Director, Program Development - Long-Range Missile Systems

About Castelion

Castelion is bringing a new approach to defense development and production: one that focuses on short, iterative design cycles, rapid testing in development, and modern commercial manufacturing strategies for production at scale. We're designing, building, and testing next generation long range strike weapons systems to give America and its Allies a definitive edge and deter future conflicts.

Director, Program Development Long-Range Missile Systems

Castelion is seeking a high-impact leader to serve as Director of Program Development for our long-range missile systems a critical new initiative in our portfolio. In this role, you will drive external alignment with government stakeholders, build early customer confidence, and help secure programmatic buy-in by demonstrating how Castelion can deliver unprecedented capability at scale and at a dramatically lower cost point than traditional primes.

This is a foundational business and strategy role. You'll own the interface between Castelion and our DoD customers leading the charge on defining the right product, communicating our approach, and guiding the program through the complexities of government acquisition. You'll work hand-in-hand with our executive and engineering teams to ensure our program architecture is aligned with customer expectations and informed by operational realities.

Responsibilities

• Shape and execute the external-facing strategy for Castelion's long-range missile systems, focused on customer engagement, alignment, and confidence-building
• Serve as a senior voice in early conversations with government stakeholders articulating our unique approach, demonstrating readiness, and building support across key commands
• Guide internal thinking around what the customer will need to see in terms of system architecture, integration path, cost structure, and production scalability
• Identify the right points of contact and forums to advance customer alignment and unlock programmatic momentum
• Translate customer feedback and mission priorities into actionable recommendations for program direction and resourcing
• Inform high-level architecture decisions to ensure Castelion's solution aligns with operational needs and realistic integration pathways
• Build and own a clear, executable plan for demonstrating capability and scaling trust with the government customer
• Support development of high-quality proposals, briefings, and strategic communications to drive stakeholder buy-in
• Represent Castelion in strategic engagements with senior leaders across DoD, Congress, and the defense innovation ecosystem
• Work closely with the CEO and executive team to shape the long-term strategy for this product line

Ideal Background:

• Senior leadership experience in DoD programs, ideally including hypersonics or other advanced weapons systems
• Proven ability to navigate complex acquisition environments and influence high-level decision makers
• Deep understanding of how to align a new capability with evolving mission needs, budget cycles, and organizational dynamics within the U.S. military
• Strong executive presence and ability to represent a growing defense company with credibility, clarity, and conviction
• Experience driving successful outcomes at the intersection of government programs and private-sector development
• Prior military service a plus, particularly with a background in submarines, prompt strike, or missile systems
• Active Top Secret clearance (or eligibility) preferred

All employees are granted long-term stock incentives as part of their employment as Castelion. All employees receive access to comprehensive medial, vision, and dental insurance, and the company offers three weeks of paid time off per year.

Leadership Qualities

Bias to Action and Creative Problem Solving. Desire and experience questioning assumptions in ways that lead to break through ideas that are ultimately implemented. Successfully bring in applicable processes/concepts/materials from other industries to achieve efficiency gains. The ability to personally resolve minor issues in development without requiring significant support.

High Commitment, High Initiative. A successful candidate will have a genuine passion for Castelion's mission and consistently look for ways to contribute to the company's technical goals and prevent hardware blockers. Ability to work in a fast paced, autonomously driven, and demanding atmosphere. Strong sense of accountability and integrity.

Clear Communicator. Proactively communicates blockers. Trusted in previous roles to be voice of company with regulators, suppliers, gate keepers and customers. Capable of tactfully managing relationships with stakeholders to achieve company-desired outcomes without compromising relationships. Emails, IMs and verbal interactions are logical, drive clarity, and detailed enough to eliminate ambiguity.

ITAR Requirements:

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Employment with Castelion is governed on the basis of competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.