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X-BAT Business Development Director, Middle East (R4949)

Shield AI· Growth Division – International Business Development / International Office Entity
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Hybrid (Abu Dhabi)International Office EntityPosted 5mo ago

About the role

Director – CCAs, Middle East responsible for leading strategic sales, customer engagement, and capture efforts for Shield AI’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft initiatives across the Middle East. Drives adoption and revenue by engaging defense stakeholders and shaping requirements, CONOPS, and product strategy.

Responsibilities

  • Drive Strategic Capture: Identify, shape, and capture high-value opportunities across Middle Eastern next-gen airpower programs relevant to CCAs and autonomy.
  • Drive Regional Sales Pipeline: Lead the full business development lifecycle for CCA-focused efforts, from customer engagement through proposal, negotiation, and contract award.
  • Engage Key Stakeholders: Build and maintain trusted relationships with Ministries of Defence, defense primes, integrators, and key partners.
  • Shape Requirements & CONOPS: Influence customer requirements and future CCA CONOPS to align with Shield AI’s product offerings.
  • Support Demonstrations & Campaigns: Lead Shield AI’s positioning and participation in regional flight demos, technical trials, and program pilots.
  • Coordinate Cross-Functionally: Collaborate with engineering, product, legal, and program teams to align technical solutions with customer needs and delivery requirements.
  • Inform Product Direction: Provide field intelligence to guide feature development, integration strategy, and roadmap priorities for Hivemind-enabled CCA solutions.

Qualifications

  • 15+ years in a relevant air force occupation, with deep understanding of CONOPs and platform applications (prefer real-world operational experience flying tactical fighter aircraft with strong technical background).
  • 3–5+ years in defense acquisition, business development, sales, or strategy, ideally focused on air platforms or autonomy.
  • 5+ years of experience in region either operationally or from a defense business perspective.
  • Strong track record of capturing and closing defense programs or tech insertions with ministries of Defense or multinational frameworks.
  • Understanding of next-gen air combat trends, including CCAs, MUM-T, and AI-enabled CONOPS.
  • Ability to credibly represent technically complex products to strategic and operational audiences.
  • Familiarity with key regional acquisition pathways.
  • Willingness to live in-region (preferably Abu Dhabi) and to travel extensively across the Middle East (30–50%).

Skills

Required:Strategic sales and capture managementStakeholder engagement

Benefits

  • Comprehensive total rewards package aligned to country office location.
Last updated Oct 23, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

About Shield AI

Autonomy for the world.

Our mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems.

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