[Hiring] U.S. Government Capture Lead @Zenno Astronautics U.S. Inc

Role Description

Zenno is hiring a hands-on U.S. Government Capture Lead to find, shape, and win defense and national-security-space funding. This role exists to locate government funding, shape the requirement before it is fully formed, and personally drive capture through award. You will:

• Identify executable funding paths.
• Build working-level customer relationships.
• Own capture end-to-end and convert opportunities into funded contracts.
• Work directly with the CEO and engineering team to align customer needs with Zenno's technical capabilities.

Zenno has a lean team. This is an individual contributor role: you write the material, run the capture, and close. There is no proposal staff, capture team, or government-affairs layer behind you. This is not a classical sales role and not a people-management role. Near-term opportunities start around $500k and should scale into the single-digit or tens of millions.

Responsibilities

• Identify, shape, and capture U.S. government and national-security-space funding for Zenno’s superconducting space systems.
• Find and qualify funding vehicles (BAAs, CSOs, OTAs, SBIR/STTR, IDIQ/task orders, rapid-acquisition paths, program-office budget routes, and prime/sub paths).
• Personally own capture: pre-solicitation shaping, writing/assembling submissions, teaming, follow-up, negotiation, and award conversion.
• Engage working-level stakeholders – program managers, contracting officers, requirements owners, and technical leads – not only senior introducers.
• Work with engineering to produce customer-facing technical material.

What Success Looks Like

First 30 Days

• Map the priority program offices, funding vehicles, and working level stakeholders.
• Open or reactivate direct relationships with relevant PMs, KOs, requirements owners, and technical leads.
• Identify 5-10 executable opportunities in the $500k-$10M range, each with a named funding path.
• Develop an initial capture plan the CEO and engineering can run.

Within The First 100 Days

• Open direct working-level engagement with at least one relevant program office or prime capture team.
• Submit a first customer-facing package with engineering (white paper, RFI, BAA/CSO/SBIR, or teaming input).
• Establish a credible path to a first funded action in the $500k-$5M range.
• Define the follow-on route into larger development or production work.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated success personally capturing and converting U.S. government funding for spacecraft space systems, or complex defense hardware.
• Recent, usable working-level relationships with defense or national-security-space customers (program managers, contracting officers, requirements owners, or technical leads).
• Proven ability to convert early customer discussions into funded contracts.
• Hands-on experience using government funding pathways – BAAs, CSOs, OTAs, SBIR/STTR, IDIQ/task orders, rapid-acquisition, and/or program-office budget routes.
• Ability to engage credibly with technical, operational, acquisition, and executive stakeholders.
• Technical education or equivalent experience in aerospace, engineering, physics, or complex defense systems.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to personally draft capture and proposal material.
• U.S. citizenship.

Preferred Experience

• Active or recently held U.S. security clearance.
• Evidence that you recently and personally owned pursuits (found the path, shaped the requirement, wrote or assembled the submission, followed through to award) rather than managing a team that did that work.
• Current working-level access at USSF, SSC, SDA, AFRL, MDA, DARPA, DIU, or equivalent mission-relevant offices.
• Experience capturing spacecraft, integrated space systems, or other complex defense hardware.
• Named wins or clear award values in the roughly $500k-$30M range where you personally owned the pursuit.
• Prime or integrator relationships used as a path to a program office, not as a substitute for government access.
• Commercial or allied-customer work as an additive, not primary, background.
• Experience developing opportunities where requirements are still evolving.
• Strong technical aptitude, demonstrated through a STEM degree or the ability to understand and communicate engineering from first principles.
• Experience working in an early-stage aerospace or defense company.

Poor Fit

This role is a poor fit if your recent work has been managing BD staff, government affairs or lobbying, large-prime proposal coordination, or commercial space sales without personal U.S. government capture ownership.

Working Style

This is a highly external, customer-facing position. You will spend significant time with government customers and industry partners, and you will also personally write, coordinate, and submit capture material.

• Preferred bases: Washington D.C. / Northern Virginia, Colorado Springs, or Los Angeles. Other U.S. locations considered.
• Regular travel is required.
• You will work closely with Zenno's leadership and engineering teams while owning customer engagement, opportunity development, capture, and the path to funded contracts.

Start Date

Immediate.

Compensation

• Total compensation for this role includes a competitive equity offering.
• Pay: $175,000.00 - $250,000.00 per year.

Benefits

• Dental insurance
• Health insurance

Work Location

Remote