Business Development Lead, US Defense UAS

A hands\-on, field\-based business development role. You make the calls, take the trips, and run the meetings. *You are the bridge between Smart Flight™ and the defense UAV operators who fly. Your job: get into the field, put the product in front of operators, learn how they really plan and fly missions, and feed that ground truth straight into the product.* * **Company:** Shearwater Aerospace (Montreal, QC) * **Location:** United States, remote, living close to a defense UAS ecosystem * **Reports to:** CEO. Works day to day with the CTO on product feedback. * **Type:** Full\-time (contract\-to\-hire acceptable, see note) * **Travel:** 30–50% (US, with travel to Canada: test ranges, operator sites, defense UAS events) **Why this role exists** ------------------------ Smart Flight™ is an intelligent autonomy layer that plans and adapts missions in real time for fixed\-wing UAV BVLOS operations. Developed in partnership with DARPA, we fly at White Sands and are in partnership discussions with a major prime. What we do not have yet is a systematic presence with the people who feel the planning pain daily: defense UAV operators and the contractors who fly for them. You build that presence. That means on\-site, in the crew room, earning operator trust and living where the aircraft fly — pointed at learning: how they plan today, where it breaks, what a bad plan costs them. You open the doors, run the field work, and bring the founders into the conversations that matter. The CTO joins for the technical depth; you make it happen and keep it happening. What you hear changes what we build, on a weekly cycle, and the operator network you develop stays yours to grow with the role (see Career path). **Who you'll work with** ------------------------ * Defense services contractors and operators\-for\-hire (ISR, range support, flight test crews) * Military and military\-adjacent UAS units and their support ecosystem * Ops managers and mission planners inside those organizations **What you'll own** ------------------- **Market map and field access (end\-to\-end)** * Build the target map from zero: organizations, programs, and the named individuals who actually plan and fly missions. There is no list waiting for you * Reach operators through the channels this community respects: warm intros, events, ranges, veteran networks, direct approach. This is a small community and we get one first impression per organization * Own the full loop: source, contact, follow up, schedule, travel. Founders join the conversations; you generate them **Field engagement and evaluations** * Run discovery conversations, solo or with founders, using our interview guide: current workflow, tools in use, what breaks, what it costs, in their words * Run structured product evaluations: put SFP in front of operators, watch them plan a real mission with it, capture where they hesitate, what they ignore, what they ask for * Represent Shearwater at defense UAS events, ranges