Head of Business Development, Middle East

Shield AI
Abu Dhabi
Workplace: OnsiteFull timeFunction: Business Development & PartnershipsExperience: 10+ yearsSkills: ["Executive presence","Stakeholder management","Leadership","Risk mitigation","Pipeline/capture execution"]

Lead business development for the Middle East district, owning district strategy, sales growth, and program execution across priority markets (excluding Saudi Arabia). Drive pipeline development, forecasting accuracy, and order intake from shaping through close, while coordinating Country Business Development Leads and cross-functional teams. Serve as the primary interface with senior government, military, and industry stakeholders, building partnerships and mitigating political and procurement risks to accelerate long-term growth.

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FursaFursa
Shield AI
Shield AI
2 months ago

Head of Business Development, Middle East

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Source: Company careers pageValidated by: Fursa AI
Last checked: 13 hours agoStatus: Live

Job Summary

Lead business development for the Middle East district, owning district strategy, sales growth, and program execution across priority markets (excluding Saudi Arabia). Drive pipeline development, forecasting accuracy, and order intake from shaping through close, while coordinating Country Business Development Leads and cross-functional teams. Serve as the primary interface with senior government, military, and industry stakeholders, building partnerships and mitigating political and procurement risks to accelerate long-term growth.
Location: Abu Dhabi
Workplace: Onsite
Employment Type: Full time
Job Function: Business Development & Partnerships
Seniority: Manager level

Key Responsibilities

  • •Serve as the senior District representative across the Middle East, engaging senior military, government, and industry stakeholders while ensuring operational and regulatory compliance.
  • •Develop and execute an integrated District strategy, coordinating country-level efforts into campaigns across CENTCOM, the GCC (excluding Saudi Arabia), and bilateral frameworks.
  • •Own district quota and performance, including pipeline development, forecast accuracy, order intake, and opportunity execution from shaping through close.
  • •Provide strategic direction and coordination for Country Business Development Leads, setting priorities and driving execution discipline across the District.
  • •Oversee cross-functional coordination across Business Development, Government Relations, Program Management, Legal, Contracts, PX, Marketing, and Customer Operations to support successful capture and execution.

Key Requirements

  • •Typically requires 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 and technologies, including V-BAT, Hivemind, and X-BAT, and concepts like payload integration, training, sustainment, and deployed operations.
  • •Proven experience operating across multiple international defence, aerospace, or national security markets, including navigating government procurement and stakeholder ecosystems.
  • •Demonstrated ability to lead distributed, cross-functional teams and align senior stakeholders across multiple countries and cultures.
  • •Arabic and English language proficiency relevant to the assigned district; Bachelor degree or relevant military education preferred.
Experience:10+ yearsDefenceMilitary operationsGovernment relationsNational securityAerospace
Skills:Executive presenceStakeholder managementLeadershipRisk mitigationPipeline/capture execution
Languages:ArabicEnglish
Tech Stack:V-BATX-BATViDARHivemindAutonomyISRUnmanned systemsAI-enabled capabilitiesPayload integrationSustainmentDeployed operationsForeign Military Sales (FMS)

Company Brief

Shield AI
Develops AI-powered autonomy and software for military aircraft and drones to enable autonomous ISR and combat missions, integrating perception, navigation, and mission planning for defense customers.
Industry: Defense Technology
Company Size: Large (251 to 1,000 employees)
Growth: Scaleup
Funding: Series E+
Headquarters: San Diego, United States
Founded: 2015
WebsiteLinkedIn