Vice President of Business Development, Navy & Marine Corps

Persistent Systems•,

1d•$200,000 - $240,000

About The Position

Persistent Systems is seeking an experienced, growth-oriented executive to define and execute the strategic growth campaign across the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. The role drives operational adoption and program transition of the company’s Wave Relay® mobile ad-hoc networking (MANET) ecosystems and tactical edge compute platforms across surface, undersea, expeditionary, aviation, and unmanned domains. Reporting directly to executive leadership, the Vice President leads a business development and capture team, owns the annual Navy and Marine Corps bookings quota, and builds strategic partnerships across defense acquisition organizations, Systems Commands, Warfare Centers, Fleet and Force Commanders, and tier-1 defense prime contractors. The role is responsible for positioning Persistent Systems as a resilient tactical transport and edge compute layer for distributed naval and expeditionary warfare. The preferred location is the National Capital Region/Washington, D.C. area. Other strategic locations include Quantico/Northern Virginia, San Diego, Norfolk, or Patuxent River, and remote work is available with regular domestic travel. Domestic travel of up to 50–60% is expected.

Requirements

At least 12 years of business development, capture management, or acquisition leadership in the defense and aerospace sector, with a record of identifying, shaping, and closing multi-million-dollar defense programs across Navy or Marine Corps portfolios.
In-depth technical and operational understanding of RF communications, LOS and BLOS tactical IP networking, MANET waveforms, and distributed edge computing architectures.
Working knowledge of the Defense Acquisition System/DoD 5000 and Adaptive Acquisition Framework, with direct experience in MTA Rapid Prototyping/Fielding, OTA consortia, Commercial Solutions Openings, and SBIR Phase III transitions.
Working knowledge of Project Overmatch, CJADC2 tactical data transport architectures, Link 16/tactical data link gateways, and naval/expeditionary sensor-to-shooter mesh networks.
Experience leading, mentoring, and holding distributed business development and technical capture teams accountable.
Bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, business, or a related technical discipline.
Active U.S. Secret clearance and eligibility to obtain and maintain a Top Secret/SCI clearance.
Willingness to travel domestically up to 50–60%.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in business administration, systems engineering, or national security/strategic studies.
Prior military or civilian leadership within the U.S. Navy or U.S. Marine Corps, with experience in Information Warfare, Surface Warfare, Naval Aviation, or Expeditionary/MAGTF Communications.
Active U.S. Top Secret clearance with immediate SCI eligibility.
Established executive relationships across PAE Marine Corps/MCSC and MCWL; PAE Mission Systems/NAVWAR/PEO C4I; PAE Robotics and Autonomous Systems and uncrewed vehicle task forces; NIWC Pacific/Atlantic; and DON-RCO and DIU.
At least 15 years of defense industry business development experience, with verifiable overachievement against bookings targets and multi-year program transitions totaling $50 million or more.

Responsibilities

Architect and execute Navy- and Marine Corps-specific capture and business development strategies; own the annual operating plan bookings quota, pipeline maturation, and multi-year Program of Record transition roadmaps.
Lead, mentor, and resource a distributed team of business development directors, capture managers, and field solutions engineers; establish pipeline milestones, win-strategy frameworks, and capture governance.
Engage operational fleet and fleet marine force users, requirements authorities, and program offices early in the capability life cycle to integrate Wave Relay MANET and edge compute into service-specific and joint architectures.
Develop opportunities aligned with Marine Corps concepts including Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations, Stand-in Forces, Force Design modernizations, and MAGTF tactical communications.
Develop opportunities aligned with Navy concepts including Distributed Maritime Operations, Littoral Operations in a Contested Environment, and Project Overmatch/CJADC2 data fabrics.
Cultivate partnerships across Marine Corps acquisition organizations, including Headquarters Marine Corps, Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, PAE Marine Corps, and Marine Corps Systems Command.
Cultivate partnerships across Navy acquisition organizations, including OPNAV, Fleet Commands, PAE Mission Systems, PAE Robotics & Autonomous Systems, and PAE Maritime/Undersea.
Build relationships with Warfare Centers and science and technology organizations, including NIWC, NSWC/NUWC, DON-RCO, and ONR.
Forge strategic teaming and OEM integration agreements with tier-1 defense primes to embed Wave Relay into unmanned vehicles, collaborative combat aircraft, tactical ground combat vehicles, and expeditionary sensor nodes.
Direct capture strategies and technical participation in fleet demonstrations, warfighting experiments, and joint exercises to validate tactical edge networking in contested and communications-degraded environments.
Collaborate with Bid & Proposal, Product Management, and Engineering to develop winning strategies across the Adaptive Acquisition Framework, including MTA, rapid fielding, Software Acquisition Pathways, OTA consortia, and sole-source Program of Record transitions.