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 are looking for a Senior Growth Director to shape, pursue, and win major growth outcomes across PEOs and program offices. This role is central to Vannevar’s pivot into long-cycle, program-level growth, where we partner directly with acquisition leaders to shape requirements early, build trusted relationships, and convert emerging opportunities into large, durable programs.
You will operate as a senior member of our Mission Systems team and partner closely with our President and PEO-focused leadership. This position integrates strategy, capture, and early program shaping. You will identify opportunities where Vannevar’s tools and technologies can meaningfully accelerate mission outcomes—and drive them through the full growth lifecycle.
This is a senior role designed for a leader who brings deep USN/PEO understanding, a proven track record shaping and closing meaningful programs, and the appetite to build something new inside a fast-moving national security startup.
U.S. Persons status with at least a current Top Secret US DoD or IC clearance is required.
Shape & execute growth strategies
- Drive full-cycle pursuit strategies for PEO and PMW opportunities—from early shaping, to capture, to competitive positioning, to contract close.
- Identify program headwinds, acquisition timelines, budget patterns, and technical needs to define where Vannevar can build meaningful, wedge-in footholds.
- Translate long-term PEO priorities into actionable near-term BD and capture campaigns.
Build and own senior customer relationships
- Develop trusted relationships across program offices.
- Serve as a strategic partner to senior USN leaders, understanding constraints, modernization plans, and where Vannevar’s technologies can enable operational advantage.
Deliver major growth outcomes
- Shape, pursue, and secure multi-year programs and new starts in the $200M+ annual range.
- Own opportunity qualification, bid/no-bid recommendations, competitive analysis, teaming strategy, and price-to-win perspectives.
- Lead internal coordination across engineering, product, mission, legal, and leadership to ensure high-probability, high-quality proposals.
Build pipeline and forecast growth
- Build a disciplined pipeline across targeted PEO portfolios and maintain clear visibility into opportunity stages, risks, and maturity.
- Partner with Mission Systems leadership to connect long-term strategic campaigns with near-term capture actions and resource needs.
Represent Vannevar to customers and partners
- Communicate Vannevar’s value proposition, product capabilities, and technical differentiation to senior acquisition and program leaders.
- Collaborate with industry partners and primes when teaming magnifies probability of win or program execution success.
- 8+ years in defense growth or business development with proven experience shaping and winning meaningful programs.
- Deep familiarity with PEO structures, PMWs, acquisition pathways, and budget cycles
- Demonstrated experience driving early program shaping, customer intimacy, requirements influence, and competitive capture strategy.
- Ability to own large, complex pursuits—from identifying early-stage opportunities to leading proposal development and closing.
- Experience interacting with senior Navy leaders, government stakeholders, and industry counterparts with trust, credibility, and discretion.
- Strong strategic instincts—able to zoom out to understand multi-year PEO strategies while driving day-to-day capture execution.
- Hunger to operate inside a fast-paced national security startup, where ambiguity is constant and ownership is large.
- Experience with command and control, tactical networks, comms, cyber, EW/SIGINT, or other C3I-relevant domains.
- Prior experience working inside PEOs or PMWs in acquisition, technical leadership, or program management roles.
- Track record shaping or winning $50M+ competitive pursuits or producing material program wins.
Competitive Salary
The salary range for this position is $180,000 - $250,000 + equity. Within the range, individual pay is determined by experience, relevant education, and/or training.
Comprehensive Benefits- 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.
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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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.
