---
title: 'X-BAT Business Development Director, Middle East (R4949) at Shield AI'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/x-bat-business-development-director-middle-east-r4949-shield-ai-abu-dhabi-5g4p5bd1gra5'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# X-BAT Business Development Director, Middle East (R4949) at Shield AI

- **Company:** Shield AI
- **Location:** Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- **Employment:** internship
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-05-19
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/a4ca6614-e302-48f9-800c-fc9903ea5b5a

## Job description

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.

Job Description: At Shield AI, we’re redefining the battlespace with autonomy-enabled airpower. As part of our global expansion, we’re looking for a bold and visionary Director – CCAs, Middle East to lead strategic sales, customer engagement, and capture efforts for our Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) initiatives across the region. This is a high-impact role at the cutting edge of aerospace and defense innovation. You’ll be on the front lines, driving adoption and revenue for Shield AI’s CCA technologies by engaging directly with top-tier defense stakeholders—military customers, industry primes, and government decision-makers. Your mission: position Shield AI as the go-to partner for next-generation air combat solutions in the Middle East.

You’ll bring a rare mix of defense sales expertise, technical credibility, and a deep understanding of air domain CONOPS and acquisition frameworks. From identifying new opportunities to closing complex deals and launching early-stage programs, you’ll own the entire business development lifecycle.

What you'll do:

- Drive Strategic Capture: Identify, shape, and capture high-value opportunities across Middle Eastern next-gen airpower programs relevant to CCAs and autonomy.
- Drive Regional Sales Pipeline: Lead the full business development lifecycle for CCA-focused efforts, from customer engagement through proposal, negotiation, and contract award.
- Engage Key Stakeholders: Build and maintain trusted relationships with Ministries of Defence, defense primes, integrators, and key partners.
- Shape Requirements & CONOPS: Influence customer requirements and future CCA CONOPS to align with Shield AI’s product offerings.
- Support Demonstrations & Campaigns: Lead Shield AI’s positioning and participation in regional flight demos, technical trials, and program pilots.
- Coordinate Cross-Functionally: Collaborate closely with engineering, product, legal, and program teams to align technical solutions with customer needs and delivery requirements.
- Inform Product Direction: Provide field intelligence to guide feature development, integration strategy, and roadmap priorities for Hivemind-enabled CCA solutions.

Required qualifications:

- 15+ years in a relevant air force occupation, bringing significant depth of understanding of relevant CONOPs and platform applications (preference for real-world operational experience flying tactical fighter aircraft with a strong technical background).
- 3–5+ years of experience in defense acquisition, business development, sales, or strategy, ideally with a focus on air platforms or autonomy.
- 5+ years of experience in region either operationally or from a defense business perspective
- Strong track record of capturing and closing defense programs or tech insertions with relevant ministries of Defense or multinational frameworks.
- Understanding of next-gen air combat trends, including CCAs, MUM-T, and AI-enabled CONOPS.
- Ability to credibly represent technically complex products to both strategic and operational-level audiences.
- Familiarity with key regional acquisition pathways.
- Willingness to live in regional (preferably Abu Dhabi) and to travel extensively across the Middle East (30–50%).

## #LI-LD2

#LF

Our international teammates receive a comprehensive total rewards package aligned to your country office location. For full details on compensation and benefits, please consult your talent acquisition partner.

## About Shield AI

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Shield AI builds AI pilots and autonomous systems for military aircraft to protect service members and civilians.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series G, venture-backed)
- **Headquarters**: San Diego, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2015
- **Founders**: Brandon Tseng, Ryan Tseng, Andrew Reiter

## Core Business
- Primary industry/industries: Defense technology, artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, aerospace
- Target customers: U.S. Department of Defense, allied nations’ military forces (B2G / Government)
- Mission or purpose statement: “Protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems.”

