Opportunity

Navy BDR at Defense Unicorns | GovCon Sales Career in Columbus

Location Columbus
Company Defense Unicorns
Source jobicy
Posted 2026-11-03 16:58:25

Career & Market Insight

This BDR role at Defense Unicorns sits at an interesting intersection: an early-stage defense tech startup working on genuinely cutting-edge DevSecOps problems for the U.S. military. Here's what career-minded candidates should know.

Compensation context: No salary is listed, which is a yellow flag. BDR roles in defense tech typically range from $70k–$110k base with commission, depending on experience. At a startup with stock options, total comp upside can be significant if the company exits well — but risk is real.

Skills you'll develop:

  • Federal acquisition strategy and government sales cycles — a highly specialized, in-demand skillset
  • Stakeholder management with Navy program offices (NAVSEA, NAVAIR, NAVWAR)
  • Pipeline development and capture strategy in the GovCon space
  • Exposure to cloud-native and DevSecOps technologies used in mission-critical environments

Green flags: Remote-first culture, 100% company-paid health premiums, stock options, and genuine mission impact. The team's mix of veterans and engineers signals cultural credibility in a space where domain trust matters enormously.

Considerations: At 2–4 years experience required, this is a mid-junior role. Career trajectory could lead to Account Executive, Capture Manager, or Director of Business Development within 2–3 years if performance is strong. Defense tech is a growing sector with strong government spending tailwinds, making this a strategically sound career move for someone wanting to specialize in GovCon sales.

The Role

We're looking for a Business Development Representative (BDR) focused on the U.S. Navy to join our Growth team. You'll be on the front lines of identifying, qualifying, and shaping opportunities that align our technologies with Navy missions and program needs. This role is about building meaningful relationships, understanding complex challenges, and connecting Defense Unicorns' solutions to where they can make the most impact.

As the Navy BDR, you'll work closely with our Account Executives, engineers, and leadership team to expand our presence within Naval Systems Commands (NAVSEA, NAVAIR, NAVWAR) and program offices. You'll be instrumental in driving pipeline growth and helping the Navy accelerate software delivery with Defense Unicorn products.

What You'll Do

  • Build and maintain relationships with Navy stakeholders, program managers, and industry partners.
  • Generate and qualify opportunities across Navy programs that align with Defense Unicorns' solutions.
  • Collaborate with Account Executives to shape opportunities early in the acquisition cycle.
  • Track Navy priorities, funding lines, and acquisition strategies to anticipate where Defense Unicorns can add value.
  • Share mission and technical insights with the Growth and Engineering teams to refine our offerings.
  • Represent Defense Unicorns at Navy-focused industry days, conferences, and working groups.

What You'll Bring

  • 2–4 years of experience in business development, capture, or sales (defense industry preferred).
  • Strong understanding of Navy acquisition processes, program offices, and budget cycles.
  • Passion for aligning technology to mission outcomes.
  • Excellent communication skills—both in building trusted relationships and in clear, concise written communication.
  • Growth mindset, curiosity, and a bias for action.
  • Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic, and highly collaborative startup environment.

Why You'll Love This Role

  • Impact: Your work directly accelerates the Navy's ability to deliver secure software to the fleet.
  • Mission-driven team: Work alongside technologists, veterans, and innovators united by a shared mission.
  • Flexibility: Remote-first culture with the autonomy to work where you're most effective.
  • Growth: Opportunities to expand your skills across business development, capture, and strategy.
  • Culture: We lead with kindness, trust, and speed—and we mean it.

Who We Are

Defense Unicorns delivers mission value by streamlining software delivery so our customers can focus on the most important challenges. We share a vision of freedom and security for the advancement of progress and innovation. Our commitment to this vision, and to our mission-driven customers, means a commitment to speed, user experience and optionality, without compromising security. Our team is composed of innovators, software engineers, and veterans with decades of experience delivering technology programs across the federal market.

What We Do

We create and deliver secure solutions for continuous software integration and delivery. Defense Unicorns consolidates the best practices for security pipelines, testing, and deployment automation in order to meet the high security requirements valued by mission owners. Our solutions are agnostic by design and we believe that growing a robust ecosystem of secure, cloud-native software solutions can help enterprise customers inside and outside the federal market buy and integrate software more easily.

Who We Serve

Defense Unicorns' customers are mission-focused leaders across public and private enterprises. We proudly support defense and civil agencies across the U.S. government and we work closely with the creators of leading-edge software solutions to deliver value to the mission-owner by improving the security and consumability of commercial software products.

What We Work On

  • Kubernetes
  • Cloud Environments (AWS/GCP and Azure)
  • Infrastructure-as-code (like Terraform/Pulumi)
  • Continuous Delivery and automation tooling
  • GitOps
  • Containers
  • CNCF projects and open source products and packages
  • Helm/Kustomize – Value Stream Mapping
  • Building and improving security delivery
  • Building Kubernetes and cloud-native applications

Benefits Our Unicorns Enjoy

Health:

  • Medical/Dental/Vision
  • Premiums are 100% Company Paid
  • Health Savings Account
  • Life Insurance
  • Disability Insurance

Financial:

  • 401k Retirement Plan
  • Company Stock Options
  • Home Office Budget

Leave:

  • Flexible Time Off (FTO) plus all Federal Holidays, one week for Thanksgiving, and two weeks for Christmas and New Year's
  • Paid Parental Leave

Learning:

  • Reimbursement for approved trainings/subscriptions
  • Conferences (travel, lodging, and fees)

Don't have all the preferred experience or qualifications? Studies show that underrepresented groups like women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs if they don't meet every requirement listed.

At Defense Unicorns, we're committed to diversity. If you're enthusiastic about the role but don't match every criteria, we encourage you to apply. You could be the perfect fit for this or another role! Defense Unicorns is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, union status and/or beliefs, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

CCPA DISCLOSURE

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this role fully remote or does it require in-person presence?
Defense Unicorns operates a remote-first culture, so you can primarily work from home. However, the role requires representing the company at Navy-focused industry days, conferences, and working groups, which may involve periodic in-person travel.
Do I need a security clearance to apply for this role?
The job posting does not explicitly state a clearance requirement, but given the focus on U.S. Navy program offices and sensitive defense work, candidates with an active clearance or clearance eligibility will likely be strongly preferred.
What is the salary range for this position?
No salary range is listed in the job posting. Candidates are encouraged to discuss compensation expectations during the interview process.
What experience is required for this BDR role?
Defense Unicorns is looking for 2–4 years of experience in business development, capture, or sales, with a preference for candidates who have a background in the defense industry and familiarity with Navy acquisition processes.
What benefits does Defense Unicorns offer?
Benefits include 100% company-paid Medical/Dental/Vision premiums, 401k, stock options, a home office budget, Flexible Time Off plus extended holiday breaks, Paid Parental Leave, and conference and training reimbursement.
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