Shield AI's International Business & Strategy team is hiring a Business Development Director to accelerate growth and support the adoption of its autonomy ecosystem: X-BAT, V-BAT, ViDAR, and Hivemind in Japan.

The Director of Business Development will lead Shield AI's growth strategy, building out a team that is responsible for significant annual orders targets. The Director must have deep defense, national security, or aerospace experience in the country / region (Japanese language fluency required), established government relationships, and a track record of closing complex defense programs (ideally across both hardware and software).

Key Responsibilities:

• Own and execute Japan go-to-market strategy for Shield AI's product portfolio, including X-BAT, V-BAT, ViDAR, and Hivemind.

• Maintain direct responsibility for annual order targets, multi-year pipeline development, and order growth.

• Lead end-to-end capture and sales efforts from early engagement through contract award and follow-on growth.

• Engage directly with senior military, government, and defense industry stakeholders across the region.

• Differentiate Shield AI in competitive and regulated defense procurements.

• Provide actionable market and customer intelligence to influence product roadmap and broader international strategy.

• Work cross-functionally with product, legal, export compliance, and operations.

• Lead proposal/program development and complex product demonstrations.

• Structure and manage local partnerships, primes, and industrial participation or offset strategies.

• Represent Shield AI at senior-level engagements, exhibitions, and industry forums.

Requirements:

• 10+ years business development experience in the country or broader region within defense, aerospace, or national security.

• Specific prior defense or government-facing experience in Japan with a deep understanding of procurement processes, offset requirements, export sensitivities, local defense primes, and indigenization requirements.

• Fluency in English & Japanese (written and spoken).

• Demonstrated success closing complex defense or government programs - ideally across both hardware (aircraft/UAS) and software (autonomy/ai).

• Technical experience with autonomy, UAVs, ISR, and advanced sensing technologies.

• Strong negotiation, relationship-building, and stakeholder management skills.

• Ability to manage multiple concurrent pursuits, involving technical products, in ambiguous environments.

• Proven cross-functional leadership across operations, product, and BD teams.

• Exceptional written, verbal, and presentation skills.

• Willingness and ability to travel frequently in country/region and internationally (~25%).

• Willingness and ability to work across multiple time zones - Based in or willing to relocate to Tokyo, Japan.

• Mastery of critical business tools (Microsoft Suite – PPT, Excel, Word, LLMs, etc.)

• Experience forecasting, tracking, and managing deal cycles using Salesforce.

Preferred Qualifications:

• U.S. Citizen (or dual national)

• Existing U.S. or allied security clearance.

• Currently based in country.

• Prior military service or operational leadership experience in Japan (++ if directly related to UAS, autonomy, or fighter jet aircraft).

• Prior experience supporting foreign military sales (via DSCA), engaging with SAF/IA, or working directly with foreign air forces.

• Direct experience with UAV operations, mission autonomy, AI-enabled C2 systems.

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Key responsibilities include:

• Supporting flight operations for aircraft, including operations planning, scheduling, and resource allocation to support development and customer-facing activities.
• Serving as Site Lead for flight test events, demonstrations, and operational deployments, coordinating personnel, aircraft, equipment, and logistics across multiple test locations.
• Developing comprehensive logistics plans for demonstrations, deployments, operations, and maintenance of systems across varied military and test environments.
• Coordinating with test engineers, pilots, program teams, and military partners to align logistics processes with test schedules, mission planning, and resource allocation.
• Managing demonstration and test inventory, equipment readiness, and site logistics to ensure continuous operational readiness.
• Collaborating with engineering teams to integrate logistical considerations into product design, development, and sustainment planning.
• Contributing to proposal development for new contracts, focusing on logistics and sustainment aspects.
• Analyzing and improving logistics and operations processes to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and scale operations across expanding programs.

The ideal candidate will have a minimum of 4-5 years of experience in military and civilian airlift logistics, with a strong background in both ground and air support operations. They will also have proven experience in developing and implementing logistics strategies for complex military systems in line with Department of Defense (DoD) logistics processes, regulations, and standards.

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Key responsibilities include:

• Shaping and capturing new opportunities for international sales of autonomous aircraft
• Engaging international customers to understand how current or proposed Anduril solutions address their operational requirements and capability gaps
• Leading proposal development (including white papers, RFI responses, pricing and availability) for international sales
• Supporting activities related to licensing, export compliance, and technical security
• Collaborating with Anduril engineering teams to develop international product offerings
• Supporting execution of engagement campaigns with key stakeholders across DoD and foreign capitals
• Developing and maintaining close, trusted partner relationships with offices of senior military and civilian US Government customers, current and prospective customers, as well as industry partners and suppliers
• Fostering a culture of trust, innovation, collaboration, and mission focus
• Delivering on financial performance commitments and strategic market growth

Requirements include:

• Minimum of 10 years experience in leading or supporting aviation program creation, requirements definition, acquisition strategy, related efforts
• Minimum 2 years experience working with customers and technologies related to autonomous aircraft
• Prior experience working with US Air Force program offices; strong understanding of US Air Force customer community, requirements process, and operational needs
• Prior experience engaging with foreign militaries or ministries of defense
• Excellent writing, communication skills with experience presenting to senior executives and customers
• Willingness to travel up to 50%
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Top Secret security clearance

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