VP, U.S. Defense & Intelligence

Blackshark.ai•Washington, DC

15d

About The Position

blackshark.ai is seeking a leader to build and own its U.S. defense and intelligence business, turning existing customers, deployments and opportunities into a scalable, category-defining business. The role’s first priority is U.S. D&I revenue. The VP will personally open doors, work with customers and partners, shape opportunities, negotiate and close contracts, while deciding which pursuits merit investment and ending those unlikely to succeed. The VP will assess the current team and resources, then build Sales, Solutions Engineering and Business Development capacity as the business grows. They will remain directly involved in major deals while developing a team able to win and grow accounts independently. The role also includes identifying market-access needs—including export control, certifications, FCL and FOCI mitigation—and bringing the commercial case and timing for required decisions to company leadership. As part of the commercial leadership team, the VP will work closely with the Head of Sales, CEO and Head of Operations, and keep Product and Engineering informed about customer mission needs, workflows and product gaps. They will agree on scope and delivery timelines with internal teams before making customer commitments. The role requires working with an international leadership team and occasional travel to Graz, Austria.

Requirements

Proven record of personally sourcing, shaping and closing significant U.S. defense or intelligence software contracts, including seven-figure awards.
Ability to explain personal contributions to wins, including how business was won with a small team and limited support.
Experience turning successful evaluations and initial deployments into funded production contracts, renewals and expansion.
Deep knowledge of government acquisition, budgeting, appropriations and contracting routes, including how requirements become funded purchases and how to pursue near-term opportunities and longer budget cycles.
Relationships and credibility across DoD and IC organizations, defense primes and integrators, particularly NGA, NRO, Army and combatant commands.
Practical understanding of how clearances, FOCI, export control and cybersecurity requirements affect market access and deal execution, and judgment to involve specialists early.
Commercial judgment on software pricing, licensing, renewals and expansion, including translating government buying requirements into offers aligned with the company’s broader pricing strategy.
Ability to work closely with an international leadership team and travel occasionally to Graz, Austria.
Ability to personally own revenue outcomes, establish funding and contracting paths, make evidence-based investment choices, work directly with customers, develop team members and communicate clearly with customers, the team and leadership.

Nice To Haves

Experience achieving significant U.S. defense or intelligence software contracts for a foreign-owned startup and navigating the additional barriers it faces.
Strong understanding of geospatial intelligence and the workflows served by the software.
Hands-on experience as an analyst, operator or in a program delivering geospatial capability.
Experience building and leading sales teams in a startup or high-growth company while remaining hands-on in strategic deals.

Responsibilities

Own the U.S. defense and intelligence revenue target, pipeline and forecast across government customers, defense primes and integrators.
Personally source, shape, negotiate and close business; spend time in the field with customers and partners; and lead strategic deals through award and into deployment, renewal and expansion.
Assess and build the Sales, Solutions Engineering and Business Development team as the business grows, assigning account ownership and coaching team members to close their own deals.
Map priority accounts, identifying product users, funding stakeholders, buyers and the steps required to advance each opportunity; build relationships across end users, program offices, contracting officers and budget stakeholders.
Develop funding paths with customer champions, including requirements in budget requests and funded programs, pursuing available funding and contracting routes, and linking evaluations to production and expansion funding.
Set investment and campaign priorities with Marketing and the CEO, balancing longer-term requirements and funding against nearer-term business, and discontinue pursuits that do not justify the effort.
Grow existing deployments into funded production use, renewals and new use cases, and pursue programs of record where they offer a credible route to scale.
Use knowledge of government software budgeting, evaluation and purchasing to shape pricing and licensing; develop offers that support adoption, renewals and expansion, protect software value, make custom work explicit and align pricing across defense, intelligence and commercial markets.
Identify security, clearance, cybersecurity and export-control requirements early; communicate requirements, commercial stakes and deadlines to Operations; escalate decisions when needed; and plan accounts around realistic implementation timelines.
Bring customer workflows and competitive evidence to Product and agree scope and delivery dates with Product, Engineering and the Executive Producer before making customer commitments.
Work closely with the international leadership team and travel occasionally to Graz, Austria.