Domestic Capture Director

Low Earth orbit is open for business. Varda is accelerating the development of commercial space infrastructure from in-orbit pharmaceutical processing to reliable and economical reentry capsules.Vardas W-Series vehicles are built designed and operated by Varda in-house including the pharmaceutical processing payloads the capsules the C-PICA heat shields and the satellite buses.

From life-saving pharmaceuticals to more powerful fiber optics there is a world of products used on Earth today that can only be manufactured in space. Varda is accelerating innovation in the orbital economy by creating both the products and infrastructure needed so space can directly benefit life on Earth. Our mission is to expand the economic bounds of humankind.

Our team is uniquely suited to accomplishing this goal with leadership and staff comprised of veterans from SpaceX Blue Origin major pharmaceutical companies and Silicon Valley. Varda was founded in January 2021 by Will Bruey and Delian Asparouhov with significant backing from world class investors including Khosla Ventures Lux Capital Founders Fund Caffeinated Capital General Catalyst and Also Capital.

Varda is headquartered in El Segundo California where we have offices and a production facility where our vehicles equipment and materials are built integrated and tested. Varda also has offices in Washington DC and Huntsville AL.

Join Varda and work to create a bustling in-space ecosystem.

About Varda

Varda Space Industries is pioneering the future of space-based manufacturing and terrestrial reentry technologies. We support a diverse portfolio of customers from pharmaceutical companies leveraging microgravity for novel product development to domestic and international defense partners utilizing our Hypersonic and Reentry testbed. Our Reentry Targets offerings validate cutting-edge missile defense capabilities for the U.S. government allied nations private industry and elite academic institutions.

The Role

As the Capture Director you will serve as the strategic bridge between Business Development and Mission Management. You will own the end-to-end capture lifecycle for opportunities transitioned from Business Development drive keep-sold expansion activities and continuously optimize our capture processes and this role you will lead formal Color Team reviews execute Black Hat competitive assessments and orchestrate Price-to-Win (PTW) strategies.

Based on-site in Huntsville AL you will directly accelerate the growth of Vardas Test-as-a-Service (TaaS) portfolio across domestic and international defense aerospace and space intelligence markets.

What Youll Do

• Opportunity Management: Qualify and capture high-value defense solicitations across the MDA USSF USAF USN USA SOCOM Combatant Commands FFRDCs/UARCs and commercial R&D entities.
• Lifecycle Ownership: Assume full accountability for proposals at the handoff gate driving the strategy through proposal development compliance evaluations contract negotiation and closure.
• Organic Growth: Partner with Mission Management to execute keep-sold strategies and deepen penetration within existing accounts (USAF USSF MDA DoD).
• Gate Reviews: Conduct rigorous go/no-go assessments evaluating customer alignment competitive positioning and financial ROI.
• Competitive Intelligence: Analyze DoD budget exhibits to map program schedules funding profiles and procurement strategies.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Coordinate with engineering pricing legal and mission management to translate complex technical specs into winning proposal frameworks.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Cultivate trusted relationships across government agencies international partners and private industry to understand customer pain points and embed key discriminators into Vardas offerings.
• International Capture: Apply deep knowledge of Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) and ITAR/EAR regulations to secure international testbed and target pursuits.
• Market Visibility: Represent Varda at key defense conferences industry days and symposia to expand the brands footprint.

Basic Qualifications

• Education: Bachelors degree in Business Engineering Science or a related technical discipline.
• Experience: 5 years of dedicated capture management or business development experience within the DoD aerospace defense or national security technology sectors.
• Domain Expertise: Proven track record leading end-to-end defense captures from opportunity identification through contract award.
• Leadership: Experience directing cross-functional proposal teams including engineering pricing legislative affairs and operations.
• Communication: Exceptional written skills with a demonstrated ability to author compelling white papers executive summaries and technical proposals.
• Clearance: Active TS/SCI security clearance (or the ability to be fast-tracked for one).
• Travel: Ability to travel 25% 50% of the time including international travel.
• Citizenship: U.S. Citizenship or Green Card holder required to conform with ITAR and U.S. space technology export control regulations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA) Strategic Studies or Engineering.
• Established professional network within the DoD hypersonic reentry test or missile defense communities.
• Deep familiarity with the DoD Planning Programming Budgeting and Execution (PPBE) process.
• Familiarity with international space frameworks and academic research funding mechanisms.
• Experience utilizing modern AI-driven capture tools and advanced prompt-engineering techniques to optimize proposal workflows.

Compensation & Benefits

• Base Salary Range: $200000.00 - $220000.00 / year (Final leveling and salary determined by skills experience and education).
• Incentives: Eligible for long-term incentives including stock options and/or long-term cash awards.
• Investment: Access to the Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP).
• Classification: Full-time Exempt.

Varda like all employers must ensure that its employees working in the United States are lawfully authorized to work in the U.S. Additionally our employees are exposed to and have access to certain export-controlled items. Because our employees are provided access to export-controlled items our policy is to only hire U.S. persons who are permitted to have access to our technology without an export license.

US person means: U.S. citizen U.S. lawful permanent resident or protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3) (i.e. individual admitted to the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum).