Vannevar is a defense technology company building AI to deter our adversaries. In the 21st century, conflict moves at algorithmic speed and foresight equals firepower. Our agentic AI is purpose-built to compete with China—from cross-Strait conflict to gray zone coercion. Trained on the most mission-relevant datasets in defense, our technology models adversary behavior, simulates campaigns, and recommends the best course of action to decision makers. Our AI systems are some of the most trusted in the industry and actively used on the front lines of the Indo-Pacific to keep the peace and save lives.
Exceptional technology starts with exceptional people. Vannevar is a small agile team combining world-class engineers with veteran strategists who bring deep expertise in defense and tradecraft. We’re building a company defined by mission impact, user empathy, and disciplined growth. In just three years, we grew from $3M to $80M in ARR, achieved early profitability, and reached unicorn status—proving that disruption doesn’t require an ego, and staying power doesn’t mean standing still.
We’re looking for our first senior People leader to build the people systems and operating cadence that help Vannevar scale with speed, clarity, and high standards. This is not a traditional People role. You will be a business operator responsible for ensuring our talent, management practices, and people infrastructure directly support company execution.
You’ll partner closely with executive team and managers on the organizational decisions that matter most: hiring and retaining exceptional talent, improving manager effectiveness, strengthening performance management, planning for growth, and ensuring we have the right people in the right roles as the business scales. You’ll help leaders make clear, timely decisions on performance, compensation, promotions, retention, and exits.
At the same time, you’ll own the operational foundation that allows the company to grow confidently: benefits, compliance, investigations, employee relations, policies, and core people processes. Your job is to build lightweight, durable systems that improve business performance without slowing the company down.
What you’ll doBuild a high-performance organization
- Partner with exec team and functional leaders on org design, workforce planning, and leadership needs as the company scales.
- Clarify hiring standards, promotion expectations, and talent bar across teams.
- Design and evolve our performance management philosophy.
- Coach managers to set clear expectations, give direct feedback and have hard conversations with confidence, and address issues early.
- Build manager habits and operating cadences that reinforce high standards without adding unnecessary process.
- Partner with leadership on compensation, promotions, and retention for top performers.
Build operational excellence
- Own benefits, payroll coordination, compliance, and core people operations.
- Ensure employment practices scale cleanly across a growing company.
- Partner with legal counsel on investigations, employment matters, and policy development.
- Build lightweight systems that make the company run better, not slower.
- Has helped scale a high-performing company through rapid growth (for example, ~200 to 500+ employees).
- Has significant experience coaching managers through performance management and difficult personnel decisions.
- Has personally led employee investigations, complex offboardings, and sensitive employee relations situations.
- Knows when to introduce process and when not to.
- s trusted by both executives and individual contributors.
- Has exceptional judgment, discretion, and emotional intelligence.
- Cares deeply about building a culture of high performance rather than avoiding hard conversations.
- Can move comfortably between strategic discussions with leadership and hands-on operational work.
- Health, dental, and vision insurance
- Remote friendly with WeWork access
- Unlimited PTO, shared downtime during the federal holiday calendar, and company-wide off time at the end of each year
- 401(k) match
- Lifestyle & wellbeing stipends
- Salary top-up during military reserve duty
- Fully paid parental leave
- Child and pet care reimbursement during travel
We are committed to protecting the privacy of all applicants. Official emails from the company will come from an @vannevarlabs.com domain. Under no circumstances will a legitimate representative from our company contact you to request passwords, financial information, or other sensitive personal data. Please be vigilant of potential scams.
Skills Required
- Experience scaling a high-performing company through rapid growth (example: ~200 to 500+ employees)
- Significant experience coaching managers on performance management and difficult personnel decisions
- Personal experience leading employee investigations, complex offboardings, and sensitive employee relations cases
- Experience owning benefits, payroll coordination, compliance, and core people operations
- Strong judgment, discretion, and emotional intelligence
- Ability to partner with executives and be trusted by both leaders and individual contributors
- Ability to design and implement lightweight people systems and operating cadences that scale
- Comfort moving between strategic leadership discussions and hands-on operational work
What the Team is Saying
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What We Do
Vannevar combines Silicon Valley innovation with former special operators to build AI for real-world national security outcomes. Since our founding in 2019, Vannevar has deployed its technology across 125 missions, safeguarding our service members and improving our country's deterrence. We believe our military service members and intelligence officers deserve access to the best technology American innovation can offer, and we are mobilizing frontier technology for this mission. Our founders have 30 years of combined experience across AI labs, national security strategy, intelligence agencies and special operations. We're supported by a number of leading VCs, including Felicis, DFJ Growth, Point72, Costanoa, and General Catalyst. Vannevar is one of the most capital efficient defense tech companies, reaching early profitability and becoming a defense tech unicorn in 2024.
Why Work With Us
We pride ourselves on being a team of passionate, low-ego professionals who share a commitment to engineering excellence and a genuine concern for the people and AI agents we deliver. Vannevar is a company that truly cares about its people and one of our core principles is "put your wellbeing first".
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Vannevar Offices
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Employees work remotely.
We are distributed across the map, but united by the mission. We go where the mission takes us and deliver where others can’t. Honolulu, Seattle, San Francisco, Washington D.C., New York. You decide what's next.
