Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI's technology actively supports operations worldwide. Shield AI's International Business & Strategy team is hiring a Senior Director Business Development to accelerate growth and support the adoption of its autonomy ecosystem: The Senior Director of Business Development will lead Shield AI's regional growth strategy, building out a team that is responsible for significant annual orders targets. The leader must have deep defense, national security, or aerospace experience in the country / region (Japanese language fluency preferable), established government relationships, and a track record of closing complex defense programs (ideally across both hardware and software). You will report to the Vice President of International Business & Strategy (Middle East & Asia Pacific) and work closely with international business development colleagues around the globe, as well as product, engineering, and operations teams, to deliver mission-relevant autonomy capabilities at scale. Maintain direct responsibility for annual order targets, multi-year pipeline development, and order growth. Lead end-to-end capture and sales efforts from early engagement through contract award and follow-on growth.



Engage directly with senior military, government, and defense industry stakeholders across the region. Work cross-functionally with product, legal, export compliance, and operations. Lead proposal/program development and complex product demonstrations. Structure and manage local partnerships, primes, and industrial participation or offset strategies. Represent Shield AI at senior-level engagements, exhibitions, and industry forums. 10+ years business development experience in the country or broader region within defense, aerospace, or national security. Specific prior defense or government-facing experience in Japan/South Korea/Taiwan with a deep understanding of procurement processes, offset requirements, export sensitivities, local defense primes, and indigenization requirements. Fluency in English & Japanese preferable (written and spoken). Demonstrated success closing complex defense or government programs
- ideally across both hardware (aircraft/UAS) and software (autonomy/ai). Mastery of critical business tools (Microsoft Suite – PPT, Excel, Word, LLMs, etc.) Experience forecasting, tracking, and managing deal cycles using Salesforce. Direct experience with UAV operations, mission autonomy, AI-enabled C2 systems. #Our international teammates receive a comprehensive total rewards package aligned to your country office location. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

📌 Senior Director Business Development (Madrid)
🏢 shieldai
📍 Madrid