[All remote jobs](https://jobicy.com/jobs.md)[![Defense Unicorns logo](https://jobicy.com/data/server-nyc0409/galaxy/mercury/2025/06/44a44784-221-1.png)](https://jobicy.com/company/defense-unicorns.md)[Defense Unicorns](https://jobicy.com/company/defense-unicorns.md) # Mission Director – Navy (Mission Systems & Aviation) AI Summary Defense Unicorns seeks a Mission Director to build, close, and execute Navy mission-system or naval-aviation business opportunities. This quota-carrying role combines federal business development, capture, contract negotiation, program delivery, staffing, and portfolio ownership. The successful candidate will leverage relationships across NAVWAR, Naval C4ISR, NAVAIR, or related Navy and Marine Corps environments while maintaining accountability for cost, schedule, performance, margin, and customer satisfaction. The role requires an active Secret clearance or higher, U.S. citizenship, technical fluency in cloud-native and DevSecOps technologies, and 25–40% travel. It is a senior, highly autonomous position for a leader who can operate effectively amid ambiguity and scale a delivery portfolio.[Apply for this job](#job-application)[View company](https://jobicy.com/company/defense-unicorns.md)ShareRemote from[USA](https://jobicy.com/job-region/usa.md)SalaryUSD 145k–185k / yrDepartment[Business Development](https://jobicy.com/categories/business.md)EmploymentFull TimeExperienceDirectorPublished7 Nov 2026Apply before7 Dec 2026Listing views32Application actions2Application toolkit ## Make your next move. Prepare your resume, explore your fit, and draft a cover letter for this opportunity. Opportunity details ## About this role. ### EMPLOYER IS A CONTRACTOR FOR THE U.S. GOVERNMENT. THIS POSITION REQUIRES U.S. CITIZENSHIP. ### This position offers a base salary of $145,000–$185,000. (Total on-target earnings of $290,000–$370,000.) ### Role Description The Mission Director is a quota-carrying, full-lifecycle business owner responsible for identifying, shaping, closing, and executing new business within PAE Mission Systems/ Aviation. We are seeking Mission Directors across two areas of focus: * Mission Systems: PAE Mission Systems, NAVWAR, Naval C4ISR, and related Navy mission systems, including shipboard and maritime operational environments. * Naval Aviation: PAE Aviation, NAVAIR, and Navy and Marine Corps aviation programs and operational environments. You will build trusted relationships with Mission Heroes (our customers), identify meaningful problems, shape solutions using [Defense Unicorns](https://jobicy.com/company/defense-unicorns.md) products, and lead opportunities from initial discovery through contract award. Once awarded, you will remain accountable for the contract throughout its lifecycle, including cost, schedule, performance, staffing, margin, and customer satisfaction. This role is designed for someone who wants broad ownership. As the portfolio grows in size and complexity, Mission Directors will increasingly lead through program managers and delivery leaders while retaining accountability for portfolio outcomes. ### Responsibilities The listed responsibilities are not exhaustive, and additional responsibilities may be assigned based on the evolving needs of the organization. We are seeking a dynamic individual who can adapt and take on new responsibilities as they arise. 1. Build the Business * Identify and develop net-new opportunities within your assigned Navy mission area, building trusted relationships with Mission Heroes and key stakeholders. * Own a quota and grow a diversified portfolio of business. 2. Shape and Close Opportunities * Define customer problems, scope, and desired outcomes to shape solutions using Defense Unicorns products and the right acquisition approach. * Lead opportunities through proposal, negotiation, and contract award. 3. Own Contract Execution * Serve as the program leader for new contracts you close, with direct responsibility for execution until the portfolio reaches the scale where additional program management support is warranted. * Manage delivery risks, scope changes, and mission outcomes. 4. Build and Lead the Team * Define and build the team required to execute each contract. * Personally lead contract execution and, as the portfolio grows, lead program managers and other delivery leaders across the portfolio. 