---
title: 'Contracts Manager, Government Programs at Quartermaster'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/contracts-manager-government-programs-quartermaster-arlington-h3x56j223gc0'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-14'
---

# Contracts Manager, Government Programs at Quartermaster

- **Company:** Quartermaster
- **Location:** Arlington, VA
- **Compensation:** $140k–$160k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-09-25
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-14
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/quartermaster/631ca70a-9fcc-43c6-83b5-c940c96a961b

## Job description

## About Us

Quartermaster is building the world’s most comprehensive maritime intelligence platform. Our SmartMast™ system transforms commercial and civilian vessels into a persistent, distributed sensing network—combining HD video, AI, radar, RF sensing, and AIS to deliver real-time maritime domain awareness at global scale. With 600+ sensors deployed across 25+ countries and more than 400,000 vessels identified outside of AIS, we are setting a new standard for what ocean surveillance and safety can look like. We are a mission-driven, high-velocity team building dual-use technology for defense agencies, coast guards, and commercial maritime operators. If you want to shape our growth efforts and how we scale across the government, this is the place.

## The Role

We are hiring a Contracts Manager, Government Programs to own the government contract lifecycle end to end. Our growth owners find opportunities and carry the customer relationships, our proposal team writes the technical bids, and finance owns pricing and margin. This role owns the discipline that connects them: federal procurement rules, contract negotiation, and the post-award actions that keep work funded as requirements change. You will be Quartermaster’s primary voice to U.S. Government contracting officers and to the prime contractors we subcontract under. As our contracts grow more complex, and as our transition path runs toward programs of record, this function becomes the difference between winning work and being able to execute and bill it. This is our first dedicated contracts hire. You will carry the workload and establish the function at the same time.

## What You'll Do

- Government Negotiation and Execution: Serve as Quartermaster’s primary interface with U.S. Government Contracting Officers (KOs/COs) and prime contractor counterparts, leading negotiations on terms, conditions, and pricing structures across fixed-price, cost-type, T&M/LOE, IDIQ, and Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) vehicles.
- Solicitation Review and Bid Compliance: Review RFPs, RFQs, BAAs, CSOs, SBIR topics, and OTA calls for compliance obligations, contract-type risk, and terms we cannot accept. Partner with the proposal team on the compliance matrix and Section L/M traceability so that our bids are responsive on the Government’s evaluation terms.
- Contract Lifecycle Management: Own pre- and post-award contract actions, including CLIN restructures, scope expansions, option exercises, incremental funding, no-cost extensions, and closeouts, so that additional scope is converted into funded work on a timeline that does not delay delivery.
- Teaming and Subcontract Administration: Negotiate NDAs, teaming agreements, and subcontracts; and hold prime contractors to the terms they flow down to us.
- Registrations and Certifications: Maintain [SAM.gov](http://SAM.gov) registration, annual representations and certifications, size and socioeconomic status representations, and the recurring filings that determine our eligibility to compete.
- Finance and Billing Alignment: Support cost volumes, rate structures, and certified cost or pricing data where required, and keep deliverable schedules (CDRLs), billing milestones, and contract reporting consistent with what we invoice and what programs deliver.
- Data and Intellectual Property Rights: Own our position on technical data and software rights, so that government-funded work does not erode Quartermaster’s ownership of its core technology.
- Regulatory Oversight: Maintain adherence to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), DFARS, and agency supplements, and advise growth, proposal, and program teams on how acquisition rules shape what we can offer and when.

## What We're Looking For

- 6+ years of experience in federal government contracting or acquisition, as a U.S. Government Warranted Contracting Officer or contract specialist, or as a senior contracts manager in the defense or intelligence industry.
- Contract Lifecycle Management: A direct, hands-on track record negotiating and executing contract actions, including awards, modifications, CLIN structures, option exercises, funding actions, and closeout.
- FAR/DFARS knowledge: Extensive knowledge of federal acquisition regulations, contract types (FFP, CPFF, T&M, OTAs), and government procurement workflows.
- Technical Acumen: Working knowledge of the systems being contracted for — enough to read a technical volume critically, translate engineering scope into CLINs and deliverables that match what we will build.
- Risk Judgment: The ability to distinguish terms that present material risk from those that are an acceptable cost of doing business, and to explain the difference to leadership.
- Written Communication: Ability to independently produce negotiation positions, contract correspondence, and modification requests.
- Cross-Team Collaboration: A proven ability to work effectively across growth, proposal, finance, and program teams while maintaining disciplined contract documentation and traceability.
- Startup Mindset: You are proactive, move fast, work independently, and build simple, repeatable contract processes.

## Nice to Have

- Active Secret or TS/SCI clearance, or eligibility to obtain one.
- Former Warranted Contracting Officer experience (e.g., DoD, IC, DHS), including administrative or unlimited warrant authority.
- Subcontract administration under large prime contractors and experience supporting the transition of prototypes into programs of record.
- DAWIA certification, DAU coursework, or NCMA credentials (CFCM, CPCM, CCCM).
- Familiarity with Salesforce or a comparable CRM for maintaining contract and pipeline data.

## Why this Role

- You will build the contracts function with real authority over how we do it.
- Your work is directly measurable in company outcomes: the actions you negotiate and execute determine what we can bill and what we retain.
- You will work at the center of growth, proposals, and finance rather than at the end of the process.
- Mission impact: safer mariners, more secure sea lanes, and an ocean that can no longer go dark.

