Senior Business Development Manager - Poland

About the role

Shield AI, a venture-backed defence-tech company, is looking for a Senior Business Development Manager to act as territory leader for Poland. The role drives defence market growth, customer engagement and business expansion, representing the autonomy and aircraft portfolio (V-BAT, X-BAT, ViDAR-enabled ISR capabilities and Hivemind autonomy software) and carrying a sales quota.

Key responsibilities

• Own and execute the go-to-market strategy across assigned markets, aligned with growth priorities and customer mission requirements.
• Build and grow a disciplined pipeline of autonomy, aircraft, ISR and mission-system opportunities.
• Lead end-to-end deal closure: account planning, customer shaping, competitive positioning, proposals, negotiation and contract close.
• Engage directly with senior military leaders, Ministries of Defence, procurement authorities and strategic partners.
• Develop regional partnerships, consultants, industrial participation structures and offset-aligned strategies.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams (Business Development, Product, Engineering, Government Relations, Legal, Contracts, Export Compliance, Operations, Customer).
• Maintain forecasting, pipeline management, opportunity tracking and campaign reporting, and provide market intelligence on competitors, demand and risks.
• Support executive customer engagement after award to drive follow-on growth.

Required profile

• Typically 6+ years in business development, capture, sales, strategic engagement or account management in defence, aerospace, national security or advanced technology.
• Experience in international defence, government or regulated markets with complex stakeholder and procurement environments.
• Proven success with long sales cycles and senior stakeholders.
• Strong executive presence and credibility with military, government and industry stakeholders.
• Fluent English and the regional languages of the assigned market; based in the region or willing to relocate.
• Willingness to travel frequently throughout the territory and internationally.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional, military or operational experience preferred.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience with UAS, autonomy, ISR, mission systems, aerospace or AI-enabled capabilities.
• Existing relationships with defence ministries, military organisations, procurement authorities or industry partners in the territory.
• Experience with direct commercial sales, Foreign Military Sales (FMS) or international government procurement.
• Prior military, operational defence, government or national security experience.