--- title: 'Mission Lead - Economic Security (Clearance Required) at Vannevar' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/mission-lead-economic-security-clearance-required-vannevar-washington-hvg4m0sa4q63' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-10-14' --- # Mission Lead - Economic Security (Clearance Required) at Vannevar - **Company:** Vannevar - **Location:** Washington, DC - **Posted:** 2026-10-07 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-14 - **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/vannevarlabs/jobs/5256858007 ## Job description Vannevar builds AI systems for the Department of War's most consequential missions. We have 125 deployments across every branch and combatant command spanning our core platform and five distinct products. An an example of how we work, when major combat operations started with Iran, we fielded a new product supporting 24/7 operations and 9,000+ users in three months. How we build is our advantage: we deploy forward with the people who own the mission. Our engineers, product team, and CTO deploy forward to the point of friction, including visiting units in Ukraine. We focus on embedding directly with operational units supporting great power competition with China, combat operations with Iran, and counter-narcotics missions. ## About the role We’re hiring a Mission Lead to build and grow Vannevar’s work in economic security. You’ll own a portfolio of deployments across the U.S. government, foreign partner governments, and commercial sector, working on missions focused on protecting critical technologies and supply chains, strengthening industrial capacity, and countering adversary economic activity. Your job is to find hard, important problems where Vannevar’s technology can make a difference—and turn those problems into deployments. You’ll develop hypotheses about customer needs, identify the workflows behind them, and build a clear point of view on why Vannevar can solve those problems better than existing tools or commercial alternatives. From there, you’ll find the right users, get our technology in their hands, prove value, and turn successful trials into sustained, revenue-generating deployments. This is not a traditional business development, customer success, or solutions role. You won’t be handed a mature market, a defined customer set, or a playbook to follow. You’ll be expected to develop your own thesis about where we should focus, conduct the research to become credible in the mission, and build highly tailored demonstrations and technical narratives for everyone from working-level users to senior executives. You’ll own your customer relationships end to end. That means earning trust with users, expanding into adjacent mission groups, and finding ways to grow deployments once we’ve proven value. You’ll also work closely with Product, Engineering, and forward-deployed engineers to translate what you learn in the field into product, collection, and security requirements. U.S. Persons status with at least a current Top Secret clearance in required. This is a customer-facing role required to be based in Washington, D.C. Work will require time in secure or classified environments and periodic travel. ## What you’ll do - Own a portfolio of economic security deployments. Serve as the primary relationship owner for a set of customers working economic security missions, spanning the U.S. government, foreign partner governments, and in the commercial sector. This requires an intuitive understanding of adversary activities and the missions aimed at securing critical technologies, supply chains, and strengthening industrial capacity. - Develop hypotheses about mission problems and convert these into deployments. Identify new customer groups and develop strategies to land engagements, initiate trials, and advance the engagement into revenue-generating deployments. - Build and defend a product-market-fit thesis. For each account, name the specific mission problem, connect it to a concrete workflow, and show the customer how and why Vannevar’s technology solves it in a way the customer's current tools, and other commercial alternatives, cannot. - Develop and deliver technical narratives with senior stakeholders. Conduct deep research to understand customer mission needs, and translate that knowledge to develop credible technical narratives and hyper-tailored technology demonstrations and briefings for working level to executive customers. - Sustain and expand fielded user groups. Establish engagement techniques (e.g. syncs, push updates, in-person engagements) to grow user numbers and expand across adjacent mission groups. - Partner cross-functionally. Work with Product, Engineering, and forward-deployed engineers to scope development, collection, and security requirements requirements against customer needs, and keep account knowledge current for the team. - Exercise sound judgment in ambiguous, still-forming environments. Operate independently inside organizations whose structure or mission may not be finalized yet, knowing when to move fast and when to socialize a new thesis internally before acting externally. - Navigate programmatic and contracting realities. Develop an