---
title: 'Air Force Strategic Account Executive at Shift5'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/air-force-strategic-account-executive-shift5-rosslyn-va-qbbp4grbbwr0'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-08'
---

# Air Force Strategic Account Executive at Shift5

- **Company:** Shift5
- **Location:** Rosslyn VA, OR
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-07-30
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-08
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/shift5/jobs/6130395004

## Job description

## About Shift5

Shift5 is building the data platform for onboard operational technology (OT). We deliver cybersecurity, predictive maintenance, and compliance capabilities that enable defense and commercial fleets to operate with greater readiness, resilience, and mission assurance.

We are seeking a mission-driven Air Force Strategic Account Executive to lead business development, capture strategy, and revenue growth across the U.S. Air Force. This individual will develop trusted relationships with senior Air Force stakeholders, identify and qualify strategic opportunities, and drive opportunities from early customer engagement through contract award.

This role sits at the intersection of customer engagement, mission understanding, product strategy, and business growth. The ideal candidate understands Air Force acquisition, operational priorities, and modernization efforts, and can effectively align Shift5's capabilities to mission needs.

This is not a transactional sales role. It requires strategic thinking, executive presence, and the ability to build long-term partnerships across government, industry, and internal teams.

Note: This position requires U.S. citizenship due to federal contract requirements and access to controlled information. An active security clearance is strongly preferred.

## What You'll Do

- Own and execute Shift5's Air Force growth strategy across assigned accounts, major commands (MAJCOMs), Program Executive Offices (PEOs), Program Offices (SPOs), and operational units.
- Build trusted relationships with senior Air Force leaders, acquisition officials, program managers, operational users, and industry partners.
- Identify, qualify, and mature strategic opportunities aligned with Shift5's growth objectives.
- Develop and execute account plans that align customer priorities with Shift5's product roadmap and strategic objectives.
- Lead opportunity strategy from early shaping through capture, proposal, negotiation, and award.
- Partner closely with Product, Engineering, Mission Delivery, Government Affairs, Marketing, and Capture teams to develop winning customer strategies.
- Develop customer engagement plans, executive briefings, capability demonstrations, and mission-focused presentations.
- Maintain an accurate opportunity pipeline and forecast while providing regular updates to Growth leadership.
- Support proposal development by contributing win themes, customer insights, competitive intelligence, pricing strategy, and technical differentiators.
- Monitor Air Force budgets, acquisition strategies, modernization initiatives, and emerging mission priorities.
- Represent Shift5 at industry events, customer engagements, conferences, and trade shows.
- Serve as the Voice of the Customer by providing continuous market feedback that influences product strategy and future capabilities.
- Develop strategic partnerships with prime contractors, system integrators, OEMs, and ecosystem partners supporting the Air Force.

What Success Looks Like

- Develop trusted relationships across key Air Force organizations within the first 90 days.
- Build and execute a comprehensive Air Force account strategy with measurable pipeline growth.
- Consistently identify and mature qualified opportunities aligned with Shift5's strategic priorities.
- Increase pipeline conversion and win rates through disciplined account management and capture strategy.
- Become a trusted advisor to both customers and internal stakeholders.
- Drive sustainable revenue growth while expanding Shift5's footprint across Air Force programs.
- Influence product strategy through customer feedback and market intelligence.
- Establish strategic partnerships that create long-term growth opportunities.

## What We're Looking For

- 7+ years of experience in defense sales, business development, account management, or capture management supporting the U.S. Air Force.
- Demonstrated success managing complex enterprise or federal sales opportunities with long sales cycles.
- Deep understanding of Air Force organizations, acquisition processes, budgeting, and modernization priorities.
- Experience selling software, cybersecurity, SaaS, data analytics, AI, or mission systems into the Department of Defense.
- Strong executive communication, presentation, and relationship-building skills.
- Experience leading opportunity shaping, capture strategy, and proposal support.
- Proven ability to work collaboratively across Product, Engineering, Marketing, Contracts, and executive leadership.
- Strong strategic thinking, negotiation, and problem-solving skills.
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.

