Chief Executive Officer

About This Role

This position is for a founding executive of a new defense technology company, responsible for commercializing Q2 Holodeck™, an immersive training platform for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and counter-UAS (C-UAS) decision-making. The CEO will hold full profit-and-loss accountability, set company strategy, raise capital, lead government go-to-market efforts, and build the team.

Responsibilities

• Set the company's strategy and market-entry sequence across federal, state and local, and critical-infrastructure markets
• Finalize pricing and packaging for all deployment modes
• Protect and extend the company's intellectual property
• Position Q2 Holodeck™ as the reference standard for C-UAS decision training
• Lead equity fundraising
• Pursue non-dilutive funding, including SBIR/STTR, OTA, and program-office awards
• Own the budget, burn rate, and runway
• Establish the finance, accounting, and contract-cost infrastructure required to scale
• Own revenue, pipeline, and forecast
• Personally lead early-stage pursuits and close reference customers
• Establish repeatable contracting pathways (CRADA, government purchase card, sole source, and OTA)
• Convert demonstrations into awards
• Build relationships with partners and prime contractors
• Set roadmap priorities with the CTO
• Clearly distinguish fielded and planned capabilities in all external communications
• Turn custom scenario development into a repeatable process
• Build delivery, support, and training-effectiveness measures that drive renewals
• Recruit revenue, finance, and delivery leadership ahead of need
• Build the founding team
• Set the company's culture, planning cadence, and accountability standards
• Report accurately and promptly to the Board
• Ensure compliance with ISO 27001, FedRAMP or equivalent authorizations, export controls (ITAR and EAR), and security requirements
• Manage concentration, accreditation, key-person, and IP risks
• Enforce ethical standards in government or commercial sales
• Serve as the company's principal spokesperson to customers, agency and congressional leadership, industry, media, and investors
• Contribute to the policy debate on C-UAS authorities and training standards

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree
• Fifteen or more years of progressively senior leadership, including at least five years as a CEO, general manager, division president, or other executive with profit-and-loss responsibility
• Demonstrated success scaling a technology, services, products, or software business from early revenue to a durable commercial model, including ownership of pricing and go-to-market strategy