--- title: 'Proposal Lead at Poseidon Aerospace' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/proposal-lead-poseidon-aerospace-washington-fy2rdhdr2w3v' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-07' --- # Proposal Lead at Poseidon Aerospace - **Company:** Poseidon Aerospace - **Location:** Washington, DC - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-09-05 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/poseidonaero/924ff46d-4cac-4b0d-bd93-c1a364b61580 ## Job description ## ABOUT POSEIDON AEROSPACE: Poseidon Aerospace is reimagining how the world moves goods. We build and operate full-size autonomous cargo aircraft - capable of carrying two tons of payload over a thousand nautical miles. From remote communities to contested logistics operations, our platforms unlock a new cost curve for air freight, making it faster, cheaper, and accessible anywhere it's needed. Headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area with locations in Washington DC, Oregon, and Maine; we're building something consequential. About the role: Proposals are how Poseidon wins contracts, and contracts are how Poseidon builds aircraft. We're looking for a Proposal Lead to own that function from first response to submission and build the infrastructure that scales with us. You'll work directly with our engineering and flight operations teams and be the person who turns what we're building into narrative that wins. What you’ll do: - This is a writing role first. You will spend the majority of your time crafting the proposals that drive Poseidon’s growth - Own proposal responses end-to-end as primary author, project manager, and final set of eyes before submission - Produce white papers, quad charts, and concept briefs that reach customers before a solicitation drops and shape how they think about the problem Poseidon solves - Run color team reviews, manage schedules, and deliver compliant packages on time with a small team and no inherited process - Build the proposal infrastructure from scratch: content libraries, writing schedules, reusable prose, and documentation standards, with no bureaucracy slowing you down - Establish how Poseidon tells its story to Government customers and refine that story with every submission - Work directly with our engineering team and flight operations team to pull technical content and translate it for Government audiences Required: - Experience personally leading proposal submissions across multiple government contracting efforts, from RFP release through delivery - Strong technical writing skills: you can translate complex engineering into clear, specific narrative without genericizing it - Working knowledge of FAR/DFARS and proposal compliance requirements - Experience developing compliance matrices, managing submission schedules, and owning document configuration - Technical literacy in aerospace, autonomy, aviation, or adjacent engineering domains. You don’t need to be a SME, but you should know what you need to ask them to write a good proposal - US citizenship and eligibility for TS/SCI Ideally you have: - Experience with non-standard contracting vehicles such as OTA, SBIR, fixed-price, or anything outside routine cost-plus fixed fee - 3–8 years in contracting or proposals, ideally at a fast-moving defense company or government contractor - Written proposals where the contracting structure itself was part of the problem to solve, not just the narrative - Worked in or alongside a fast-moving team under unusual time pressure - Built proposal infrastructure from scratch rather than inheriting a mature process - Active TS/SCI clearance ## WHAT YOU GET FROM US - Competitive salary and meaningful early-stage equity - Relocation support if applicable - Employee Health Benefit Plans - 6% Retirement matching - Flexible PTO - Free lunches, snacks, and a stocked fridge at our offices - AI tools and subscriptions ## About Poseidon Aerospace ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Poseidon Aerospace is reimagining logistics with autonomous aircraft built to move goods faster, cheaper, and anywhere they are needed, fundamentally changing the cost curve for air freight. - **Entity Type**: Private (Startup) - **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States - **Founded**: Not publicly available - **Founders**: David Zagaynov (CEO) ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Aerospace, Aviation, and Defense Logistics - **Target customers**: Government/Defense (military logistics), Commercial logistics providers, and Enterprise supply chains - **Mission**: To make air logistics as affordable and flexible as possible by driving the cost per ton-mile down to levels never before achieved in aviation, building the unmanned backbone of tomorrow's logistics. ## Products & Services - **Seagull (Unmanned Cargo Aircraft)**: An autonomous, unmanned cargo drone designed to lift two tons. The aircraft is a seaplane, requiring no airports or runways—only water—to operate. This unlocks millions of miles of navigable waterways for logistics. The platform is built from the ground up as a clean-sheet design, leveraging composites and advanced manufacturing. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available - **Total Funding**: $12.4 million USD - **Funding Rounds**: - Pre-Seed: Led by Starship Ventures (1 investor) - Seed (2025-01-01): $1.4M from 2 investors - Seed (2025-11-01): $11.0M from 7 investors, led by Tamarack Global - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Tamarack Global (Lead), Starship Ventures, Sean Hoge (Lead Investor) - **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew +366.7% year-over-year to 20 employees; actively hiring for high-impact roles; secured a partnership with Northeastern’s Roux Institute and their National Security Innovation Hub to expand presence in Maine; FY2026 NDAA includes a provision for a pilot program for contracted amphibious aircraft, validating the market. ## Competitive Advantages - **Seaplane Design**: The aircraft requires no airports or runways, only water, unlocking millions of miles of navigable waterways and making logistics possible in remote, contested, or infrastructure-poor regions. - **Cost Curve Disruption**: By driving down the cost per flight-ton-mile, Poseidon aims to make air cargo as affordable as ground or maritime transport, a fundamental shift in logistics economics. - **Defense & Government Focus**: The company is strategically aligned with U.S. national security priorities, specifically "contested logistics" as highlighted by the Department of Defense, giving it a clear and funded customer base. - **Speed & Agility**: As a small, focused team (20 employees), the company claims to move with immense speed, building clean-sheet autonomous planes from scratch using advanced composites and manufacturing techniques. ## Strategic Focus - **Scaling the Team**: Actively hiring across engineering, operations, and government relations to support rapid growth (headcount up +366.7% YoY). - **Government & Defense Contracts**: Winning contracts is a core focus, with a dedicated Proposal Lead role and a Director of Government Relations position. The company is positioning itself to be a key player in the U.S. military's "contested logistics" strategy. - **Expanding Manufacturing & Presence**: Partnering with Northeastern’s Roux Institute in Maine to build a presence in a region with a deep aerospace heritage and access to a national security innovation hub. - **Product Development**: Building and iterating on the "Seagull" unmanned cargo aircraft, with a focus on composites and clean-sheet design. ## Why Work Here - **High-Impact, Early-Stage Environment**: The company has grown from 4 to 20 people in a short period, offering the chance to build foundational systems and processes from the ground up. - **Cutting-Edge Technology**: Work on clean-sheet autonomous aircraft, advanced composites, and manufacturing engineering in a fast-paced, iterative environment. - **Mission-Driven**: The work directly impacts national security and global logistics, with a clear, compelling mission to make air cargo as affordable as ground transport. - **Culture & Perks**: On-site work in San Francisco, CA. The company emphasizes a "punch above its weight" culture with a focus on engineering excellence and speed. Active hiring for high-impact roles across engineering, operations, and government relations. - **Recent Growth**: The team has grown from 4 to 20 people in a short period, offering significant ownership and career growth opportunities for early employees. ## Sources 1. [poseidonaero.com](https://www.poseidonaero.com/) 2. [LinkedIn - Poseidon Aerospace](https://www.linkedin.com/company/poseidon-aerospace) 3. [Built In - Poseidon Aerospace](https://builtin.com/company/poseidon-aerospace) 4. 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