Head – Defence Growth & Strategic Partnerships

Location: Gurgaon, India

Reporting To: CEO & Board

About Defmate

Building Sovereign AI for Indian Defence.

Defmate is building India’s first Defence Small Language Model (SLM) and AI-powered decision infrastructure designed exclusively for the Indian Armed Forces. Our mission is to transform defence decision-making by converting fragmented operational, maintenance, logistics, intelligence and procurement data into trusted, mission-critical intelligence.

Built specifically for defence, our technology combines sovereign AI, defence-specific knowledge and secure decision systems to support faster, more informed and mission-ready decision-making across the defence ecosystem.

We believe the future of military capability will be defined not only by platforms and weapons, but by the speed and quality of decisions. Our long-term vision is to become the trusted digital decision layer powering the future of Indian defence.

Focus Areas

- Defence Small Language Models (SLMs)
- AI Decision Infrastructure
- Defence Intelligence
- Predictive Maintenance
- Mission Planning
- Logistics & Supply Chain
- Defence Procurement
- Sovereign AI

About the Role We are looking for a recently retired Lieutenant Colonel / Wing Commander (or equivalent) with a solid technical and operational background to lead Defmate’s engagement with the Indian defence ecosystem.

This is a strategic leadership role responsible for driving business development, strategic partnerships, customer engagement and defence programmes. The individual will work closely with the CEO and Board to identify new opportunities, build trusted relationships across the Armed Forces and government organisations, capture operational requirements from users, and translate them into commercially successful technology products.

Travel across India will be required to engage with military establishments, DRDO laboratories, Defence PSUs, government organisations and strategic partners.

Key Responsibilities

- Lead business development across the Army, Navy, Air Force,



DRDO, Defence PSUs, Ministry of Defence and other government organisations.
- Build long-term strategic relationships with senior military leadership, procurement agencies, user directorates, programme offices and key decision-makers.
- Identify operational challenges and emerging capability gaps that can be translated into technology solutions and commercial opportunities.
- Gather operational requirements and customer feedback to continuously enhance Defmate’s products and product roadmap.
- Serve as the first level of technical engagement with customers by understanding, articulating, presenting and demonstrating Defmate’s technology solutions.
- Support product demonstrations, technical presentations, Proof of Concepts (PoCs), user interactions and field evaluations.
- Lead participation in defence procurement programmes, RFPs, tenders, technical documentation, proposal submissions and commercial engagements.
- Coordinate and drive user trials with relevant stakeholders through to successful induction.
- Develop strategic partnerships with DRDO laboratories, Defence PSUs, academic institutions, defence startups, system integrators and industry partners.
- Identify and pursue collaborative research programmes, innovation initiatives, government-funded projects and defence technology grants.
- Work closely with engineering and product teams to ensure customer requirements are translated into product enhancements.
- Monitor upcoming procurement opportunities, defence modernisation programmes, technology trends and competitive developments.
- Represent Defmate at defence conferences, seminars,



industry forums and strategic engagements across the country.

Desired Profile

- Recently retired Lieutenant Colonel / Wing Commander (or equivalent) .
- Technical arm/background or significant experience in defence technology, engineering, systems or capability development.
- Strong understanding of defence procurement, acquisition and project execution processes.
- Experience working with DRDO, Defence PSUs, defence technology programmes, system integration or capability development projects will be an advantage.
- Ability to understand complex technology products and confidently present them to defence users, technical teams and senior leadership.
- Strong network across the Armed Forces, DRDO, Defence PSUs and the broader defence ecosystem.
- Excellent stakeholder management, communication and programme execution skills.
- Commercial mindset with the ability to identify opportunities, build strategic partnerships and convert engagements into business.
- Entrepreneurial attitude with the ability to work in a fast-paced technology company.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

- Strategic relationships established across the Armed Forces, DRDO, Defence PSUs and Government organisations.
- Qualified business opportunities identified and converted into active engagements.
- Product demonstrations, Proof of Concepts (PoCs), field trials and evaluations successfully initiated.
- Participation and success in defence RFPs, procurement programmes and strategic projects.
- Supply orders, contracts and revenue generated through defence engagements.
- Successful implementation and customer adoption of awarded projects.
- Customer requirements translated into measurable product improvements.
- Strategic partnerships established with DRDO, Defence PSUs, academia, system integrators and industry partners.
- Research collaborations, innovation programmes and government-funded projects secured.
- Contribution towards positioning Defmate as a trusted sovereign technology partner for the Indian defence ecosystem.

📌 Head – Defence Growth & Strategic Partnerships (Gurugram)
🏢 DefMate
📍 Gurugram