Scale is building AI for the world's most consequential decisions. In the Intelligence Community, that means deploying Agentic AI into the workflows that power overhead intelligence, geospatial analysis, and imagery exploitation — the systems that give the United States and its allies an irreplaceable strategic edge.
As the Defense Deployment Strategist for NRO and NGA, you are Scale's point of presence at the intersection of AI and national intelligence. You will lead the end-to-end effort to land, deploy, and scale Agentic AI capabilities inside two of the most technically sophisticated and mission-critical agencies in the U.S. government. This is not a sales role. This is a full-spectrum capture, deployment, and growth role — and you are the one running it.
Deployment Strategist
NRO and NGA represent the frontier of AI adoption within the IC. NGA's GEOINT Pathfinder, Foundation GEOINT Services, and data modernization programs are actively seeking agentic AI capabilities that can automate imagery exploitation, fuse multi-source intelligence, and accelerate analyst workflows. NRO's Ground Enterprise and Systems Acquisition Directorate are investing in AI-enabled data pipelines and autonomous processing at scale. Your job is to ensure Scale is embedded in both.
Winning here means navigating IC acquisition authorities — not just standard DoD contracting. You understand the difference between an NGA BAA, an IC OTA, and a Program of Record. You know that the path from prototype to production inside the IC requires executive sponsorship at the SES/Flag level, and you know how to earn it.
Responsibilities:
This is an individual contributor role with heavy leadership expectations. You are the "CEO of the Account," responsible for the following:
- Full-Spectrum Capture & Quota Ownership Carry and exceed a multi-million dollar annual revenue quota across NRO and NGA. You own the entire lifecycle: shaping requirements before the RFP drops, influencing the acquisition strategy, navigating source selection, and closing. You are not waiting for inbound leads — you are building the funnel.
- Mission Partner Engagement Develop and execute deep account strategies for NRO and NGA. You will maintain active, trusted relationships with SES-level sponsors, PEOs, mission area leads, and technical evaluators. You understand their modernization roadmaps — GEOINT Pathfinder, the Ground Enterprise, IC IT Enterprise — and you position Scale at the center of their most ambitious programs.
- IC Acquisition Navigation You know how to leverage IC-specific acquisition vehicles: NGA's research BAAs, NRO's OTAs, and classified program vehicles. You can shape a white paper, respond to an RFI, and architect a deal structure that survives IC oversight. You have navigated the Valley of Death before and helped a program cross it.
- Agentic Solutioning for GEOINT & Overhead Intelligence Work directly with analysts, mission engineers, and imagery exploitation teams to co-design Agentic AI workflows. Whether the mission need is automating change detection, accelerating multi-INT fusion, or deploying foundation models against geospatial data pipelines — you can translate the operational requirement into a buildable technical specification for Scale's engineering team.
- SI & Prime Orchestration The IC does not buy software directly from startups at scale. You will manage and negotiate teaming agreements with Tier 1 primes — Leidos, Booz Allen, Northrop Grumman, Maxar, L3Harris — ensuring Scale is the agentic AI engine inside their winning proposals. You are the lead negotiator for sub-contracting arrangements and you protect Scale's programmatic position through contract award.
- Operational Transition & Scale When the contract is signed, your job deepens. You lead the account through delivery, ensuring Engagement Managers, Technical PMs, and Engineers have the customer context and executive backing to succeed. You own renewal, expansion, and the next use case — turning a single GEOINT workflow into a department-wide enterprise standard.
Requirements:
- Experience: 10+ years in enterprise technology sales, business development, or program capture specifically within the IC — with NRO and/or NGA as primary accounts.
- Proven Wins: You have successfully closed and implemented multi-year IC contracts exceeding $25M. You have a line item in an IC budget with your fingerprints on it.
- Domain Fluency: You speak GEOINT. You understand overhead collection, imagery exploitation, Foundation GEOINT Services, ISR data pipelines, and the multi-INT fusion challenges that NRO and NGA mission partners face daily. You don't need a glossary.
- IC Acquisition Expertise: You have direct experience with NGA BAAs, IC OTAs, NRO acquisition vehicles, and the political dynamics of IC Program of Record integration. You understand how the DNI and IC CIO equities affect technology decisions.
- IC Network: You have existing, active relationships at NRO and NGA — not just name recognition. SES-level sponsors, PEO staff, and mission-area technical leads who will take your call.
- Clearance: Active TS/SCI; Full Scope Polygraph strongly preferred
- Education: BS/BA required; technical degree, Master's, or MBA preferred.
- Geography: Based in the National Capital Region (Springfield/Bethesda corridor preferred), with the ability to operate in classified environments. 20–30% travel.
Who you are:
- IC Native: You have lived in this world. You know the difference between NGA's GEOINT Services directorate and its Analysis directorate. You know what the Ground Enterprise means to the NRO's customers. You don't learn this customer set — you bring it.
- The Closer-Operator: You can brief a Senior National Intelligence Officer in the morning and spend the afternoon in a SCIF working a proposal. Executive presence and tactical execution are the same skill to you.
- Valley of Death Veteran: You have personally transitioned a technology from cool demo to deployed IC capability. You know who to call, which budget line to pursue, and how to keep a program alive through a continuing resolution.
- Technically Credible: You are not a software engineer, but you can credibly explain Agentic AI, RAG pipelines, and foundation model fine-tuning to a skeptical NGA technical evaluator — and connect it to their mission problem.
- Mission-Driven: You believe that winning in AI is winning the intelligence advantage of the next century. You want that win to belong to the United States and its allies, and you are willing to do the unglamorous work to make it happen.
Compensation packages at Scale for eligible roles include base salary, equity, and benefits. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position and may be inclusive of several career levels at Scale; it will be determined during the interview process based on work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, qualifications, interview performance, and relevant education or training. Scale employees in eligible roles are also granted equity based compensation, subject to Board of Director approval. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process, and confirm whether the hired role will be eligible for equity grant. You'll also receive benefits including, but not limited to: comprehensive health, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, a learning and development stipend, and generous PTO. Additionally, this role may be eligible for additional benefits such as a commuter stipend.
The base salary range for this full-time position in the location of Washington DC is:
$203,200—$254,000 USD
PLEASE NOTE: Our policy requires a 90-day waiting period before reconsidering candidates for the same role. This allows us to ensure a fair and thorough evaluation of all applicants.
About Us:
At Scale, our mission is to develop reliable AI systems for the world's most important decisions. Our products provide the high-quality data and full-stack technologies that power the world's leading models, and help enterprises and governments build, deploy, and oversee AI applications that deliver real impact. We work closely with industry leaders like Meta, Ernst & Young, Mayo Clinic, Time Inc., the Government of Qatar, and U.S. government agencies including the Army and Air Force. We are expanding our team to accelerate the development of AI applications.
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