Lodestar Space
Director of Capture and Proposal Operations
Los Angeles, US · Director · Full-time
No sponsorship$175k-$250kDetected 36 days ago
TypeScriptProcurementWriting
About the role
- About Lodestar Lodestar Space is rewriting the paradigm of national security in orbit.
- As space transforms into a contested operational and war-fighting domain, our national security assets and critical infrastructure that underpins our modern way of life faces unprecedented vulnerabilities.
- Backed by elite deep-tech venture capital, international space agencies and government stakeholders, Lodestar is rapidly expanding its footprint across the U.S. Space Force, the Department of War, and major commercial satellite operators.
Responsibilities
- Identify, qualify, and lead high-priority federal procurement opportunities from initial identification through contract award. Working closely with Lodestar's technical team to craft and write winning proposals.
- Develop comprehensive capture plans, including Black Hat competitive assessments, Price-to-Win (PTW) strategies, cost-vs-price modeling and customer value proposition mapping.
- Formulate strategic teaming agreements, identifying and onboarding subcontractors or prime partners to maximize win probability.
- Own the entire proposal development process, establishing a rigorous, repeatable framework for volume management, compliance tracking, and quality control.
- Lead formal milestone reviews to critically evaluate technical, management, and cost volumes.
- Establish and maintain an institutional "proposal library" containing boilerplate content, past performance sheets, security capability write-ups, and verified technical architectures to accelerate submission cycles.
- We don't wait for a decade-long government requirements cycle; we build autonomous capabilities ahead of the threat and deliver them at the speed of relevance.
- We are the architects of Mithril, the world's first fully autonomous, AI-driven intelligence designed to operate independently in space.
- We are a lean, high-autonomy team of engineers and operators building the space defense infrastructure of tomorrow.
- As the Director of Capture & Proposal Operations, you will own the end-to-end lifecycle of our federal acquisition pipeline.
Requirements
- Track Record: Demonstrated success winning prime contracts with the Department of War, U.S. Space Force, U.S. Air Force, DIU, MDA, NRO, etc.
- Exceptional technical writing skills with the ability to convey technical jargon, complex orbital mechanics, space domain awareness and hardware architecture concepts clearly to non-technical evaluators.
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Aerospace, Political Science, Business, or a related field required.
- Track Record: Demonstrated success winning prime contracts with the Department of War, U.S. Space Force, U.S. Air Force, DIU, MDA, NRO, etc. Strong familiarity with FAR/DFARS regulations, contracting structures and non-traditional pathways such as OTAs, Consortiums, IDIQ's, Multiple Authority Announcements (MAA's) and Middle Tier of Acquisitions (Section 804).
- Skills: Mastery of formal capture and proposal methodologies. Exceptional technical writing skills with the ability to convey technical jargon, complex orbital mechanics, space domain awareness and hardware architecture concepts clearly to non-technical evaluators. Previous experience using capture and proposal writing software.
- Security Clearance: Active Secret clearance required
- Education: Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Aerospace, Political Science, Business, or a related field required. Master's degree in a related field preferred.
- You speak engineer and seamlessly navigate the grey space between the technical team and the commercial team. Example, you can read a system architecture diagram or orbital mechanics profile and immediately write the first-draft compliance text without needing an engineer to hold your hand.
- You thrive in ambiguity and self-reliance. You possess the rare ability to work independently, manage your own tasks, critically think through challenging problems, maximize limited resources and maximize returns from your highly valuable time.
- The excitement of managing and growing a future capture team that will be reporting directly to you in this position. Willingness to cultivate a culture of winning, despising bureaucratic red-tape and moving fast.
- To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.
Nice to have
- Active Secret clearance required
- TS/SCI preferred or must be eligible to obtain.
- You speak engineer and seamlessly navigate the grey space between the technical team and the commercial team.
- Example, you can read a system architecture diagram or orbital mechanics profile and immediately write the first-draft compliance text without needing an engineer to hold your hand.
- You thrive in ambiguity and self-reliance.
- The excitement of managing and growing a future capture team that will be reporting directly to you in this position.
- Willingness to cultivate a culture of winning, despising bureaucratic red-tape and moving fast.
- Existing, strong professional relationships within the defense space ecosystem (e.g., USSF, OSD, SSC, DIU, DoW, SpaceWerx, Space RCO, SDA, AFRL-RV, etc.)
Skills
- Mastery of formal capture and proposal methodologies.
- Previous experience using capture and proposal writing software.
- Security Clearance: Active Secret clearance required; TS/SCI preferred or must be eligible to obtain.
- Education: Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Aerospace, Political Science, Business, or a related field required.
- Master's degree in a related field preferred.
- Preferred Skills & Experience
- Experience operating within a fast-paced, venture-backed, defense tech startup environment, where challenging the status-quo is the norm.
- ITAR Requirements
- Learn more about the ITAR here.
- Compensation & Benefits
- Annual Salary
Compensation
- bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data.
- Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity.
- In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options, and access to medical, vision and dental coverage, as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.
- $175,000.00 to $250,000.00
- Additional Information
Visa & Work Authorization
- Security Clearance: Active Secret clearance required; TS/SCI preferred or must be eligible to obtain
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This listing is sourced directly from Lodestar Space's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.