5. Grow the Portfolio * Maintain an active pipeline and continue developing new opportunities while executing existing contracts by identifying follow-on work, expansions, and adjacent opportunities. * Own customer retention, portfolio growth, and gross margin. * Grow from individual contract ownership into a broader portfolio leadership role. ### Location Requirements ### Location expectations vary by mission area: * ### Mission Systems: Candidates must be located in San Diego, CA/ West Coast and willing to travel as needed. * ### Naval Aviation: Candidates located near Patuxent River or the Washington, DC metropolitan area are preferred. ### Clearance & Travel * Clearance: Active Secret clearance or higher. * Travel: Ability to travel approximately 25–40%. ### Experience and Qualifications * Experience within at least one of the following Navy mission environments: ### Mission Systems: NAVWAR, Naval C4ISR, or a closely related defense environment. * ### Naval Aviation: Navy or Marine Corps aviation, NAVAIR, or a closely related defense environment. * Strong understanding of the culture, mission, stakeholders, and terminology within the domain you support. * Experience in one or more of the following: military operations, government program management, acquisition, contracting, business development, or defense industry program leadership. * Working knowledge of federal acquisition, including contract vehicles, acquisition strategies, and contract negotiations. * Experience with CRM, owning a quota, and forecasting, along with strong commercial judgment and comfort owning revenue-generating activities. * Demonstrated ability to lead teams and hold accountability for outcomes. * Willingness to operate across business development, contracting, staffing, and execution, personally driving critical work while building and leading the teams required to scale. * Comfortable operating with ambiguity, identifying opportunities, and creating a path forward without a predefined playbook. * Technical fluency to understand and communicate Defense Unicorns products, cloud-native technologies, DevSecOps, Kubernetes, and modern software delivery concepts. Candidates should have relevant experience and customer relationships within their respective mission area. Experience across both areas is not required. ### Who We Are Defense Unicorns delivers mission value by streamlining software delivery so our customers can focus on the most important challenges. We share a vision of freedom and security for the advancement of progress and innovation. Our commitment to this vision, and to our mission-driven customers, means a commitment to speed, user experience and optionality, without compromising security. Our team is composed of innovators, software engineers, and veterans with decades of experience delivering technology programs across the federal market. ### What We Do We create and deliver secure solutions for continuous software integration and delivery. Defense Unicorns consolidates the best practices for security pipelines, testing, and deployment automation in order to meet the high security requirements valued by mission owners. Our solutions are agnostic by design and we believe that growing a robust ecosystem of secure, cloud-native software solutions can help enterprise customers inside and outside the federal market buy and integrate software more easily. ### Who We Serve Defense Unicorns’ customers are mission-focused leaders across public and private enterprises. We proudly support defense and civil agencies across the U.S. government and we work closely with the creators of leading-edge software solutions to deliver value to the mission-owner by improving the security and consumability of commercial software products. ### What We Work On * Kubernetes * Cloud Environments (AWS/GCP and Azure) * Infrastructure-as-code (like Terraform/Pulumi) * Continuous Delivery and automation tooling * GitOps * Containers * CNCF projects and open source products and packages * Helm/Kustomize-Value Stream Mapping * Building and improving security delivery * Building Kubernetes and cloud native applications ### Benefits Our Unicorns Enjoy ### Health: * Medical/Dental/Vision * Premiums are 100% Company Paid * Health Savings Account * Life Insurance * Disability Insurance ### Financial: * 401k Retirement Plan * Company Stock Options * Home Office Budget ### Leave: * We offer all full-time Unicorns Flexible Time Off (FTO) plus all Federal Holidays, one week for Thanksgiving, and two weeks for Christmas and New Year’s * Paid Parental Leave ### Learning: * Reimbursement for approved trainings/subscriptions * Conferences (travel, lodging, and fees) Don’t have all the preferred experience or qualifications? Studies show that underrepresented groups like women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs if they don’t meet every requirement listed. At Defense Unicorns, we’re committed to diversity. If you’re enthusiastic about the role but don’t match every criteria, we encourage you to apply. You could be the perfect fit for this or another role! Defense Unicorns is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, union status and/or beliefs, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. [CCPA DISCLOSURE](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DzT00w2uadYw9TfdorHuEsvPccZvn_g4/view?usp=drive_link) Show more [Apply now >](https://jobicy.com/jobs/159564-mission-director-navy-mission-systems-aviation.md) * ![Upload CV](data:image/svg+xml;base64,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) ### Upload your resume now To unlock remote work opportunities and be discovered by global employers. This job listing has been manually reviewed by the Jobicy Trust & Safety Team for compliance with our posting guidelines, including verification of the company's legitimacy, accuracy of job details, clarity of remote work policy, and absence of misleading or fraudulent content. ## Role DNA A quick view of the complexity, pace, ownership and collaboration implied by the job description. ### Job Complexity 5/5EasyHard ### Pace & Pressure 5/5RelaxedFast-paced ### Autonomy Level 5/5GuidedFull ownership ### Communication Load 5/5IndependentCollaborative AI insightThis is a senior federal-market leadership role requiring both new-business creation and end-to-end accountability for awarded contract delivery. Success depends on established Navy-domain credibility, acquisition expertise, clearance eligibility, commercial judgment, and the ability to lead across technical and operational functions. ## Salary analysis Estimated compensation compared with the broader US market for similar roles. Estimated job median (per year)Market rate$165,000US market range (per year)$145k–$190k0$209.00k AI insightThe yearly pay period is inferred from the job context; it was not explicitly stated by the employer. The employer explicitly discloses a base-salary range of $145,000–$185,000 USD; the annual cadence is inferred from the professional U.S. base-pay amount and role context because no cadence is stated. Total on-target earnings are excluded from base-pay analysis. Estimated US market base pay for a senior defense business-development and portfolio leader is $145,000–$190,000 per year. ## Core skills Skills and capabilities most closely associated with this opportunity. [Federal business development](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Federal%20business%20development.md)[Navy mission systems](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Navy%20mission%20systems.md)[Naval aviation](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Naval%20aviation.md)[NAVWAR](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=NAVWAR.md)[NAVAIR](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=NAVAIR.md)[Naval C4ISR](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Naval%20C4ISR.md)[Federal acquisition](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Federal%20acquisition.md)[Contract negotiation](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Contract%20negotiation.md)[Capture management](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Capture%20management.md)[Program management](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Program%20management.md)[Portfolio management](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Portfolio%20management.md)[CRM forecasting](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=CRM%20forecasting.md)[DevSecOps](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=DevSecOps.md)[Kubernetes](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Kubernetes.md)[Cloud-native technologies](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Cloud-native%20technologies.md) Sample interview questionsHow would you identify and qualify a new opportunity within a Navy mission area?I would begin with mission discovery through trusted customer conversations, validating the operational problem, stakeholders, funding path, acquisition constraints, and urgency. I would then assess solution fit, competitive position, delivery feasibility, and expected margin before committing capture resources. Describe how you would balance quota attainment with accountability for delivery after contract award. I would qualify opportunities with delivery leaders early, ensuring scope, staffing, technical assumptions, and risks are realistic before submission. After award, I would retain clear ownership of customer outcomes and financial performance while establishing measurable operating rhythms with program and technical leads. What is your approach to shaping a federal acquisition strategy for a cloud-native software delivery solution? I would align the acquisition approach to the customer’s mission timeline, security requirements, funding structure, and available contract vehicles. I would articulate measurable outcomes, reduce adoption risk through phased delivery, and work with acquisition stakeholders to define an executable scope and evaluation approach. How would you build credibility with NAVWAR, NAVAIR, or Navy aviation stakeholders? I would demonstrate preparation, learn the mission context and terminology, and focus discussions on operational constraints rather than generic product claims. Credibility grows through reliable follow-through, transparent risk communication, and evidence that the proposed approach improves mission delivery without compromising security. How do you lead effectively when requirements are ambiguous and no established playbook exists? I translate ambiguity into a short list of testable assumptions, prioritize the highest-value customer and business risks, and create a clear action plan with owners and decision points. 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