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

Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed deep-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include the V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, Hivemind Enterprise, and the Hivemind Vision product lines. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and the 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 Business Development Director to accelerate growth and support the adoption of its autonomy ecosystem: X-BAT, V-BAT, ViDAR, and Hivemind in Japan

The Director of Business Development will lead Shield AI’s growth strategy, building out a team that is responsible for significant annual orders targets. The Director must have deep defense, national security, or aerospace experience in the country / region (Japanese language fluency required), 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 Senior Director 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 Japan 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.

Required qualifications::
• 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 with a deep understanding of procurement processes, offset requirements, export sensitivities, local defense primes, and indigenization requirements. 

• Fluency in English & Japanese (written and spoken).

• Demonstrated success closing complex defense or government programs - ideally across both hardware (aircraft/UAS) and software (autonomy/ai). 

• Technical experience with autonomy, UAVs, ISR, and advanced sensing technologies. 

• Strong negotiation, relationship-building, and stakeholder management skills. 

• Ability to manage multiple concurrent pursuits, involving technical products, in ambiguous environments. 

• Proven cross-functional leadership across operations, product, and BD teams. 

• Exceptional written, verbal, and presentation skills. 

• Willingness and ability to travel frequently in country/region and internationally (~25%). 

• Willingness and ability to work across multiple time zones

• Based in or willing to relocate to Tokyo, Japan.

• Mastery of critical business tools (Microsoft Suite – PPT, Excel, Word, LLMs, etc.) 

• Experience forecasting, tracking, and managing deal cycles using Salesforce.

Preferred qualifications::
• U.S. Citizen (or dual national) 

• Existing U.S. or allied security clearance. 

• Currently based in country. 

• Prior military service or operational leadership experience in Japan
(++ if directly related to UAS, autonomy, or fighter jet aircraft). 

• Prior experience supporting foreign military sales (via DSCA), engaging with SAF/IA, or working directly with foreign air forces. 

• Direct experience with UAV operations, mission autonomy, AI-enabled C2 systems.

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Our international teammates receive a comprehensive total rewards package aligned to your country office location. For full details on compensation and benefits, please consult your talent acquisition partner.