VP of Growth

Arkeus builds AI-powered sensing systems that help autonomous platforms detect, track and understand what's happening in the most complex and contested environments. Our technology is deployed across defence and national security applications — already protecting lives and strengthening security across the U.S. and allied markets.

Backed by QIC, Main Sequence, R+VC, Salus Ventures, Folklore Ventures, DYNE Ventures and Beaten Zone Venture Partners, Arkeus is entering a major growth phase. We are a small, fast-moving company with the energy and ambition of a start-up and the technical credibility of a world-class defence technology provider.

We work at the intersection of optics, autonomy, robotics and real-time AI and we deploy what we build. If you want to ship technology that matters, not technology that ships decks, this is where you belong.

We have developed an inclusive, transparent and engaging culture that focuses on building a diverse workforce — realising that to attract the very best, we need to ensure our culture is ready to welcome people from all ages, genders and backgrounds.

About the role

As VP of Growth at Arkeus , you will own Arkeus’ commercial footprint, pipeline expansion, and strategic positioning within the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and its global allies, intelligence community, and civil security agencies. This is a senior leadership role that sits at the center of our global expansion strategy. You will capture new multi-million-dollar opportunities and forge tight integrations with senior leadership within the US DoD, Tier-1 drone manufacturers and uncrewed system OEMs across all forms of autonomy.

You will translate high-level go-to-market strategies into massive tactical contract wins. Working in lockstep with our Australia-based leadership team and the US-based growth teams, you will ensure our AI powered sensing systems become the default perception standard for autonomous systems both in the US and its global allies.

You will directly lead, mentor and drive our team of Business Development professionals, along with the Customer Success and Integration teams as they seek to deliver a compelling customer experience for our growing deployed base.

About you

You are a senior defense tech commercial leader with a proven track record of selling disruptive capabilities into the US military. You are intimate with DoD acquisition pathways (such as OTAs, SBIR Transition, and Programs of Record) and have deep-set relationships across the Pentagon and uncrewed systems ecosystems.

You have high-energy start-up hustle paired with the sophisticated execution mindset required to unseat legacy defense incumbents. You look at the rapidly evolving landscape of software-defined warfare and know exactly how to align our technical superiority with the shifting requirements of the US warfighter. Crucially, you are energized by ambiguity — writing the playbook for our US market dominance is a feature of the job, not a bug

You are a high-level, data-driven operator with a proven track record of unlocking predictable and sustainable revenue in complex, fast-moving deep-tech ecosystems. You understand that growth isn't just about traditional marketing; it requires aligning customer acquisition, contract activation, and international monetization frameworks into a single unified strategy.

Key responsibilities

• Build US Growth Org: Recruit, scale, and lead a high-performing US-focused business development, capture, and sales-engineering team.
• Drive Global Revenue Scaling: Own the overarching growth strategy, expanding international pipelines across AUKUS and allied defence markets.
• Build International Growth: Develop the foundations for global growth; gaining footholds and momentum in key global target markets
• OEM Partner Integration: Expand commercial integrations with major drone, USV, and aerospace manufacturers to embed Arkeus technology into their legacy and next-gen platforms.
• Acquisition Management: Navigate and execute federal procurement cycles, proposal developments, and government evaluations to convert technical wins into long-term Programs of Record.
• Cross-Functional Synergy: Partner with Product Development & Marketing and AUS/US-based Manufacturing to feed frontline user feedback into the product roadmap and marketing messages are aligned to maximise impact.
• Brand Evangelism: Represent Arkeus at the highest levels of US defense leadership, positioning our edge-AI software enabled hardware architecture as critical infrastructure for uncrewed systems.
• Sounding Board to CEO: Serve as a trusted radar for the CEO regarding US defense policy shifts, budget allocations, and competitor landscapes.
• Data-Driven Experimentation: Implement rigorous analytics and KPIs to evaluate the performance of business development initiatives, identifying high-impact levers to pull.
• Build a High-Performing Growth Team: Lead and scale our Growth team with a culture of leadership, ownership, disruption and audacity that puts our customers first.

Your experience and skills

• Executive Stature: Senior commercial leadership experience at the VP Growth, Head of Federal, or Chief Commercial Officer level within a scaling deep-tech or defense-tech firm.
• Defense Native: Proven track record selling hardware-software integrated capabilities, edge-computing, or optical/ISR sensors to US military clients.
• AUKUS/International Fluency: Experience working within international or allied defense environments (e.g., managing Australian-US defense dual-use controls) is highly regarded.
• Global Go-to-Market: Demonstrated success launching and positioning technology products in international environments, with particular emphasis on the U.S. and allied defence sectors.
• High Commercial Acumen: Masterful understanding of how complex operational delivery affects revenue margins, pricing models, and long-term customer relationships.
• Elite Communication: Ability to code-switch flawlessly between talking highly technical capabilities with edge-AI engineers and talking strategic outcomes with Pentagon stakeholders.
• Deep Tech Credibility: Track record in scaling complex hardware-enabled software products, ideally within Defence, aerospace, autonomous systems, robotics, or computer vision.
• Clearance: Ability to obtain or hold a U.S. Secret (or higher) security clearance.
• Team Building: Demonstrated ability to build teams, systems and processes in a high-growth environment with limited resources.
• Comfort with ambiguity: you can make good decisions with incomplete information and adjust quickly when the picture changes.
• You will work on the hardest problems in deep-tech — optics, autonomy, real-time AI and hardware-software integration in a single product. The gap between what you build and where it ends up is almost nonexistent.
• You will collaborate with exceptional leaders who have decades of combined experience in AI, optics and defence. You will be learning from — and contributing to — the best in the field.
• You will become part of a close-knit, ego-free team where ideas compete on merit, not seniority. Low politics, high trust. The kind of team you will still be talking about in ten years.
• You will work hard and be expected to bring your best — and in return you will grow faster than you ever would at a large organisation.
• You will work on technology that is already deployed in real environments — protecting lives and strengthening security across defence and national security applications.
• You will receive a competitive, market-benchmarked salary, structured career pathways built to grow with you, and the opportunity to participate in our Employee Share Option Plan (ESOP).
• You will have the opportunity to mentor bright emerging talent through our highly sought-after intern program and strong connections with leading universities.