportunities.
Own customer retention, portfolio growth, and gross margin.
Grow from individual contract ownership into a broader portfolio leadership role.