Senior Director of Business Development - Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan (R4831)

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. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.

Job Description:
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: X-BAT, V-BAT, ViDAR, and Hivemind across Japan, South Korea and Taiwan
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 operate with significant autonomy and ownership, shaping country strategy, leading major pursuits, and building long-term defense partnerships. 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.

What you'll do

• Own and execute regional (Japan/South Korea/Taiwan) go-to-market strategy for Shield AI’s product portfolio, including X-BAT, V-BAT, ViDAR, and Hivemind.
• 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.
• Differentiate Shield AI in competitive and regulated defense procurements.
• Provide actionable market and customer intelligence to influence product roadmap and broader international strategy.
• 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.