Government Capture and Business Development Lead (Contractor)

Washington, D.C. preferred | Part-time contractor | Potential to convert to full-time

Approximately 20-25 hours per week | Occasional travel may be required

ABOUT HELIOS

Helios is building a new kind of company to solve America’s hardest problems, starting with the government interaction layer.

Government shapes every consequential market, but the infrastructure connecting public institutions and private organizations remains fragmented, manual, and difficult to navigate. Helios is rebuilding that layer.

Our core platform, Proxi, gives organizations the intelligence they need to understand what government is doing, why it matters, and what to do next. From that foundation, we design and deploy secure, mission-specific systems for government agencies, enterprises, and institutions operating in complex and highly regulated environments.

We bring together frontier AI, deep public-sector expertise, and forward-deployed execution. Our team includes leaders and builders from the White House, U.S. Department of State, Datadog, and Microsoft. We are backed by leading institutional investors and trusted by organizations working on high-stakes problems across government and industry.

THE ROLE

Helios is hiring a Government Capture and Business Development Lead to identify, shape, and advance high-priority government contracting opportunities.

This is a senior, hands-on role for someone who understands how government opportunities move from an emerging customer need to a funded requirement, competitive procurement, and award. You will work across a portfolio of government-market initiatives spanning different agencies, mission areas, acquisition pathways, and technology categories.

You will own or support the full pursuit lifecycle: identifying and qualifying opportunities, engaging government stakeholders, developing capture strategies, coordinating proposal contributors, and driving submissions through award. The specific mix of pursuits will evolve as Helios grows.

The ideal candidate combines deep DoD acquisition and federal business development experience with the operating discipline of an excellent project manager. You understand the regulations, processes, incentives, and informal dynamics that shape government buying decisions, but you are also willing to do the detailed work required to move an opportunity forward. You maintain accurate records, prepare the next meeting, chase every input, and ensure no deadline or follow-up is missed.

This role will begin as a part-time contract engagement, with the potential to convert to a full-time position after several months based on performance, mutual fit, and company needs.

WHAT YOU WILL OWN

Opportunity Identification and Qualification

• Identify relevant federal, defense, state, and local government contracting opportunities through procurement portals, acquisition forecasts, agency engagement, partner networks, industry events, and direct research.

• Build and maintain a focused pipeline of opportunities across multiple agencies, mission areas, and acquisition pathways.

• Evaluate potential pursuits based on mission fit, customer urgency, available funding, acquisition strategy, competitive position, contract accessibility, timing, and probability of success.

• Conduct rapid research into agencies, programs, budgets, procurement histories, incumbents, competitors, contract vehicles, and relevant decision-makers.

• Distinguish actionable opportunities from speculative leads and make clear recommendations about where time and resources should be invested.

• Maintain an accurate view of each active opportunity, including its status, value, customer, acquisition path, stakeholders, next actions, owners, and deadlines.

Government Engagement and Customer Development

• Build credible relationships with contracting officers, program managers, acquisition professionals, technical stakeholders, end users, and other government decision-makers.

• Lead or support customer discovery to understand mission needs, operational constraints, procurement requirements, budgets, and buying timelines.

• Prepare company leaders, technical teams, and other stakeholders for government meetings, capability briefings, demonstrations, industry days, and acquisition discussions.

• Translate government feedback into concrete pursuit actions, technical requirements, positioning, and next steps.

• Identify the right offices, programs, acquisition personnel, and potential champions for priority capabilities.

• Maintain disciplined and timely follow-up after every government interaction.

• Represent Helios and its work with credibility, discretion, and a strong understanding of procurement integrity and ethics requirements.

Capture Strategy

• Develop and manage capture plans for priority government opportunities.

• Map decision-makers, influencers, end users, contracting personnel, funding sources, competitors, partners, contract vehicles, and procurement milestones.

• Help shape opportunities early by connecting government requirements with relevant technical and operational capabilities.

• Develop customer-specific value propositions, differentiated win themes, teaming strategies, and pursuit plans.

• Identify potential prime contractors, subcontractors, channel partners, systems integrators, and other teaming relationships.

• Recommend the most effective acquisition pathway for each opportunity, including competitive procurements, direct awards, pilots, subcontracts, SBIR and STTR programs, OTAs, CSOs, BAAs, IDIQs, GWACs, schedules, and other available mechanisms.

• Establish clear bid and no-bid criteria and help stakeholders make disciplined pursuit decisions.

• Surface competitive, compliance, contracting, technical, and schedule risks early and develop practical mitigation plans.

Proposal and Submission Management

• Own or coordinate the end-to-end proposal process for government pursuits.

• Analyze solicitations and create compliance matrices, submission calendars, content outlines, work plans, and review schedules.

• Coordinate inputs from founders, technical teams, partners, pricing contributors, advisors, and outside specialists.

• Draft and edit responses to requests for information, sources sought notices, white papers, capability statements, technical volumes, past-performance materials, and other government-facing content.

• Ensure submissions are responsive, persuasive, compliant, accurate, and delivered on time.

• Manage internal reviews and drive open questions, missing inputs, and approvals to resolution.

• Support oral presentations, demonstrations, clarification responses, negotiations, best-and-final offers, and other post-submission activities.

• Track pursuits through evaluation, selection, award, debriefs, and follow-on actions.

Portfolio and Stakeholder Support

• Manage multiple concurrent pursuits with different customers, capabilities, acquisition pathways, and deadlines.

• Adapt quickly across industries, technology categories, and government mission areas.

• Translate complicated acquisition processes into clear decisions, assignments, and next steps for stakeholders with varying levels of government contracting experience.

