Search 
jobs
Explore 
organizations
Join talent network
Talent
My job alerts

Defence Business Development Lead 💼

Ulysses

Ulysses

Sales & Business Development
San Francisco, CA, USA
Posted 6+ months ago

GM, Defense — Shape the Future of Maritime Autonomy

📍 San Francisco HQ + travel to D.C. and field sites | 🕐 Full-Time

About Ulysses

Ulysses builds the world’s first autonomous dual-domain (surface + subsea) drone fleet. Our USV, Leviathan, is a self-driving drone ​“carrier” that launches, commands, recovers, and re-powers swarms of our ultra-low-cost Mako UUVs —and soon, aerial drones. By collapsing unit costs like Starlink did for bandwidth, we turn fleets, not single assets, into the baseline for maritime operations and give end-users unprecedented above-and-below-water reach. Fresh off $2.5 million+ in commercial revenue, we’re partnering with DoD, USCG, CBP, and allied forces to bring this fleet mindset to maritime security, ISR, and subsea-infrastructure defense.

The Role

As our GM for Defense, you’ll own Ulysses’ efforts to break into the US and allied maritime-security market, shaping requirements, unlocking early funding lanes, and converting pilots into multi-year production buys. You’ve sat across the table from program offices, hunted OTAs/SBIRs, and turned prototypes into real contracts. As our first dedicated BD hire, you’ll work shoulder-to-shoulder with the founders and a heavyweight advisory group of former flag officers and congressional insiders, building the playbook (and eventually the team) that scales our dual-domain drone fleet across defense.

What You’ll Be Driving

In the first 12–18 months, success looks like:

  • Paid pilots and demos on contract – With the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, CBP, or key allies (think NATO partners).

  • High-trust relationships – You’ll get in the room with the folks who actually move the needle: PEO USC, NAVSEA, SOCOM, ONR, etc.

  • Multi-year contracts on the horizon – You’ve taken early pilots and shaped them into bridge contracts or POA&M commitments.

  • GTM motion that scales – You've helped us stand up internal systems, pricing strategy, compliance know-how, and a defense playbook we can keep running.

What You'll Own

Business Development & Contracting

  • Identify and pursue fast-moving contract pathways (SBIR, OTAs, BAAs, CRADAs).

  • Own the full lifecycle of pilot programs, from intro call to signed agreement.

  • Help translate our tech into urgent defense mission needs (e.g., subsea infrastructure security, unmanned ISR, maritime border ops).

Customer Discovery & Relationship Building

  • Build trusted relationships across users, acquisition offices, and strategic circles:

    • End Users (5th/7th Fleet, USCG, SOCOM)

    • Program Managers (PEO USC, NAVSEA, ONR)

    • Strategy & Budget (OSD, congressional staff, Replicator)

  • Turn mission insight into opportunity—guide pilots, demos, and conversations toward long-term value.

Strategic Positioning & Market Insight

  • Keep tabs on where the budget’s going: Navy FY25–26, Coast Guard modernization, NATO programs.

  • Identify the "white space" where Ulysses tech fits and competitors aren’t.

  • Bring intel back to shape our product roadmap and R&D priorities.

Internal Collaboration

  • Work shoulder-to-shoulder with our engineers, oceanographers, and founders to shape defense proposals that actually work.

  • Sync with senior advisors for warm intros and high-level alignment.

Compliance & Reporting

  • Partner with ops/legal on SBIR, ITAR/EAR, and any clearance-adjacent work.

  • Keep clean CRM and pipeline reporting—we don’t need dashboards for the sake of it, but we do need visibility.

What You Bring

Experience (4–12 years ideal, flexible):

  • You’ve been in a BD or contracting role in defense tech

  • You've closed real deals such as pilots, OTAs, SBIR Phase II/III in less than 18 months.

Market Fluency:

  • Strong grasp of DoD procurement (OTAs, SBIR, BAAs, etc.)

  • Familiarity with maritime domain missions and unmanned systems

Network & Access:

  • You know who to call (or who can get the meeting) at key orgs like NAVSEA, ONR, USC, and USCG.

  • Bonus if you’ve worked directly with congressional committees or S&T strategy shops.

How You Operate:

  • Outcome-Obsessed – You don’t just build pipelines, you close.

  • Creative Hustler – You’ve found money in strange places and unlocked funding most people miss.

  • Builder-Mindset – You're excited to help stand up systems from scratch (with a team that wants to move fast and do it right).

  • Trust-Builder – You're someone defense partners want to work with. You show up, follow through, and know when to bring donuts.

Bonus Points For

  • Experience with maritime domain awareness

  • Technical background in robotics, autonomy, or maritime engineering

  • Familiarity with BD at an early-stage defense tech startup

What We Offer

  • Big Mission, Real Impact: Shape how unmanned systems help secure our oceans—while protecting the ecosystems they operate in.

  • Team of Builders: Oceanographers, roboticists, ex-military—smart, kind, and serious about doing work that matters.

  • Comp Package: Competitive salary, bonus, and meaningful equity.

  • Ownership & Autonomy: You'll have the room to run and the trust to make big calls.

If this sounds like you, or you’re close and hungry to grow into it, we’d love to talk.

See more open positions at Ulysses
Privacy policyCookie policy