Senior Director of Business Development, Middle East (R4499)

Abu Dhabi

Growth Division – International Business Development /

On-site

Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software and V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.

Shield AI’s International Business & Strategy team is hiring a Middle East regional Director to accelerate growth and support the adoption of its autonomy ecosystem: X-BAT, V-BAT, ViDAR, and Hivemind across the region.

The Director of Business Development will lead Shield AI’s Middle East growth strategy, building out a team that is responsible for significant annual orders targets. The Director must have deep defense, national security, or aerospace experience in the region (strong preference for Arabic language fluency), established government relationships, and a track record of closing complex defense programs (ideally across both hardware and software).

You will operate with significant autonomy and ownership, shaping region wide and country-level strategies, leading major pursuits, and building long-term defense partnerships. You will report to the VP of International Business & Strategy (Middle East & Asia Pacific) and work closely with international business development colleagues around the globe, as well as product, engineering, and operations teams, to deliver mission-relevant autonomy capabilities at scale.

WHAT YOU'LL DO:

Own and execute Middle East go-to-market strategy (excluding KSA) for Shield AI’s product portfolio, including X-BAT, V-BAT, ViDAR, and Hivemind.
Maintain direct responsibility for annual order targets, multi-year pipeline development, and order growth.
Lead end-to-end capture and sales efforts from early engagement through contract award and follow-on growth.
Engage directly with senior military, government, and defense industry stakeholders across the region.
Differentiate Shield AI in competitive and regulated defense procurements.
Provide actionable market and customer intellig
ence to influence product roadmap and broader international strategy.
Work cross-functionally with product, legal, export compliance, and operations.
Lead proposal/program development and complex product demonstrations.
Structure and manage local partnerships, primes, and industrial participation or offset strategies.
Represent Shield AI at senior-level engagements, exhibitions, and industry forums.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

10+ years business development experience across the Middle East region within defense, aerospace, or national security.
Specific prior defense or government-facing experience in the Middle East with a deep understanding of regional procurement processes, offset requirements, export sensitivities, local defense primes, and indigenization requirements.
Fluency in English (written and spoken). Fluency in Arabic strongly preferred.
Demonstrated success closing complex defense or government programs - ideally across both hardware (aircraft/UAS) and software (autonomy/ai).
Technical experience with autonomy, UAVs, ISR, and advanced sensing technologies.
Strong negotiation, relationship-building, and stakeholder management skills.
Ability to manage multiple concurrent pursuits, across multiple markets, involving technical products, in ambiguous environments.
Proven cross-functional leadership across operations, product, and BD teams.
Exceptional written, verbal, and presentation skills.
Willingness and ability to travel frequently in region and internationally (~25%).
Willingness and ability to work across multiple time zones (e.g. US HQ, Asia based colleagues, Middle East partners)
Based in or willing to relocate to the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates).
Mastery of critical business tools (Microsoft Suite – PPT, Excel, Word, LLMs, etc.)
Experience forecasting, tracking, and managing deal cycles using Salesforce.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

U.S. Citizen (or dual national)
Existing U.S. or allied security clearance.
Currently based in region.
Prior military service or operational leadership experience in the Middle East
(++ if directly related to UAS, autonomy, or fighter jet aircraft).
Prior experience supporting foreign military sales (via DSCA), engaging with SAF/IA, or working directly with foreign air forces.
Direct experience with UAV operations, mission autonomy, AI-enabled C2 systems.

Our international teammates receive a comprehensive total rewards package aligned to your country office location. For full details on compensation and benefits, please consult your talent acquisition partner.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

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