Director of Maritime Strategy

One team. Global challenges. Infinite opportunities. At Viasat, we're on a mission to deliver connections with the capacity to change the world. For more than 35 years, Viasat has helped shape how consumers, businesses, governments and militaries around the globe communicate. We're looking for people who think big, act fearlessly, and create an inclusive environment that drives positive impact to join our team.

We are looking for a Senior Strategy Director to join our Viasat Government team! In this role, you will drive long-range growth supporting the U.S. Department of War, specifically the United States Navy, United States Space Force, and overall Joint Forces. There will be a particular emphasis on strategically aligned missions, space-enabled communications, and resilient network architectures. The selected candidate will provide strategic leadership and market vision, shape and influence major defense programs, lead strategy campaigns and processes for complex opportunities, and drive industrial base and partner strategy planning:

• Analyze DoW, Navy, Space Force, and Joint Staff strategies, budgets, and operational priorities to identify and shape long-term, high-value growth opportunities.
• Align Viasat's technology roadmap and investments with evolving warfighter needs, contested-environment operations, and future force design.
• Lead early engagement and influence activities across requirements, acquisition, and resourcing communities.
• Translate operational gaps into compelling, executable solutions that inform government strategy, requirements development, and acquisition approaches.
• Own the end-to-end strategy for selected large-scale pursuits, including qualification, shaping, capture planning, teaming, and proposal execution.
• Build and lead cross-functional teams spanning engineering, finance, contracts, operations, and external partners.
• Establish and mature strategic partnerships across the Defense Industrial Base to support scale, resilience, and mission execution.
• Develop unconventional teaming, acquisition, and contracting strategies (e.g., OTAs, prototypes, hybrid approaches) to accelerate capability delivery.
• Serve as a senior collaborate with Flag-level leaders, SES, PEOs, PMs, OSD staff, and allied partners.
• Represent Viasat in executive-level briefings, white papers, industry forums, and strategic working groups.

• Build, lead, and implement market strategies (to articulate and generate consensus for strategic vision, action plan, competitive intelligence, investments, business case, etc.) within the targeted markets and agencies.
• Monitor and interpret evolving DoW, Space Force, and Joint Force requirements, operational priorities, and budget signals to anticipate shifts in customer demand and position Viasat solutions accordingly.
• Translate emerging mission needs and future operating concepts into early market shaping, investment alignment, and capture strategies, ensuring relevance before formal requirements and solicitations are defined.
• Develop and lead overall strategic opportunities, with emphasis on communications, SATCOM, networking, cyber-resilient architectures, and operational interoperability.
• Develop and present business case briefings to senior leadership in support of investment in and pursuit of strategic opportunities in these markets.
• Engage customers to gain intimacy and knowledge of their problems to better identify and shape opportunities and requirements.
• Actively market the Company Brand, establish customer expectations, and shape opportunities by crafting white papers, sponsoring in-house demonstrations, and responding to RFIs and similar activities. You will conceptualize the need, coordinate the accurate company participants, and lead the collaboration to completion.
• Support Captures and Proposals to maintain continuity across the BD lifecycle, improving our ability to win as opportunities pass from qualification into capture and then proposal.
• Be an effective leader in formal customer and partner presentations, ensuring credibility, clarity, and mission alignment.

• Bachelor's Degree or 15+ years of service experience within the US Defense or within related Industry positions
• Deep understanding of DoW/USN/USSF strategy, requirements, and budget processes
• Expertise understanding and utilization of Federal acquisition pathways (including FAR-based, OTAs, BAAs, IDIQs, and rapid acquisition models)
• Demonstrated experience shaping and leading large, complex acquisition efforts
• Established senior-level relationships across Navy, Space Force, Joint Staff, OSD, and/or Combatant Commands
• MS Office skills (PowerPoint, Excel, Word)
• Exceptional communication skills (both written and verbal)
• Ability to travel up to 20%
• Hybrid role out of our office in Carlsbad, CA
• Must be able to obtain a United States Secret Clearance

• Prior Strategy Development experience with the US Navy and/or DoW
• 10 years of experience as DoW Acquisitions, Program Management, and portfolio leadership
• Experience in the USN with Maritime Programs, Weapons, Sensors, Technologies, and Active Communication Programs
• Experience in industry to include program management or marketing, capture, proposal activities (generation or review)
• Active Top Secret security clearance with certificates

Viasat is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, seeking to create a welcoming and diverse environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, genetics, age, or veteran status or any other applicable legally protected status or characteristic. If you would like to request an accommodation on the basis of disability for completing this on-line application, please click here.