understanding of budget cycles and contracting vehicles to create and exploit opportunities for new deployments. Work directly with government contracting officers to translate customer demand into revenue-generating deployments. ## What we’re looking for - 5+ years owning outcomes in complex, ambiguous government, defense, or intelligence community environments - Prior national security experience relevant strategic and economic competition. In other words, you understand the missions, customer needs, and opportunities, because you've lived them - Deep curiosity and interest in working with leading-edge software: you enjoy working with new technology, understanding how it works, and developing new techniques/applications to solve tough national security missions. - Conceptual thinking skills: you can synthesize and connect data points about the mission, customer requirements, and technological capabilities into ideas for new missions, expansion, and products. - Strong product-market-fit instincts: you can describe a specific mission problem, connect it to a concrete software workflow, and articulate why our technology solves it in a way current tools do not - High level of comfort operating with high autonomy in ambiguous, still-forming organizations: you can take minimal guidance and work with minimal supervision to achieve concrete outcomes. - Sufficient technical fluency to partner credibly with Product and Engineering without overclaiming capability or deployment status - Sound judgment about when to move fast, when to socialize a new thesis internally, and how to engage and communicate internally and externally ## What we offer We’re proud to offer competitive benefits that support our employees. Some key highlights of our benefits package include: - Health, dental, and vision insurance - Remote friendly with WeWork access - Unlimited PTO, shared downtime during the federal holiday calendar, and company-wide off time at the end of each year - 401(k) match - Lifestyle & wellbeing stipends - Salary top-up during military reserve duty - Fully paid parental leave - Child and pet care reimbursement during travel Vannevar is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply, even if you don't feel like you're a perfect fit. If you're passionate about contributing to our mission, we'd love to hear from you! ## IMPORTANT NOTICE We are committed to protecting the privacy of all applicants. Official emails from the company will come from an @vannevarlabs.com domain. Under no circumstances will a legitimate representative from our company contact you to request passwords, financial information, or other sensitive personal data. Please be vigilant of potential scams. ## About Vannevar ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Vannevar Labs builds next-generation AI-powered defense software for information dominance and decision advantage across the U.S. military and homeland security missions. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series B, total funding $91.5M) - **Headquarters**: Palo Alto, California, USA - **Founded**: 2019 - **Founders**: Brett Granberg (CEO) and Nini Hamrick (President) ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Defense and Space Manufacturing; National Security Software - **Target customers**: U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Intelligence Community, Homeland Security – including combatant commands (INDOPACOM, SOCOM, AFSOC, etc.) and federal agencies. - **Mission**: Build 21st-century software that operates at the speed of modern conflict to give the U.S. and its allies battlefield information dominance and decision advantage. ## Products & Services - **[Decrypt](https://www.vannevarlabs.com/)** – Flagship product: a foreign text workflow platform that processes vast amounts of open-source intelligence (OSINT), translates languages (Mandarin, Russian, etc.), and surfaces critical patterns and insights for intelligence officers. SaaS deployed at the tactical edge. - **[Curator](https://research.contrary.com/report/vannevar-labs)** – (Beta) A translation and search-and-discovery tool built on top of Decrypt’s data pipeline. - **Unreleased Products** – At least two additional tools in beta (as of Nov 2024) focused on computer vision and/or NLP for battlefield applications. - **Forward Deployed Engineering** – Custom integration and mission support for specific units, often requiring security clearances. ## Market Standing - **Valuation**: Not disclosed (last known post-Series B in 2023) - **Total Funding**: $91.5M - Seed (Apr 2019): $4.5M - Seed (Jan 2021): undisclosed amount, led by Costanoa Ventures and General Catalyst - Series A (Aug 2021): $12M, led by Costanoa Ventures and Point72 Ventures - Series B (Jan 2023): $75M, led by Felicis (with 7 investors) - **Annual Revenue**: Conflicting reports – [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/vannevar-labs) lists $25M; [Contrary Research](https://research.contrary.com/report/vannevar-labs) states revenue grew from $3.5M in 2021 to $80M in 2024, achieving profitability within three years. - **Key Customers & Partners**: U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Air Force Special Operations Command, U.S. Special