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UFORCE is a defense-technology company founded in Ukraine and headquartered in London, building uncrewed vessels, ground robotics, aircraft, autonomy software, and command-and-control systems. The company is establishing a persistent presence in the Indo-Pacific and seeks a Director of Strategic Relationships, Pacific to lead this expansion from Oahu.
In this hands-on role at the intersection of business development and field operations, you will serve as UFORCE's senior representative in the Pacific region. You'll build trusted relationships across Pacific commands (PACOM, USARPAC, PACFLT, SOCPAC, MARFORPAC), turning customer insight into actionable opportunities and ensuring people and equipment are ready when customers need them.
Key responsibilities include:
- Establish and deepen access across Pacific military commands, connecting with requirements owners, acquisition teams, capability developers, and exercise planners.
- Deliver weekly Pacific intelligence updates covering customer requirements, funding signals, competitor activity, and exercise developments, maintaining current stakeholder and opportunity records in the CRM.
- Partner with service sales and Capture leaders to qualify and progress opportunities, with a target of $10M+ in qualified Pacific pipeline and at least one award within the first year.
- Act as the Head of US Exercises' permanent forward presence, supporting planning conferences, site visits, equipment movement, and local execution of exercises that drive commercial results.
- Build a repeatable Hawaii demonstration playbook covering water and range access, permissions, safety requirements, and lead times; coordinate customer-facing activities that prove capabilities.
- Curate inbound leadership visits into substantive command meetings with clear objectives, read-aheads, installation access, and timely follow-up.
- Identify and cost local storage, security, transport, and maintenance options for equipment activation within 30 days; manage accountability, vendor coordination, and maintenance scheduling once assets arrive.
- Serve as the default UFORCE point of contact for Pacific visits, customer requests, exercises, and operational issues, balancing competing priorities.
- Document stakeholder relationships, access procedures, vendor networks, and operating playbooks to create a scalable operating model.
You'll start as a senior individual contributor with autonomy to build the theater presence from the ground up, with a path to leading a small Pacific team as the footprint grows. Travel is approximately 25–40%, with irregular hours around exercises, demonstrations, and customer visits.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Recent experience working in or alongside Pacific military commands, with demonstrable customer access and credibility across the rank spectrum (action officers to senior military leaders).
- Strong relationship-building skills; ability to earn trust, secure meaningful meetings, and maintain long-term stakeholder engagement.
- Experience collecting, validating, and communicating business or operational intelligence in concise, actionable updates for leadership, with sound judgment about ethical and legal boundaries.
- Proven ability to operate independently in a matrixed organization, influence senior stakeholders without direct authority, and prioritize competing demands.
- Experience managing field or expeditionary logistics, including equipment storage, transport, accountability, maintenance scheduling, and vendor coordination.
- Experience planning and executing live capability demonstrations or supporting military exercises, with understanding of planning cycles, access approvals, safety requirements, and contingency planning.
- Experience hosting senior executives or distinguished visitors, including agenda development, military protocol, installation access, briefing materials, and follow-up.
- Working knowledge of defense acquisition and funding pathways; ability to distinguish customer interest from fundable requirement and hand opportunities to appropriate sales or Capture lead.
- Hands-on, resourceful approach to solving unfamiliar problems, paired with good judgment about when to act independently and when to escalate.
- Ability to work on-island on Oahu and accommodate irregular hours around exercises, demonstrations, and customer visits.
NICE TO HAVE:
- Active or recently lapsed SECRET clearance; TS/SCI eligibility is a strong plus.
- Existing residency in Hawaii and established personal and professional networks on-island.
- Maritime experience (small boat operations, harbor operations, marine maintenance familiarity).
- Experience with unmanned surface vessels, unmanned aircraft systems, or command-and-control and autonomy systems.
- Experience building processes and operating independently in a startup or scaling defense technology company.
- Working knowledge of ITAR/EAR requirements related to equipment movement and foreign-national engagement in multinational exercises.
