Senior Director, Capture Management

Heven AeroTech•Sterling, VA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

At Heven AeroTech (Heven), we don’t just believe in the power of people—we build our success on it. As a recognized leader in hydrogen-powered drones, we’ve earned recognition for creating a workplace where innovation thrives, collaboration is second nature, and every employee feels valued. Our culture is anchored in trust and a shared commitment to excellence. We believe great teams are built on individuals who are humble, hungry, and smart —those who put team success first, take initiative to continuously improve, and demonstrate strong interpersonal awareness. At Heven, your voice matters, your ideas are heard, and your contributions make a tangible impact as you grow through hands-on experience and collaboration across the team. Heven AeroTech is seeking a Senior Director, Capture Management to build and ultimately lead the company's capture function as an international company. In the initial phase, this professional will operate as a hands-on individual contributor, personally running priority captures end-to-end across Heven's DoD and Federal Civilian pursuits. In parallel, the Director will design a tailored, Shipley-based capture methodology sized to Heven's market and tempo, mentor the Business Development team, and partner with senior leadership and HR to build Heven's Business Development Incentive Plan. As pipeline and pursuit volume scale, the Director will transition from sole practitioner to leader of a growing capture team. The ideal candidate is a high-energy, dynamic, and visionary leader ready to drive growth strategies that expand Heven's footprint within relevant markets, executing disruptive initiatives, cultivating strategic relationships, and delivering unmatched value to government and industry partners.

Requirements

15+ years of progressive experience in DoD and/or Federal Civilian capture management, with demonstrated ownership of the full capture lifecycle.
Shipley-trained or certified (Capture, Proposal, or equivalent methodology), with hands-on experience adapting formal capture processes to smaller or faster-moving organizations.
Track record of leading captures that resulted in contract awards; comfortable being evaluated on win outcomes.
Experience building or substantially maturing a capture process or function from an ad hoc or early state.
Strong working knowledge of defense acquisition (OTA, FAR/DFARS, procurement types) and federal civilian procurement, including IDIQ/GWACs.
Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree in a related field preferred.
Active DoD Top Secret clearance; active Top Secret SCI FS Poly preferred.
Willingness to operate as an individual contributor initially, with the maturity to build toward and eventually lead a team.

Nice To Haves

20+ years of related Growth experience.
Experience in UAS, aerospace, or defense hardware/software/services companies.
Technical certifications in related fields: Business, Engineering, Cybersecurity, AI.
Prior experience designing or administering a BD or capture incentive compensation plan, ideally in partnership with HR.
Experience capturing across mixed hardware, software, and services offerings.
Existing relationships within DoD acquisition or DHS communities

Responsibilities

Be a core member of the Growth organization's senior leadership team to build out and mature the Growth function within the Company.
Support the Chief Growth Officer in market account planning.
Own capture strategy and execution across the full lifecycle – opportunity identification and qualification (BD lead responsibility), capture strategy and shaping, competitive assessment, teaming, pricing-to-win input, market intelligence, proposal engagement, and post-submission/debrief follow-through – for Heven's priority DoD and Federal Civilian pursuits.
Lead development and maintenance of relationships with key partners, including industry primes, from a strategic to pursuit-related standpoint.
Build and maintain capture plans, win themes, and oversee competitive assessments across Heven's platform lines (e.g., Z1, Raider, UrbanX).
Lead go/no-go recommendations and gate reviews, partnering with the Chief Growth Officer and program leadership on bid/no-bid decisions.
Design and implement a Shipley-based capture process tailored to Heven's size, tempo, and market – right-sized gates, templates, and artifacts that add rigor without the overhead of a large-prime process.
Build the supporting toolkit: capture plan templates, gate review criteria, and a capture intelligence and lessons-learned repository.
Establish capture metrics and reporting (win probability methodology, pipeline health, gate throughput) for executive and board-level visibility.
Actively mentor and coach Business Development team members on capture fundamentals, customer engagement, and shaping technique.
Attend customer meetings, demonstrations, and events to support overall growth and specific opportunity development.
Work with the Heven Marketing team to help define desired outcomes for pursuit-related activities and overall market positioning.
Build the business case for, and lead the hiring of, a capture team as pursuit volume and pipeline scale, transitioning from individual contributor to people leader.
Establish onboarding and training curriculum so capture discipline scales consistently across new hires and for the maturation of the growth team.
Partner with senior leadership and HR to design, socialize, and launch a Business Development Incentive Plan that aligns BD and capture team compensation with pipeline, win, and revenue outcomes.
Define eligibility, metrics, payout structure, and governance for the Incentive Plan, ensuring alignment with Heven's compensation philosophy and budget.
Partner closely with Proposal Management, Contracts, Pricing, and Program Management to ensure clean capture-to-proposal handoffs.
Represent capture in board-level pipeline reviews and growth strategy sessions.