## Products & Services
- **Hivemind**: A combat‑tested, modular autonomy stack for aircraft – self‑driving technology for drones, jets, and helicopters. Includes path‑planning, mapping, state‑estimation, computer vision, and reinforcement learning. Type: Software (AI/autonomy).
- **V‑BAT**: A vertical take‑off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial system (UAS) designed for persistent ISR and strike missions. Type: Hardware (drone).
- **X‑BAT**: An advanced unmanned aircraft system with extended endurance and payload capacity, built for multi‑domain operations. Type: Hardware (drone).
- **Hivemind Vision Systems**: Computer‑vision and sensor‑fusion capabilities integrated into Hivemind for GPS‑denied environments. Type: Software + sensors.
- **Hivemind Enterprise**: A deployable version of Hivemind for third‑party platforms and commercial applications. Type: Software.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed (private company). Total funding raised: $3.6B (as of Series G in March 2026).
- **Key Metric**: Annual Revenue ~$21.7M (estimated, private) | Total Funding $3.6B (including $2B Series G led by JP Morgan Chase and Advent International, March 2026).
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: JP Morgan Chase, Advent International, Blackstone, Riot Ventures, SnowPoint Ventures, Disruptive (55+ investors total). Strategic partners include U.S. DoD and allied defense forces.
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew 68.3% YoY to 1,283 employees; 338 active job postings (+57.2% YoY); operates in 5 countries (U.S., Australia, UAE, Norway, Ukraine); recent acquisitions of Sentient Vision Systems (2024), Heron Systems, MARTIN UAV.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Combat‑proven autonomy**: Hivemind has been tested in live military operations, providing a first‑mover advantage in contested, GPS‑denied environments.
- **Full‑stack integration**: Combines software (AI pilot), hardware (V‑BAT, X‑BAT), and sensor systems, creating a tightly integrated product ecosystem.
- **Cross‑functional engineering culture**: Engineers work across AI, robotics, aerospace, and defense – not siloed – enabling rapid iteration and field deployment.
- **Top talent pipeline**: Employees drawn from Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Amazon, Anduril, and other leading defense/tech firms.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale AI pilots across all domains**: Extend Hivemind from aircraft to ships, satellites, and ground vehicles (“every military asset”).
- **International expansion**: Growing presence in Australia, Europe, and Middle East via mission autonomy centers and partnerships.
- **Deepen autonomy stack**: Continued investment in reinforcement learning, simulation, and computer vision to maintain leadership in contested‑environment autonomy.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission‑driven work**: Directly contribute to protecting service members and civilians with cutting‑edge AI and robotics.
- **Cross‑functional teams**: Engineers collaborate across disciplines (AI, hardware, software, systems) on real‑world defense challenges.
- **Benefits**: Excellent medical coverage, mental health EAP, paid parental leave, pet insurance, flexible work hours, gym discounts (SD) / on‑site gym (DC), free parking, competitive compensation, 401k with match, stock benefits.
- **Work policy**: Flexible work hours; some offices (e.g., San Diego HQ, Arlington, DC) have on‑site facilities. Remote/hybrid options available depending on role.
- **Growth trajectory**: Rapidly scaling (68% headcount growth) with hundreds of open roles across engineering, operations, and program management.

## Sources
1. [shield.ai/about](https://shield.ai/about/)
2. [shield.ai/careers](https://shield.ai/careers/)
3. [LinkedIn – Shield AI](https://www.linkedin.com/company/shield-ai)
4. [CBInsights – Shield AI](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/shield-ai)
5. [Lever – Shield AI Jobs](https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai)

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- [Staff Platform Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-platform-engineer-shield-ai-san-diego-t739q0cnehtg) — San Diego, CA
- [Principal Engineer, Fluid & Thermal Systems (R5620)](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-engineer-fluid-thermal-systems-r5620-shield-ai-seattle-jzpbwfsaek36) — Seattle, WA
- [Director, Mission Systems](https://feeny.ai/job/director-mission-systems-shield-ai-washington-96nmd081cj08) — Washington, DC
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