The Role
Lead corporate strategy and initiatives for a venture-backed aerospace startup, support executive discussions, and drive market strategies in regulated environments.
Summary Generated by Built In
Merlin (NASDAQ: MRLN) is a publicly traded aerospace and defense company building a non-human pilot to deliver full-stack autonomy for any aircraft from takeoff to touchdown. The Merlin Pilot autonomy system powers a growing range of aircraft and mission profiles and has been proven through hundreds of autonomous flights from Merlin's global flight test facilities, including Kerikeri, New Zealand; Quonset Point, Rhode Island; and soon, Bedford, Massachusetts. Headquartered in Boston, Merlin is expanding its organization to accelerate the development and deployment of its autonomy platform, helping customers solve some of aviation's most pressing challenges, from pilot shortages to improving flight safety. Backed by some of the world's leading investors prior to its public listing, Merlin continues to advance the certification and commercialization of autonomous flight across commercial and defense aviation.
About You:
Merlin is looking for a Director of Market Strategy to help leadership make informed decisions about where to pursue growth across defense and commercial aviation.
You will investigate potential markets and mission opportunities, turn fragmented information into a clear set of options, and lead the process for evaluating those options.
This role requires someone who enjoys doing the research as much as presenting the recommendation. You will work closely with Business Development, Engineering, Programs, and executive leadership, but your central responsibility is to bring rigor and clarity to strategic choices.
Responsibilities:
- Evaluate new markets, customers, and mission opportunities across government and commercial aviation.
- Research customer needs, requirements, budgets, policy developments, competitors, and procurement pathways to identify where Merlin has a credible opportunity.
- Develop and compare strategic options, including potential market size, investment required, technical fit, timing, and probability of win.
- Build concise recommendations and business cases that make assumptions, tradeoffs, and open questions clear to leadership.
- Run the cadence for opportunity reviews: establish evaluation criteria, bring the right teams into the discussion, and drive decisions to resolution.
- Work with Business Development, Engineering, and Programs to test whether proposed opportunities fit Merlin’s capabilities and development priorities.
- Track the assumptions behind major strategic decisions and revisit them as customer needs and market conditions change.
Requirements:
- 7+ years in market strategy, defense market analysis, business development strategy, consulting, or a related role involving consequential growth or investment decisions.
- Experience researching complex government or regulated markets and drawing useful conclusions from incomplete information.
- Ability to assess an opportunity beyond its headline market size, including customer demand, competitive position, resources required, and likelihood of winning.
- Strong analytical judgment and the ability to develop distinct, actionable options rather than a single predetermined recommendation.
- Clear writing and presentation skills, especially when explaining complex findings to senior leaders.
- Ability to work credibly with technical, program, and commercial teams.
Nice to Haves:
- Experience in autonomous systems, aviation, or AI-driven platforms
- Familiarity with FAA certification, DoD procurement, or mission-based program development
- Background in management consulting, corporate strategy, or high-growth startups
- Experience scaling strategy in a venture-backed or rapidly growing company
- Ability to navigate ambiguity and build structure in evolving environments
- Operator mindset with a track record of driving strategy through execution
Merlin Labs offers an innovative, entrepreneurial, and team-focused startup environment. We also offer a top-notch benefits package (health, dental, life, unlimited vacation, and 401k with match) and work/life integration. Being part of the Merlin team allows you to become part of a small team that supports professional development while working together to achieve our mission.
Merlin Labs is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy), gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, military service or obligation or disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law. All job offers are contingent upon the candidate passing background and reference checks.
At this time, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship or consider candidates who require visa transfers. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for visa sponsorship now or in the future.
In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.
If you require reasonable accommodation in completing an application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to: [email protected]
Merlin Labs does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from candidates.
Skills Required
- 7-10+ years of experience in strategy, operations, or program leadership
- Experience in aerospace, defense, autonomy, robotics, or other highly regulated industries
- Proven ability to operate at both strategic and execution levels
- Experience working with or alongside government customers or complex regulatory environments
- Strong analytical and structured problem-solving skills
- Demonstrated success leading cross-functional initiatives with measurable impact
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence at both executive and technical levels
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The Company
What We Do
All of the sky, none of the limits. Merlin Labs is building the autonomous infrastructure for the sky above us, enabling goods, and eventually people, to fly without pilots. The Merlin Labs team is building the definitive autonomy system for all things that fly. We’re creating sophisticated software and hardware that fulfill the functions of a human pilot.
