Project Lead - SOF RACER

BMNT•Arlington, VA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

This role is for a Project Lead within the SOF RACER initiative, a new consortium managed by BMNT. SOF RACER aims to rapidly integrate commercial technology with Special Operations Forces (SOF) operators. The Project Lead will be responsible for nurturing relationships with SOCOM stakeholders to fill the pipeline with funded problems and ensuring member engagement. This involves acting as the primary point of contact for SOCOM offices with challenges, guiding first-time defense vendors, and representing SOF RACER in critical discussions.

Requirements

Experience working government acquisition from the industry side (consortium, OTA, accelerator, or federal BD).
Experience earning the trust of program managers and guiding them through processes.
Ability to brief a general officer and coach a seed-stage founder.
Proficiency in conducting discovery conversations, doing only 25-40% of the talking and treating learned information as the product of effort.
Understanding of classification levels and ability to keep unclassified conversations unclassified.
Knowledge of how to route classified information to the correct channels.
Comfort with autonomy and ambiguity.
Willingness to ask for help early and loudly when it affects the mission.
Minimum active Secret clearance; TS/SCI preferred.

Responsibilities

Own the demand engine by building and maintaining relationships with SOCOM stakeholders.
Conduct structured intake conversations for new challenges, guiding needs from first contact to a problem statement for the consortium.
Regularly be on base to build the pipeline in person.
Own member value by providing knowledge and education to help companies grow their businesses and become credible competitors.
Run point on key events such as training days, curation sessions, and demo events, ensuring follow-through.
Hunt for growth signals by combining public testimony and private conversations to curate opportunities and drive them through SOF RACER.
Work autonomously within defined workstreams, with a process-driven Program Manager overseeing the overall program.
Agree on leading indicators of success and operate with autonomy.