Operations Command, National Air and Space Intelligence Center; partner with Databricks (announced Oct 2024). - **Notable Investors**: Costanoa Ventures, General Catalyst, Point72 Ventures, Felicis. - **Growth Signals**: Featured on Forbes AI 50 (2024 & 2025); headcount reportedly over 200 as of Dec 2025 (per Contrary); active in major joint exercises (Balikatan 2025, Talisman Sabre 2025); secured a $99M production contract from the Defense Innovation Unit in late 2024. ## Competitive Advantages - **Rare Proprietary Data** – Over one petabyte of adversarial, hard-to-access data that powers fine-tuned AI models not available to commercial firms. - **Tactical Edge Deployment** – AI systems designed to run at the edge, on low-bandwidth battlefield environments, ensuring real-time decision superiority. - **Rapid DoD Adoption** – Uses flexible Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements and DIU partnerships to bypass traditional procurement timelines. - **Cross-Domain Expertise** – Combines talent from elite military units (SEALs, Marines, Intelligence) with top tech companies (Google, Palantir, Scale AI, Amazon, Apple). - **Profitability at Scale** – Achieved profitability within three years – a rare achievement in defense tech. ## Strategic Focus - **Expand International & Homeland Security** – Growing footprint beyond all‑military to include Homeland Security, border security, and diplomatic economic security tools. - **Agentic AI Platform** – Building “armies of agents” that can autonomously steer fleets, detect threats, and keep missiles from flying, with human-in-the-loop oversight. - **Indo‑Pacific Deterrence** – Deepening capabilities for theater‑specific deterrence and partner‑nation data sharing. - **Talent Heavy‑Up** – Actively hiring for 28+ roles (as of mid‑2026) across engineering, mission, and operations, especially those requiring TS/SCI clearances. ## Why Work Here - **Mission‑Driven Culture** – Described as “a workplace like no other” where ex‑Googlers work alongside ex‑SEALs to build AI that protects American lives. Employees focus on “real‑world difference” rather than incremental consumer apps. - **Work Environment** – Hybrid / remote‑friendly, though many roles require on‑site presence in D.C., Honolulu, or other cleared facilities. Remote positions exist for those with existing clearances. - **Engineering Philosophy** – Emphasis on building agent‑based systems, working with rare datasets, and pushing AI to the tactical edge. Employees cite high compensation but note work‑life balance challenges (rating 2.7/5 on Glassdoor). - **Career Growth** – Rapidly growing organization with direct exposure to defense decision‑makers, opportunities to lead mission‑critical deployments, and a strong alumni network feeding into top defense tech (Palantir, Anduril, Scale AI). - **Security Clearance Required** – Most engineering and mission roles require (or sponsor) U.S. government security clearances (TS/SCI). This is a strong signal of deep‑end work. ## Sources 1. [vannevarlabs.com](https://www.vannevarlabs.com/) – Company website 2. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/vannevar-labs) – LinkedIn Company Page (financials, headcount, reviews) 3. [research.contrary.com](https://research.contrary.com/report/vannevar-labs) – Contrary Research Report (funding details, revenue, products, headcount, customers) 4. [job-boards.greenhouse.io](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/vannevarlabs) – Greenhouse careers page (open roles, job descriptions) 5. [vannevarlabs.com/careers/open-roles](https://www.vannevarlabs.com/careers/open-roles/) – Official open roles listing ## Other roles at Vannevar - [Senior Business Operations Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-business-operations-manager-vannevar-remote-h6qsr43fdbgp) - [Senior Full-Stack Engineer - Product (TS/SCI Required)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-full-stack-engineer-product-ts-sci-required-vannevar-new-york-h8g9064nyfn1) — New York, NY - [Mission Lead - SOF (Clearance Required)](https://feeny.ai/job/mission-lead-sof-clearance-required-vannevar-raleigh-9nx0pb3eat9g) — Raleigh, NC / Tampa, FL / Washington, DC - [Mission Lead - USV Software](https://feeny.ai/job/mission-lead-usv-software-vannevar-norfolk-sqx8zrd0frb3) — Norfolk, VA - [MBA Intern Summer 2027 (Mission Lead - Clearance Required)](https://feeny.ai/job/mba-intern-summer-2027-mission-lead-clearance-required-vannevar-remote-avzdxn94n0m6) - [Site Reliability Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/site-reliability-engineer-vannevar-san-diego-p9976d72d3t7) — San Diego, CA - [Backend Engineer, Security Platform](https://feeny.ai/job/backend-engineer-security-platform-vannevar-remote-gd6m1yp60vpm) - [Mission Lead - Tampa (Clearance Required)](https://feeny.ai/job/mission-lead-tampa-clearance-required-vannevar-tampa-xvmbqzgnd8e4) — Tampa, FL - [Mission Lead - Minneapolis (Clearance Required)](https://feeny.ai/job/mission-lead-minneapolis-clearance-required-vannevar-minneapolis-wbjzys1gy9my) — Minneapolis, MN - [Government Contracts Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/government-contracts-manager-vannevar-remote-a4ncnwmaa3mb)