Work Environment

- Hybrid, based in the DC/Northern Virginia area, with travel to customer and program offices as needed.
- Startup atmosphere with high ownership and autonomy.
- Competitive salary with comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits.

## About Quartermaster

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Quartermaster builds a real-time, distributed maritime awareness network by equipping vessels with AI-powered sensor packages (SmartMast) and an analytics platform.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A)
- **Headquarters**: Arlington, Virginia, United States
- **Founded**: 2023
- **Founders**: Neil Sobin (CEO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Maritime intelligence, defense technology, AI/robotics, ocean sensing
- **Target customers**: Governments (navies, coast guards), commercial shipping operators, insurers, and maritime researchers (B2G, B2B)
- **Mission**: “Connect every vessel on the water to create a comprehensive, real-time picture of our oceans, unlocking critical data insights that underpin a prosperous global maritime ecosystem.” [quartermaster.us](https://www.quartermaster.us/about)

## Products & Services
- **SmartMast**: A weather-hardened hardware package (cameras, radios, sensors) mounted on a ship’s mast that continuously collects and relays maritime data. Combined with an AI analytics platform, it provides real-time vessel identification, anomaly detection, and environmental monitoring. [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/20/this-startup-raised-43m-to-build-a-hive-mind-for-ships/)
- **Quartermaster Analytics Platform**: Cloud-based software that ingests SmartMast data and applies computer vision and machine learning to generate actionable intelligence for fleet operators, insurers, and government agencies.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: $43 million in Series A funding (announced May 20, 2026) [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/20/this-startup-raised-43m-to-build-a-hive-mind-for-ships/)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Co-led by First Round Capital and Quiet Capital, with participation from TMV, Steel Atlas, BoxGroup, Operator Partners, Shorewind Capital, and David (surname not specified). Key hires from Anduril (Steve Ribaudo as CGO) and Scale AI (Matt Beck as COO). [quartermaster.us](https://www.quartermaster.us/about) | [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/quartermasterai)
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Headcount grew 625% year-over-year to 40 employees (as of mid-2026). [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/quartermasterai)
  - Over 600 ships equipped with SmartMast, covering 10 million square miles of ocean. [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/20/this-startup-raised-43m-to-build-a-hive-mind-for-ships/)
  - Assisted in “over 20 rescues of mariners at sea.” [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/20/this-startup-raised-43m-to-build-a-hive-mind-for-ships/)
  - Operates in 7 countries (Panama, Colombia, South Korea, UAE, Brazil, Taiwan, United States). [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/quartermasterai)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Proprietary hardware edge**: SmartMast is far more advanced than the standard AIS (Automatic Identification System), which is opt-in and easily spoofed. Quartermaster’s sensors provide persistent, verified, real-time data that is less susceptible to fraud. [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/20/this-startup-raised-43m-to-build-a-hive-mind-for-ships/)
- **Pro-mariner incentive model**: Rather than selling sensors to fleet operators (a tough sell in a low-margin industry), Quartermaster creates value for mariners (e.g., rescue support, safety data) to encourage voluntary adoption, locking in network effects. [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/20/this-startup-raised-43m-to-build-a-hive-mind-for-ships/)
- **First-mover in distributed ocean sensing**: No other company has deployed a real-time, AI-powered sensor constellation at this scale, giving Quartermaster a data moat and early relationships with governments and commercial fleets.

## Strategic Focus
- **Engineering hiring**: A large portion of the $43M Series A is earmarked for hiring engineers (RF, software, AI, systems) to accelerate product development. [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/20/this-startup-raised-43m-to-build-a-hive-mind-for-ships/)
- **Fleet expansion**: Continue equipping more vessels with SmartMast, especially in key maritime corridors, to densify the network.
- **New applications**: Developing uses for government intelligence, marine autonomy training data, environmental monitoring, and insurance risk assessment.
- **Global presence**: Scaling operations in Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East (already in 7 countries). [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/quartermasterai)

## Why Work Here
- **High-impact mission**: Directly contribute to ocean safety, security, and sustainability – work that has tangible real-world results (e.g., rescues at sea).
- **Fast-growing startup**: 625% YoY headcount growth; employees have significant ownership and influence over product direction.
- **Engineering culture**: “A single engineer can make a significant impact in relatively short periods of time” because the ocean space is largely untapped. [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/20/this-startup-raised-43m-to-build-a-hive-mind-for-ships/)
- **Remote-friendly**: Some roles (e.g., “Opportunity Hire”) are listed as remote, though the HQ in Arlington, VA likely expects hybrid for core engineering teams. [quartermaster.us](https://www.quartermaster.us/jobs/opportunity-hire)
- **Diverse, inclusive environment**: Equal opportunity employer that encourages individuals of all backgrounds to apply. [quartermaster.us](https://www.quartermaster.us/jobs/opportunity-hire)
- **Notable perks**: Not explicitly listed, but the company emphasizes pro-mariner values and a collaborative, mission-driven culture.

## Sources
1. [quartermaster.us/about](https://www.quartermaster.us/about)
2. [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/20/this-startup-raised-43m-to-build-a-hive-mind-for-ships/)
3. [linkedin.com/company/quartermasterai](https://www.linkedin.com/company/quartermasterai)
4. [quartermaster.us/jobs/opportunity-hire](https://www.quartermaster.us/jobs/opportunity-hire)
5. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/quartermaster](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/quartermaster)

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