# Director of Business Development, Collaborative Combat Aircraft

**Company:** [Shield AI](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/shield-ai)
**Location:** Tokyo, Japan
**Role:** Business Development
**Experience:** 15+ years
**Skills:** Collaborative Combat Aircraft, Defense Acquisition, Business Development, Defense Sales, Air Platforms, Autonomy, Air Combat Conops, Mum-T, Artificial Intelligence, Hivemind, Proposal Negotiation, Program Capture
**Posted:** 2026-05-27

> Leads strategic capture, sales, and customer engagement for Collaborative Combat Aircraft initiatives across Northeast Asia. The role requires extensive air force and defense acquisition experience, technical credibility in autonomy and air combat CONOPS, and the ability to close complex defense programs.

## Job Description

## Responsibilities
- Identify, shape, and capture high-value opportunities across Northeast Asia for next-generation airpower programs relevant to Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCAs) and autonomy.
- Lead the full business development lifecycle for CCA-focused efforts, from customer engagement through proposals, negotiations, and contract awards.
- Build and maintain trusted relationships with Ministries of Defence, defense primes, integrators, and NATO-related bodies.
- Shape customer requirements and future CCA CONOPS to align with Shield AI’s product offerings.
- Lead regional flight demonstrations, technical trials, and program pilots.
- Collaborate with engineering, product, legal, and program teams to align technical solutions with customer needs and delivery requirements.
- Provide field intelligence to guide feature development, integration strategy, and roadmap priorities for Hivemind-enabled CCA solutions.

## Requirements
- 15+ years in a relevant air force occupation, with significant understanding of relevant CONOPS and platform applications; real-world operational experience flying tactical fighter aircraft is preferred.
- 3–5+ years of experience in defense acquisition, business development, sales, or strategy, ideally focused on air platforms or autonomy.
- 5+ years of experience in the region, operationally or in a defense business role.
- Strong record of capturing and closing defense programs or technology insertions with relevant Ministries of Defence or multinational frameworks.
- Understanding of next-generation air combat trends, including CCAs, MUM-T, and AI-enabled CONOPS.
- Ability to represent technically complex products credibly to strategic and operational-level audiences.
- Familiarity with key regional acquisition pathways.
- Willingness to live in Northeast Asia, with the exact country to be determined.
- Willingness to travel extensively across Northeast Asia, approximately 30–50%.

## Compensation
- Compensation information was not provided.

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