International 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 companiesleveragingmicrogravity for novel product development to domestic and international defense partnersutilizingour Hypersonic and Reentry testbed. Our Reentry Targets offeringsvalidatecutting-edgemissile defense capabilities for the U.S. government allied nations private industry and elite academic institutions globally.

The Role

As theInternational Capture Director you will serve as the strategic bridge between global Business Development and Mission Management driving Vardas expansion across the international defense aerospace and space intelligence markets. Based on-site inHuntsville AL you will own the end-to-end capture lifecycle for foreign opportunities orchestrate complex cross-border campaigns and continuouslyoptimizeour international capture processes and toolsets.

In this role you will lead formal Color Team reviews execute Black Hat competitive assessmentsforforeign and domesticcustomers and architect sophisticated international Price-to-Win (PTW) strategies. You will directly accelerate the growth ofVardasHypersonic Test BedTargets-as-a-Service (TaaS) and Orbital Cargoportfolio by securing multi-million dollarcontracts with allied ministries of defense international aerospace conglomerates and global R&D entities.

What Youll Do

• Global Opportunity Management:Identify qualify and capture high-value international defense solicitations across allied foreign governments international defense agencies and commercial aerospace R&D entities.
• Lifecycle Ownership:Assume full accountability for international proposals at the handoff gate driving the strategy throughUSregulatory compliance multi-nation evaluations contract negotiation and closure.
• Export & Regulatory Compliance:Apply deepexpertisein Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) ITAR/EAR regulations and international space treaties to structurecompliantand secure international testbed orbitalcargoand target pursuits.
• Organic Global Growth:Partner with Mission Management to execute global keep-sold strategies deepening penetration within existing international accounts and cross-border defense partnerships.
• Gate Reviews:Conduct rigorous global go/no-go assessments evaluating international customer alignment geopolitical risk competitive positioning and financial ROI.
• Competitive Intelligence:Analyze allied nations defense budgetdocuments and processes procurement cycles and geopolitical threat landscapes to map program schedules and funding profiles.
• Cross-Functional Leadership:Coordinate with engineering pricing legal and mission management to translate complex technical specs into winning proposal frameworks tailored for international clients.
• Stakeholder Engagement:Cultivate trusted high-level relationships across foreign government agenciesUSmilitary attachésUS Embassiesand global private defense industry leaders to embed key discriminators into Vardas offerings.
• Market Visibility:Represent Varda as a global thought leader at premier international defense conferences air shows ( Farnborough) and global symposia to expand the brands international footprint.

Basic Qualifications

• Education:Bachelors degree in international business/marketing Engineering Science Global Affairs or a related technical discipline.
• Experience:7 years of dedicated capture management or business development experience within the international aerospace defense or national security technology sectors.
• Domain Expertise:Proventrack recordleading end-to-end international defense captures via FMS or DCS tracks from opportunity identification through contract award.
• Regulatory Mastery:Demonstratedexperience navigating ITAR EAR export control compliance and cross-border technology transfers.
• Leadership:Experience directing matrixed cross-functional proposal teams including engineering pricing legal and international trade compliance officers.
• Communication:Exceptional written skills with a demonstrated ability to author compelling white papers executive summaries and technical proposals accessible to a global audience.
• Clearance:Active TS/SCI security clearance (or the ability to be fast-tracked for one).
• Travel:Ability to travel 35% 50% of the time including extensive international travel.
• Citizenship:U.S. Citizenshiprequiredto conform with ITAR and U.S. space technology export control regulations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Masters degree in Business Administration(MBA) Strategic Studies Global Security or Engineering.
• Established professional network within allied defense ministries ( MoDUK MoD Australian DoD NATO) global hypersonic communities or international missile defense agencies.
• Familiarity with international space frameworks multilateral defense agreements and academic research funding mechanisms.
• Experienceutilizingmodern AI-driven capture tools and advanced prompt-engineering techniques tooptimizeinternational proposal workflows.

Compensation & Benefits

• Base Salary Range:$215000.00 - $240000.00 / year (Final leveling and salarydeterminedby skills experience and education).
• Incentives:Eligible for long-term incentives including stock options and/or long-term cash awards.
• Investment:Access toIncentiveStock(ISO/NSO)plans.
• Classification:Full-time Exempt.
• Location: On-site Huntsville Alabama

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).