Business Operations Manager

Vannevar is a defense technology company building AI to deter our adversaries. In the 21st century, conflict moves at algorithmic speed and foresight equals firepower. Our agentic AI is purpose-built to compete with China—from cross-Strait conflict to gray zone coercion. Trained on the most mission-relevant datasets in defense, our technology models adversary behavior, simulates campaigns, and recommends the best course of action to decision makers. Our AI systems are some of the most trusted in the industry and actively used on the front lines of the Indo-Pacific to keep the peace and save lives.

Exceptional technology starts with exceptional people. Vannevar is a small agile team combining world-class engineers with veteran strategists who bring deep expertise in defense and tradecraft. We’re building a company defined by mission impact, user empathy, and disciplined growth. In just three years, we grew from $3M to $80M in ARR, achieved early profitability, and reached unicorn status—proving that disruption doesn’t require an ego, and staying power doesn’t mean standing still.

About the role

We’re looking for a Business Operations Lead to join a small, high-impact team that works on the company’s most important operational and strategic problems. This isn’t a process-maintenance role — it’s a high-ownership position where you’ll drive real outcomes across the company from day one.

In your first six months, you’ll own two of our highest-priority operating functions: vendor and commercial operations, and recruiting support for senior and specialized roles. After that, you’ll have the opportunity to embed directly into one of our business units to lead a specific, time-bounded strategic project. The role offers a clear path to leading the BizOps function, with other paths also possible — including Chief of Staff to an executive or ownership of a specific function or line of business.

What you’ll do

Vendor and commercial operations — Vannevar relies on a set of critical vendors — from data providers to enterprise software to mission-critical tools — and how well those relationships work directly affects how well we operate. You’ll own negotiations, renewals, and commercial terms, but the real goal is improving how Vannevar functions: getting vendors to actually perform, reducing friction for our team, unlocking capabilities we’re not fully using, and making sure our contracts give us the flexibility to move fast.

Recruiting support for senior and specialized roles — Many of Vannevar’s most important hires — Chiefs of Staff, senior mission developers, technical leaders, and others — require someone who understands the business deeply enough to spot extraordinary people, make a compelling case for why this is the right opportunity, and act on behalf of senior leadership in finding and landing them. You’ll work alongside our recruiting team to do exactly that — not as a recruiter, but as a business owner who is hunting for exceptional talent.

BU embed (~6 months in) — Once you understand the company’s priorities and where you can have the most impact, you’ll be deployed into one of our business units to lead a specific, high-priority project. This is a chance to go deep on a part of the business and drive outcomes that matter directly to our customers and mission.

Special projects — Some of the most interesting work you’ll do here won’t fit into a neat category. We’re a fast-growing company with a deliberately lean internal team, which means important problems regularly surface that need someone sharp to own them — and that’s where BizOps comes in. That might look like analyzing whether a major strategic investment is worth making, designing the infrastructure for how we track and review company-wide goals, or identifying why a key process is breaking down and building something better. The common thread: real problems that matter to the business, owned end to end.

What we’re looking for

• ~3-7+ years of relevant work experience. You might come from a national security, management consulting, banking, or startup background — we want to see that you have experience executing and building new things. We’d love to see comfort with vendor or customer negotiations and commercial operations. We care far more about trajectory than years.
• Ownership — You care about whether things actually work, not whether you followed the right process. You take responsibility for outcomes and don’t wait to be told what to do next.
• Judgment — You figure out what the right problem is to work on, not just the one you were handed. You’re comfortable operating with ambiguity and know when to escalate vs. when to just solve it.
• High slope — We’re looking for the fastest-learning, highest-trajectory people we can find. Growth paths here are real and move fast for the right person — the default is BizOps leadership, but other paths including Chief of Staff or function ownership are possible.
• Plus: comfortable with data and analysis (you don’t need to be a financial modeler, but numbers can’t scare you); strong cross-functional project execution; can build credibility with senior leaders quickly; designs things to last after you’re gone; scrappy and resourceful in a lean environment.

What we offer

• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Remote friendly with WeWork access
• Unlimited PTO, shared downtime during the federal holiday calendar, and company-wide off time at the end of each year
• 401(k) match
• Lifestyle & wellbeing stipends
• Salary top-up during military reserve duty
• Fully paid parental leave
• Child and pet care reimbursement during travel