Head of Business Development, Japan
Leads Shield AI’s Japan district strategy, sales quota, defence opportunity execution, and government and industry partnerships. The role requires 10+ years in defence or international government relations, senior stakeholder engagement, and English and Japanese proficiency.
About the job
Responsibilities
- Serve as Shield AI’s senior District representative across Japan, engaging senior military, government, and industry stakeholders while ensuring operational and regulatory compliance.
- Develop and execute a unified District strategy aligned with priorities in Japan, integrating country-level efforts into coordinated campaigns and bilateral frameworks.
- Own district quota and sales performance, including pipeline development, forecast accuracy, order intake, and opportunity execution from shaping through close.
- Provide strategic direction and coordination for Country Business Development Leads across the District.
- Drive district business growth across Shield AI’s product portfolio, including V-BAT, X-BAT, ViDAR, and Hivemind.
- Oversee cross-functional coordination across Business Development, Government Relations, Program Management, Legal, Contracts, PX, Marketing, and Customer Operations.
- Ensure successful execution of active district opportunities, maintaining accountability for performance, timelines, customer satisfaction, and strategic growth.
- Build and maintain a disciplined, data-driven district pipeline and stakeholder engagement strategy.
- Develop and manage district partnerships, resellers, and strategic industry relationships.
- Identify and mitigate political, procurement, operational, and strategic risks while providing executive visibility into performance and growth outlook.
Requirements
- 10+ years of experience in defence, military operations, business development, capture management, or international government relations.
- Deep technical and operational understanding of Shield AI systems, including V-BAT, Hivemind, and X-BAT, with knowledge of payload integration, training, sustainment, and deployed operations.
- Experience operating across multiple international markets within defence, aerospace, or national security environments.
- Ability to lead distributed, cross-functional teams and align senior stakeholders across countries and cultures.
- Executive presence with experience engaging senior military leadership, Ministries of Defence, U.S. Embassies/ODCs, and strategic industry partners.
- Track record of pipeline development, capture strategy, and closing complex, high-value defence opportunities.
- English and Japanese language proficiency relevant to the assigned district.
- Bachelor degree or relevant military education preferred.
Nice-to-haves
- District leadership experience across allied defence markets, including Japan.
- Existing relationships with the Ministry of Defence, senior military leadership, defence procurement organizations, and strategic industry stakeholders.
- Experience leading international defence captures, Foreign Military Sales (FMS), or multinational procurement programs.
- Operational understanding of ISR, autonomy, unmanned systems, AI-enabled capabilities, and modern defence technology.
- Experience managing district consultants, resellers, strategic partnerships, or industrial participation/offset initiatives.
- Familiarity with Japanese operational frameworks, allied capability development, and defence modernization priorities.
- Success operating in high-growth, fast-paced, internationally distributed environments.
- Ability to attain or existing relevant national security clearance.
- Master’s degree in a relevant field.
Benefits
- Work at the forefront of AI, autonomy, and next-generation defence systems.
- Make a direct impact on international growth and strategic defence partnerships.
- Collaborate with teams solving complex operational challenges.
Skills
Business Development, Capture Management, Pipeline Development, Sales Forecasting, Government Relations, Foreign Military Sales, Strategic Partnerships, Unmanned Systems, Artificial Intelligence, Isr, Autonomy, Hivemind, V-Bat, X-Bat
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