## Preferred Qualifications

- Active Top Secret security clearance.
- Experience supporting Air Combat Command (ACC), Air Mobility Command (AMC), Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), Air Force Sustainment Center (AFSC), or Space Force organizations.
- Existing relationships within Air Force acquisition and operational communities.
- Experience working within a defense technology startup or high-growth software company.
- Familiarity with Salesforce, GovWin, SAM.gov, and federal opportunity tracking tools.
- Military service or direct experience supporting Air Force operations is highly desirable.

## Compensation & Benefits

- Base Salary: $175,000 - $190,000

- Bonus program and equity in a fast-growing startup

- Competitive medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and their families

- Health Savings Account with annual employer contributions

- Employer-paid Life and Disability Insurance

- Uncapped paid time off policy

- Flexible work & remote work policy

- Tax-deferred public transit benefits with Metro SmartBenefits (DC/MD/VA)

We are committed to building an inclusive culture of belonging that embraces the diversity of our people and represents the communities in which we work and the customers we serve. We know the happiest and highest performing teams include people with diverse perspectives and ways of solving problems. We strive to attract and retain talent from all backgrounds and create workplaces where everyone feels empowered to bring their full, authentic selves to work.

Shift5 is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identify, national origin, disability, age, marital status, ancestry, projected veteran status, or any other protected group or class.

[Privacy Policy and Notice for Shift5, Inc. Job Applicants, Employees & Contractors](https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSoqk1SJimaI-_eN6ivV05XJKDJIvh7t32xMVM_7CEFDjGHGjEyFAs6_4v7Uv_OxALOz8g_IzQ6VYmn/pub)

## About Shift5

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Shift5 provides an operational intelligence platform that analyzes onboard serial bus and radio frequency data from military and commercial fleets to deliver near real-time threat detection, predictive maintenance, and compliance automation.
- **Entity Type**: Private – Series C (raised $75M ~10 months ago; total funding $180.75–$185M)
- **Headquarters**: Arlington, Virginia, USA
- **Founded**: 2019
- **Founders**: Josh Lospinoso (co-founder, now Board Member); the company was also founded by former U.S. Army Cyber Command officers.

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Defense, aviation, ground vehicles, maritime, rail – operational technology (OT) cybersecurity and observability.
- **Target customers**: B2B – U.S. Department of Defense, military branches (Air Force, Army), commercial airlines, rail operators, and critical infrastructure fleet managers.
- **Mission / purpose**: “We exist to protect the servicemembers who defend our nation and secure the critical systems that keep our economy moving.”

