Mission Lead - Cyber (Clearance Required)

Vannevar is a defense technology company building AI to deter our adversaries. In the 21st century, conflict moves at algorithmic speed and foresight equals firepower. Our agentic AI is purpose-built to compete with China—from cross-Strait conflict to gray zone coercion. Trained on the most mission-relevant datasets in defense, our technology models adversary behavior, simulates campaigns, and recommends the best course of action to decision makers. Our AI systems are some of the most trusted in the industry and actively used on the front lines of the Indo-Pacific to keep the peace and save lives.

Exceptional technology starts with exceptional people. Vannevar is a small agile team combining world-class engineers with veteran strategists who bring deep expertise in defense and tradecraft. We’re building a company defined by mission impact, user empathy, and disciplined growth. In just three years, we grew from $3M to $80M in ARR, achieved early profitability, and reached unicorn status—proving that disruption doesn’t require an ego, and staying power doesn’t mean standing still.

About the role Mission Leads are customer-facing owners of mission outcomes. You will lead engagements with government stakeholders to identify high-value mission problems, shape pilots and deployments, and turn demonstrated mission value into durable, funded programs.

This role blends mission credibility with strong execution and technical intuition. You will operate with high autonomy in ambiguous environments, translate mission needs into clear technical narratives, and coordinate across functional teams (Product, Engineering, Mission, Security, and Operations) to deliver and scale.

This is a customer-facing role required to be based in Washington D.C. Candidates should have experience in the Cyber community.

U.S. Persons status with at least a current Top Secret clearance in required. This is a customer-facing role required to be based in Washington D.C. Work will require time in secure or classified environments and periodic travel.

What you'll do

• Lead cyber mission engagements. Build trusted relationships with operators, analysts, planners, technical teams, and senior leaders across the cyber mission community to understand operational priorities, mission objectives, and capability gaps.
• Translate mission needs into actionable plans. Turn operational challenges into clear problem statements, requirements, success metrics, and execution roadmaps aligned to mission outcomes.
• Map technology to cyber workflows. Identify where AI-enabled capabilities can improve cyber mission planning, targeting, intelligence production, defensive operations, vulnerability analysis, or command decision-making.
• Shape pilots and pathways to operational adoption. Define objectives, timelines, evaluation criteria, and transition plans that move capabilities from initial deployment to sustained operational use.
• Communicate technical value in mission terms. Build compelling narratives that connect our technology to real cyber mission workflows, demonstrating measurable impact and differentiation.
• Drive mission execution. Lead customer engagements, working groups, operational reviews, executive updates, action-item tracking, and risk mitigation efforts across multiple stakeholders.
• Coordinate cross-functional delivery. Partner closely with Product and Engineering teams to ensure mission requirements, operational realities, and user feedback directly inform product development.
• Navigate the cyber enterprise. Help stakeholders work through requirements development, capability integration, acquisition processes, budgeting cycles, security considerations, and organizational coordination.
• Enable operational success. Support onboarding, training, workflow integration, and change management efforts to ensure users can effectively employ and sustain the capability.
• Maintain mission awareness. Develop and maintain deep knowledge of customer organizations, operational priorities, stakeholders, mission sets, and evolving cyber challenges.
• Support growth and expansion. Identify adjacent mission opportunities, emerging requirements, and pathways to broaden impact across the cyber mission enterprise.

What we're looking for

• 5+ years of experience working within or alongside the U.S. cyber mission community in cyber operations, cyber defense, vulnerability analysis, mission planning, intelligence, or related operational cyber functions.
• Direct experience supporting or working with U.S. Cyber Command and strong understanding of the cyber mission landscape.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functionally without consistent guidance
• Strong written and verbal communication; able to synthesize ambiguity into clear plans and execution
• Ability to scope and articulate a solution credibly: connect mission problems to software capabilities and measurable outcomes
• Sufficient technical fluency to partner effectively with Product and Engineering and translate complex concepts into mission-relevant narratives
• Strong operational skills: planning, prioritization, stakeholder management, and follow-through

Nice to have

• Experience with CYBERCOM staff, a Cyber Service Component, NSA, Joint Staff, or other cyber-focused organizations.
• Familiarity with AI-enabled mission workflows, cyber mission planning, intelligence analysis, or operational decision support platforms. Vannevar is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply, even if you don't feel like you're a perfect fit. If you're passionate about contributing to our mission, we'd love to hear from you! IMPORTANT NOTICE We are committed to protecting the privacy of all applicants. Official emails from the company will come from an @vannevarlabs.com domain. Under no circumstances will a legitimate representative from our company contact you to request passwords, financial information, or other sensitive personal data. Please be vigilant of potential scams.