Director of Business Development, Defense & National Security

Thanks for your interest in Oklo!  We are searching for a Director of Business Development, Defense & National Security to join our team. 

Position Description

Oklo is seeking a Director of Business Development, Defense & National Security to lead our engagement with the US Department of Defense, national security agencies, and federal energy stakeholders.

Oklo designs, builds, and operates advanced fission power plants engineered for resilient, secure, and independent power generation. With a growing demand across the US military and national security enterprise for energy resilience, assured power, and reduced reliance on vulnerable grid infrastructure, Oklo’s “power as a service” model is well suited to support mission critical installations, military bases, and strategic federal facilities.

The Director is charged with leading Oklo’s business development efforts across defense, national security, and federal agencies. Responsibilities include managing and growing existing relationships, cultivating new opportunities, and leading commercial and strategic engagements, partnership structures, and coordination with government stakeholders. The focus is on prioritizing near term opportunities while building a long term pipeline aligned with federal procurement pathways.

This role is highly execution oriented. It goes beyond high level strategy and requires hands on engagement with customers, internal teams, and external partners. Responsibilities include developing proposals, negotiating commercial agreements, relationship management, team leadership, and close collaboration with Oklo’s executive leadership.

A technical background may be beneficial but is not required. Similarly, experience in finance or contracting is helpful but not mandatory. At minimum, candidates should have a working understanding of government contracting, project development, customer agreements, and complex negotiations. Familiarity with federal acquisition processes, including DoD, DoE, and other agency engagement models, is required.

Ideally, this person has led business development or capture efforts in defense, national security, or other federal markets, particularly within hard tech, energy, infrastructure, aerospace, or advanced manufacturing environments. Experience navigating government stakeholders, mission driven customers, and multi year programs is important. Candidates with prior military service, DoD civilian experience, or direct exposure to Military Service level or DoD headquarters level energy programs are strongly encouraged to apply.

We are looking for a dynamic, credible, and disciplined leader who can clearly communicate complex ideas without unnecessary complexity and build trust with senior government, military, and industry counterparts.

Specific responsibilities may include:

• Leading Oklo’s defense, national security, and federal agency business development strategy, building on existing relationships and identifying new opportunities.
• Managing key customer and partner relationships across the DoD, national security organizations, DOE, and other relevant federal agencies.
• Supporting capture strategy, opportunity qualification, and prioritization of near term and long term federal programs.
• Developing and negotiating commercial structures, term sheets, and partnership agreements in coordination with legal, finance, and executive leadership.
• Preparing briefings, presentations, and written materials for meetings with government, military, and executive stakeholders.
• Working closely with Oklo executives to transition and expand existing relationships and align on strategic priorities.
• Coordinating with communications, policy, and media teams on messaging related to defense, national security, and government applications.
• Partnering with internal technical, regulatory, and project development teams to support customer specific solutions.
• Recruiting, building, and leading a business development team focused on federal and national security markets.
• Traveling to meetings at Oklo headquarters, Washington DC, national laboratories, military installations, and customer sites as needed. Expected travel is approximately two to three times per month, with flexibility depending on program needs.

Competencies

We are looking for a Director of Business Development, Defense & National Security that is:

• Passionate about delivering clean, resilient energy solutions supporting US national security and mission critical operations
• Motivated to help deploy advanced fission in service of U.S. strategic and defense objectives
• A strong understanding of military installation energy resilience requirements, including energy assurance, microgrid integration, secure baseload needs, and mission critical load planning.
• Familiarity with the structure, mission, and internal mechanics of DoD headquarters energy programs and policy offices, including offices within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Military Departments, the Services' Installation and Sustainment organizations, and associated energy, resilience, and infrastructure portfolios.
• Working knowledge of the federal acquisition system, including DoD, DoE, DHS and other agency specific procurement and partnership mechanisms.
• Able to rapidly learn and operate effectively across technical, commercial, and policy domains
• Comfortable working in a fast paced, highly iterative startup environment
• Detail oriented, organized, and disciplined in managing complex opportunities
• A strong and positive communicator, both written and verbal
• A capable leader who can recruit, mentor, and lead a growing team
• Skilled at building trust quickly across diverse stakeholder groups
• Willing and able to travel as required

Who you are:

A startup person: You aren't driven by titles or hierarchy, and prefer efficiency to excess process. You don't need or expect to have a lot of guidance but you enjoy working in a fast-paced team. If you prefer the culture and feel of a large organization, that is great, but you likely won’t enjoy working with us! There is plenty of important work and plenty of good opportunities with organizations like that.

Motivated: You are self-motivated. You bring an enthusiasm to the team, and imbue a sense of passion that goes beyond clocking in and clocking out. This isn’t about a fake or arbitrary “pieces of flair” mentality or lack of work-life balance! It is about being a part of the vision and feeling a part of reaching team goals.

A team-player: Oklo genuinely is a team. We aren’t about taking credit for ourselves, and we aren’t about pushing blame to others. We do incredible things because we work as a team.

An excellent communicator: We need a person who is not only technically competent but also a clear and upbeat communicator.

Creative: Being creative means that when things fall outside clear scopes or processes or problems arise without clear solutions, you are able to identify it as well as invent ways to solve a problem or fill a need without micromanagement. The successful person in this job will not only be creative, but also enjoy being creative and solving open-ended problems which may change day-by-day.

Detail-oriented: This focus is a big part of excellence, consistency, and quality. Excellent grammar and spelling matter for both good communication as well as the image of the company that we put forward.

About Oklo travel requirements:

Oklo requires remote employees to travel to headquarters (Santa Clara, CA) twice a quarter annually, based on business or team needs, including attendance at team meetings, off-sites, and other company events or gatherings.

About Oklo compensation:

Salary: $180,000-$220,000 and performance incentives

Oklo offers flexible time off, equity, competitive pay, 401k, health insurance, FSA, flexible work hours, and other benefits.

About Oklo Inc.: Oklo Inc. is developing fast fission power plants to deliver clean, reliable, and affordable energy at scale; establishing a domestic supply chain for critical radioisotopes; and advancing nuclear fuel recycling to convert nuclear waste into clean energy. Oklo was the first to receive a site use permit from the U.S. Department of Energy for a commercial advanced fission plant, was awarded fuel material from Idaho National Laboratory, and submitted the first custom combined license application for an advanced reactor to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Oklo is also developing advanced fuel recycling technologies in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. National Laboratories.

#CHOP: Oklo’s Values
Collaboration: We go further, together. We bring diverse perspectives, listen actively, and build trust through transparency and respect. We work across disciplines, sharing ownership to turn complex challenges into shared successes.
Humility: We are team players who act for the good of the company and for the world. We are focused on our mission, not personal recognition.
Ownership: We take pride in what we do and how we do it. We are proactive in finding solutions and see tasks through  to completion. We are committed to delivering on our promises to provide clean, reliable, and affordable energy.
Pathfinding: We chart new ground where no path exists by approaching challenges with curiosity, courage, and creativity while navigating ambiguity.

Recruitment Fraud Disclaimer

Oklo is aware of recent recruitment fraud attempts targeting job seekers. Please be cautious of anyone claiming to represent Oklo who does not contact you from an official Oklo email address.

All legitimate communications from our recruiting team— including application updates, interview requests, and job offers — will come exclusively from an Oklo email. Oklo will never ask for sensitive personal information, payments, or account credentials during the hiring process.

If you receive suspicious outreach or have concerns about the authenticity of any communication claiming to be from Oklo, please contact us through the official channels listed on our website.