## Products & Services
- **Shift5 Operational Intelligence Platform**: SaaS/software that ingests serial bus and RF data from fleets (aircraft, ground vehicles, ships, trains) to detect faults, cyber threats, and GPS spoofing in near real-time.
- **Predictive Maintenance**: Transforms serial bus data into proactive maintenance insights to reduce unplanned downtime and improve mission readiness.
- **Cybersecurity / EW**: Analyzes serial bus traffic and RF data to flag threats (e.g., GPS spoofing, advanced persistent threats) and enable operator action.
- **Fleet Compliance**: Processes security log files from commercial aircraft to verify compliance with aviation regulations and identify security incidents.
- **RF-Enabled GPS Threat Detection**: Plug-and-play capability that provides early warning of GPS spoofing up to 200 nautical miles away.
- **Research Services**: Expert-led security assessments, novel threat research, and specialized tooling for protecting critical assets.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private company).
- **Key Metric**: Total venture capital funding – **$180.75M** (CB Insights) or **$185M** (company site) across multiple rounds; last raise was a **$75M Series C** approximately 10 months prior to the search date.
- **Notable Investors / Partners**: Partners include **Boeing** (joint fault/threat detection initiative), **Anduril** (next-generation command & control for Army), **Rune Technologies** (defense platform sustainment), **L3Harris** (Toby Magsig, former L3Harris executive, now President & CEO). Federal contracts include **U.S. Air Force F-16** upgrades, **CSfC listing** for classified operations.
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Over **100 full-time employees** across five time zones.
  - Formalized executive leadership team (Toby Magsig confirmed CEO, new C-Suite roles) following “best Q1 in company history.”
  - Launched advanced RF-enabled GPS threat detection (Jan 2026).
  - Achieved **Commercial Solutions for Classified (CSfC)** listing (June 2026).
  - Selected for next-gen F-16 upgrades (Dec 2025).
  - Partnerships with Anduril, Boeing, and Rune Technologies.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Unique data access**: Only platform extracting and analyzing raw serial bus (MIL-STD-1553, ARINC 429) and RF data from military/commercial fleets, often in contested environments.
- **Early-warning GPS spoofing detection**: RF-based method that detects threats up to 200 nautical miles away – a capability few competitors offer.
- **Deep defense heritage**: Founders and leadership with U.S. Army Cyber Command and L3Harris backgrounds; strong trust within DoD and prime contractors.
- **Regulatory compliance**: NIAP and CSfC listings enable broader use in classified and sensitive operations.
- **Partnerships with primes**: Boeing, Anduril, L3Harris – validated integration into major platforms.

## Strategic Focus
- **Acceleration across defense and critical infrastructure** – expanding beyond aviation into ground vehicles, maritime, and rail.
- **Product expansion**: Continued investment in RF-based detection, predictive maintenance, and integration with partner ecosystems (e.g., Lattice Mesh).
- **Talent scaling**: Hiring across deployment strategy, field engineering, hardware/software engineering, and go-to-market roles.
- **Executive leadership stability**: Formalized C-suite to support growth and market penetration.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: “Low-ego, high-horsepower” team from diverse backgrounds (public/private sectors). Values include Mission-First Mindset, Relentless Innovation, and Data-Driven Precision.
- **Work model**: Many roles are “Remote/HQ” – flexibility to work remotely while maintaining an HQ in Arlington, VA. Open positions include Deployment Strategist, Field Engineer, Hardware Engineer, Systems Integration Engineer, and Proposal Manager.
- **Benefits**:
  - Comprehensive medical coverage with HSA contributions.
  - **12 weeks paid parental leave** (birth or adoption).
  - **Unlimited time off** plus paid holidays.
  - 401(k) plan (pre-tax and Roth options via Vanguard).
  - Financial and legal support through internal team.
- **Engineering culture**: Focus on solving tough OT problems; hardware and software teams work closely; emphasis on scalability and real-time data.
- **Impact**: Direct contribution to protecting service members and critical national infrastructure.

## Sources
1. [shift5.io – Homepage](https://shift5.io/)
2. [shift5.io – Company page](https://shift5.io/company/)
3. [shift5.io – Careers page](https://shift5.io/careers/)
4. [CB Insights – Shift5 profile](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/shift5)
5. [LinkedIn – Shift5](https://www.linkedin.com/company/shift5)

## Other roles at Shift5

- [Software Engineer II](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-ii-shift5-remote-b96jefv8fygr)
- [Solutions Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/solutions-engineer-shift5-rosslyn-va-5ev9t8ppa10b) — Rosslyn VA, OR
- [Growth Operations Enablement Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/growth-operations-enablement-manager-shift5-rosslyn-va-afk0zka8tm0s) — Rosslyn VA, OR
- [Applied Data Scientist](https://feeny.ai/job/applied-data-scientist-shift5-rosslyn-va-59hbf4nnxyt6) — Rosslyn VA, OR
- [Hardware (Electrical) Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-electrical-engineer-shift5-rosslyn-bthddt26hgsd) — Rosslyn, VA