• Provide practical guidance on how to position capabilities, engage agencies, structure a pursuit, and navigate the procurement process.

• Work closely with technical and commercial teams to translate mission needs into viable technical approaches, demonstrations, implementation plans, and proposal content.

• Prepare concise, decision-ready updates on opportunity status, risks, upcoming milestones, and required actions.

• Maintain a high standard of responsiveness and ensure important requests, introductions, and follow-ups do not go unanswered.

Capture Operations

• Establish a consistent operating cadence for pipeline reviews, capture decisions, proposal development, and executive updates.

• Maintain organized, current records across CRM systems, opportunity trackers, shared materials, and proposal libraries.

• Build reusable capture infrastructure, including templates, qualification frameworks, account plans, capability materials, proposal content, and past-performance records.

• Track action items, dependencies, submission requirements, and deadlines across every active pursuit.

• Coordinate outside consultants, proposal resources, advisors, and partners when required.

• Identify process gaps and build lightweight systems that improve visibility, accountability, and execution.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

• High-priority government opportunities are identified early, rigorously qualified, and consistently advanced.

• Every active pursuit has a clear capture strategy, acquisition path, stakeholder map, owner, next step, and deadline.

• Government meetings result in documented insights, decisions, and timely follow-up.

• Pursuit teams understand what the government customer needs, how the opportunity is likely to be acquired, and what must happen next.

• Proposals begin early, run predictably, and result in complete, compliant, high-quality submissions.

• Multiple pursuits move forward simultaneously without deadlines, inputs, or follow-ups falling through the cracks.

• Stakeholders receive clear, practical guidance and experience Helios as responsive, organized, credible, and highly capable.

• Develops repeatable systems and institutional knowledge that improve future capture efforts.

• Government opportunities progress toward pilots, partnerships, contracts, awards, and expanded customer relationships.

YOU MIGHT BE A FIT IF YOU

• Have significant experience in DoD acquisition, federal business development, capture management, government contracting, or a combination of these areas.

• Have directly managed government pursuits from opportunity identification and qualification through proposal submission, evaluation, negotiation, and award.

• Understand how requirements, appropriations, budgets, acquisition strategies, contract vehicles, evaluation criteria, and source-selection processes shape government buying decisions.

• Have strong working knowledge of the FAR, DFARS, and the practical realities of selling technology or professional services to government.

• Can communicate credibly with contracting officers, program managers, senior government officials, technical stakeholders, military personnel, and private-sector partners.

• Are an exceptional project manager who can coordinate complex pursuits with many contributors, dependencies, and immovable deadlines.

• Are highly organized and maintain accurate opportunity records, action items, meeting notes, deadlines, and follow-ups.

• Take personal responsibility for closing loops and do not allow an email, introduction, request, or commitment to disappear.

• Can move between strategic capture planning and detailed execution without treating either as someone else’s responsibility.

• Write clearly and persuasively and can turn technical, operational, and mission information into compelling government-facing materials.

• Exercise excellent judgment with procurement-sensitive, competitive, customer, and company information.

• Are comfortable operating independently in a fast-moving startup with limited infrastructure and shifting priorities.

• Can move opportunities forward with minimal oversight while keeping the relevant stakeholders informed of important decisions, risks, and developments.

IDEAL BACKGROUND

• Previous service as a military or civilian contracting officer, acquisition officer, program manager, or acquisition professional.

• Experience working within or directly supporting a military service, combatant command, defense agency, program executive office, or civilian agency.

• A demonstrated record of winning government contracts, pilots, prototype agreements, subcontracts, or other funded work.

• Experience with software, artificial intelligence, data platforms, cybersecurity, defense technology, or other emerging technologies.

• Familiarity with federal, state, and local procurement processes and contracting pathways.

• Experience developing teaming relationships with defense primes, systems integrators, government contractors, and specialized small businesses.

• Familiarity with government proposal pricing, cost volumes, representations and certifications, compliance requirements, and contract negotiations.

• An active security clearance or the ability to obtain one if required for future work.

• An established network across relevant government acquisition and contracting communities.

WORKING AT HELIOS

This role will begin as a part-time contract engagement of approximately 20 hours per week. We expect the person in this role to take meaningful ownership from the start. After several months, there may be an opportunity to convert to a full-time Helios employee based on performance, mutual fit, and company needs.

Candidates based in the Washington, D.C. area are preferred. The role will require regular engagement with government stakeholders and partners, periodic work with the team in Helios’s SoHo office, and occasional travel to customer locations, industry events, and other government-related meetings.

Helios is a fast-moving startup with ambitious goals. This role requires flexibility around customer timelines, proposal deadlines, and other critical pursuit periods. Government deadlines are fixed, and the person leading a submission must be willing to do what is necessary to deliver high-quality work on time.

HOW WE WORK

• Own outcomes, not just assigned tasks. Identify what needs to happen and drive it through completion.

• Move quickly without lowering the standard. Speed and rigor are complementary.

• Stay close to the mission and the user. The best decisions begin with the real problem.

• Work across boundaries. Everyone contributes beyond the narrow limits of a job title.

• Communicate directly. We value clear thinking, honest feedback, and low-ego collaboration.

• Build for the real world. Our systems must perform in complex, regulated, and high-stakes environments.

COMPENSATION

The expected part-time contract compensation range is $6,000 to $10,000 per month, based on approximately 20-25 hours per week. The final engagement structure and compensation will depend on the candidate’s experience, availability, and expected scope.

Candidates who later convert to full-time employment will be eligible for a competitive salary, meaningful equity, and company benefits.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

Helios is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate candidates based on their abilities, experience, and potential to contribute to our mission. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law.