Head of Business Development – Japan

About the role

The Head of Business Development, Japan leads Shield AI’s district strategy, sales growth and program execution across Japan. Reporting to senior leadership, this senior district representative works directly with government, military and industry stakeholders to expand market presence and drive revenue.

Key responsibilities

• Serve as the senior district representative, engaging senior military, government and industry stakeholders while ensuring regulatory compliance.
• Develop and execute a unified district strategy that aligns country‑level efforts into coordinated campaigns.
• Own district quota and sales performance, managing pipeline development, forecasting, order intake and opportunity execution.
• Provide strategic direction to Country Business Development Leads, setting priorities and aligning stakeholder engagement.
• Oversee cross‑functional coordination with Business Development, Government Relations, Program Management, Legal, Contracts, Marketing and Customer Operations.
• Build and maintain disciplined, data‑driven pipeline and stakeholder engagement strategy.
• Develop and manage district partnerships, resellers and strategic industry relationships.
• Identify and mitigate political, procurement and operational risks, providing executive visibility into performance and growth outlook.

Required profile

• 10+ years of experience in defence, military operations, business development, capture management or international government relations.
• Deep technical and operational understanding of Shield AI systems such as V‑BAT, X‑BAT and Hivemind.
• Proven experience operating across multiple international defence or aerospace markets.
• Demonstrated ability to lead distributed, cross‑functional teams and align senior stakeholders across cultures.
• Strong executive presence with experience engaging senior military leadership, ministries of defence and strategic industry partners.
• Track record of driving pipeline development and closing high‑value defence opportunities.
• Fluency in English and Japanese.
• Bachelor’s degree or relevant military education preferred.

Required skills

• V‑BAT autonomous aircraft system
• X‑BAT autonomous aircraft system
• Hivemind autonomy software

What we offer

• Opportunity to help build a defining defence‑technology company of this century.
• Work at the forefront of AI, autonomy and next‑generation defence systems.
• Operate in a highly entrepreneurial and mission‑driven environment.
• Make a direct impact on international growth and strategic defence partnerships.
• Collaborate with exceptional teams solving complex operational challenges.