---
title: 'Head of Launch (Middle East) at Quartermaster'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-launch-middle-east-quartermaster-arabian-gulf-smed3h4gvyr0'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-09'
---

# Head of Launch (Middle East) at Quartermaster

- **Company:** Quartermaster
- **Location:** Arabian Gulf
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-08-12
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/quartermaster/bf6d93a7-74f0-4108-ac7d-85df94b80c80

## Job description

## ABOUT US

Quartermaster AI leverages cutting-edge AI and robotics technology to enhance maritime domain awareness, aiming to become the eyes, ears, and brain of the ocean by enabling every vessel to collaboratively sense, compute, and communicate. Quartermaster is a venture-backed Maritime Domain Awareness company providing near real-time insights to government and commercial partners via our SmartMast™ product. SmartMast™ is a COTS sensor system consisting of a camera, a software-defined radio, and a proprietary onboard AI component installed on vessels worldwide, and managed by Quartermaster.

## JOB DESCRIPTION

We are looking for a Head of Launch for the Middle East to lead Quartermaster's entry into one of the world's most strategically important maritime corridors. This is a high-stakes, dual-mandate role sitting at the intersection of diplomacy and operational strategy: you will be responsible for de-risking our business across a wide range of jurisdictions and regulatory regimes while securing the maritime partnerships that anchor our growth. Success in this role is measured in SmartMast™ units installed, activated, and reporting across the Middle East's maritime corridors.

## KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

- Build and maintain proactive relationships with national maritime authorities, port authorities, and regional coordinating bodies to secure operational buy-in.
- Anticipate regulatory shifts, trade restrictions, and policy changes across port state control and flag state frameworks (including the Riyadh MoU) to develop risk-mitigation strategies.
- Partner with Legal and Compliance to ensure market launches align with local labor, customs, trade, spectrum/equipment type-approval, data handling, and maritime safety requirements.
- Develop scalable market entry playbooks tailored to the region's distinct commercial, cultural, and regulatory environments.
- Establish the import, customs, and logistics framework needed to bring SmartMast™ hardware into target markets, including initial warehousing and staging.
- Identify, vet, and onboard local installers, fabricators, and port-side vendors capable of supporting SmartMast™ deployment to quality and safety standards.
- Identify, engage, and convert commercial fleet operators, independent vessel owners, port authorities, and maritime organizations suitable for SmartMast™ deployment.
- Negotiate and close partnership and space-use agreements that secure vessel capacity and long-term maritime relationships.
- Oversee the transition from signed agreement to operational integration, ensuring new fleet, port, and vendor partners meet standards so Field Operations can deploy without delay.
- Build durable, trust-based relationships with fleets, ports, and maritime organizations that build brand trust and reduce bureaucratic friction.
- Recruit, scale, and mentor a local, cross-disciplinary team spanning field operations, market support, and stakeholder relations.
- Align global product, engineering, legal, and marketing teams with the specific requirements of the Middle East market.
- Serve as the primary feedback loop to Quartermaster leadership on regional dynamics, technical requirements, and localized risks.

## QUALIFICATIONS (PREFERRED)

- 8+ years in senior operations, market launch, business development, or government relations roles, ideally within maritime, energy, logistics, or other highly regulated sectors.
- Deep understanding of the political, commercial, and regulatory landscape across the Middle East's ports and maritime corridors.
- Proven track record navigating government relationships, port authorities, and public-private partnerships in the region.
- Demonstrated success closing complex B2B partnerships, joint ventures, or fleet agreements.
- A bias for action with the ability to draft a market entry plan in the morning and negotiate a stakeholder partnership in the afternoon.
- Fluency in English is required.
- Professional proficiency in Arabic is highly preferred.

## 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)

## Other roles at Quartermaster

- [Recruiter](https://feeny.ai/job/recruiter-quartermaster-arlington-3sdcz2zcyhe3) — Arlington, VA
- [Senior Embedded Engineer – Robotics & Sensor Systems](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-embedded-engineer-robotics-sensor-systems-quartermaster-arlington-g9ykt3vms2s7) — Arlington, VA
- [Hardware Test & Integration Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-test-integration-engineer-quartermaster-arlington-3h259071tfrk) — Arlington, VA
- [Senior Software Test Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-software-test-engineer-quartermaster-arlington-6nbzdydrbnja) — Arlington, VA
- [IT Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/it-engineer-quartermaster-arlington-dg98g3jag2ds) — Arlington, VA
- [Head of Launch (Africa)](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-launch-africa-quartermaster-united-states-tvqm6j5d7zc3) — United States
- [Head of Launch (Europe)](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-launch-europe-quartermaster-london-p4r55emm9sfw) — London, United Kingdom
- [Field Operations Lead - Arabian Gulf](https://feeny.ai/job/field-operations-lead-arabian-gulf-quartermaster-arabian-gulf-m7rvynds7114) — Arabian Gulf
- [Strategic Projects Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/strategic-projects-manager-quartermaster-arlington-4n11y1ksbf2n) — Arlington, VA
- [VP of Supply-Fleet Recruitment](https://feeny.ai/job/vp-of-supply-fleet-recruitment-quartermaster-new-york-jx7vs2ppd95y) — New York, NY