Full-Time
Capture Manager
Multiple Domains
Posted on 12/8/2025
Defense Unicorns
51-200 employees
Secure DevSecOps platform for defense
Compensation Overview
$145k - $385k/yr
Remote in USA
Hybrid
 Business & Strategy (1) |
|---|
- Travel 20%-30%
- Drive capture efforts across your selected domain's ecosystem, ensuring alignment with Defense Unicorn’s strategic growth objectives and solution capabilities.
- Develop and execute capture plans, win strategies, and competitive positioning to secure new business.
- Engage early with government stakeholders, primes, and ecosystem partners to shape opportunities ahead of solicitation.
- Understand customer pain points, acquisition timelines, and funding paths across multiple branches of the DoD.
- Identify and lead teaming arrangements that enhance technical capabilities, socio-economic positioning, or incumbent advantage.
- Translate technical capabilities—such as the Unicorn Delivery Service (UDS), cATO acceleration, and edge deployments—into persuasive win themes.
- Support RFI/RFP responses with market intelligence, SWOT analysis, and pricing strategy input.
- Prepare regular reports on business development activities, track key performance indicators (KPIs), and analyze the effectiveness of various strategies. Use data-driven insights to refine approaches and achieve better results.
- Represent the company at industry and government events to raise visibility and gather market intelligence.
- Proven ability to win complex technical pursuits through the full capture lifecycle.
- Deep experience in your respective domain (Air Force, Army, Commercial - B2B, Cyber, DHS, Navy, Space Force, or USSOCOM)
- Working knowledge of DoD acquisition processes (e.g., FAR-based contracts, OTAs, SBIR, IDIQ).
- Excellent communication, strategic thinking, and leadership skills across technical and executive audiences.
- Experience coordinating multi-disciplinary teams to deliver successful proposals.
- Familiarity with software factory environments, DevSecOps, cybersecurity, or tactical edge deployments is a strong plus.
Defense Unicorns provides secure, open-source DevSecOps solutions and related services for defense and federal customers. Its platform is designed to be infrastructure-agnostic, integrating development, security, and operations to deliver software quickly while meeting strict federal security and accreditation standards. The company differentiates itself by focusing on mission-driven government and defense programs, leveraging open-source tooling, and offering training and consulting to help organizations upskill, transform digitally, and navigate DoD SBIR/STTR programs. The goal is to help government agencies and defense contractors deliver secure software at speed, acquire and integrate software solutions efficiently, and achieve compliance in complex procurement environments.
Company Size
51-200
Company Stage
Series B
Total Funding
$171.5M
Headquarters
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Founded
2021
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- $136M Series B from Bain Capital reaches $1B valuation in January 2026.
- 300% year-over-year growth in military system adoption across branches.
- CMMC Level 2 certification achieved with zero POAMs on May 13, 2025.
What critics are saying
- Palantir Warp Speed erodes UDS advantage via established DoD contracts.
- Anduril Lattice bundles DevSecOps with Army hardware wins by October 2025.
- Red Hat Zarf fork fragments ecosystem with DoD OpenShift shift by February 2026.
What makes Defense Unicorns unique
- UDS enables F-22 software updates in minutes versus months.
- UDS Army cuts Army security approvals from 18 months to 2 weeks.
- Airgap App Store transforms software deployment for national security.
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Benefits
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
Life Insurance
Disability Insurance
401(k) Retirement Plan
401(k) Company Match
Unlimited Paid Time Off
Paid Parental Leave
Home Office Stipend
Conference Attendance Budget
Professional Development Budget
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↓ -1%1 year growth
↓ -1%2 year growth
↑ 3%Defense Unicorns, in partnership with the Air Force Sustainment Center Software Directorate, has successfully demonstrated rapid software deployment on the F-22 Raptor at Edwards Air Force Base. The technology enabled software installation and upgrades in the aircraft's open mission system in minutes, compared to the months traditionally required. The demonstration used Defense Unicorns' Unicorn Delivery Service (UDS), which allows secure deployment of modern software to military systems. The technology will eventually enable pilots and maintainers to update software capabilities directly on the aircraft, ensuring they have the latest tools for each mission. The F-22 joins several other Department of War aircraft using UDS. The system's open, modular design allows software capabilities to be readily installed on other fourth, fifth and sixth-generation aircraft with compatible environments.
Defense Unicorns has partnered with the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command C5ISR Center to launch UDS Army, a platform designed to accelerate secure software delivery to soldiers. The system aims to reduce the Authorization to Operate process from 12-18 months to as little as two weeks whilst cutting compliance costs by over 70%. UDS Army provides commercial vendors with pre-authorised Microsoft Azure Government cloud environments at Impact Levels 4 and 5, combining automated security scanning with continuous compliance monitoring. The platform includes an Army App Marketplace and sandbox trial environments, enabling programme managers to test applications before acquisition. Six companies, including HERE, Kana Systems and Sandtable, are already onboarding. Defense Unicorns, founded in 2021, specialises in airgap software delivery for national security systems.
Defense Unicorns, a provider of airgap software delivery systems for military applications, has raised $136 million in a Series B round led by Bain Capital, achieving unicorn status with a valuation exceeding $1 billion. The company has experienced 300% year-over-year growth in military system adoption. Founded in 2021, Defense Unicorns develops open-source technology enabling secure software deployment across disconnected military environments, including submarines, ships and forward operating bases. Its Unicorn Delivery Service platform allows rapid software updates in environments with limited or no connectivity. Participants in the round include Ansa Capital, Sapphire Ventures, Valor Equity Partners and former CIA Director David Petraeus. The funding will support scaling of three strategic products: UDS runtime platform, UDS Registry for software supply chain security, and UDS Army for commercial vendor integration.
Defense Unicorns has partnered with RapidFort to accelerate secure software delivery for national security missions.
Defense Unicorns Crushes CMMC Level 2 Certification with Zero POAMsOperating The Way They Preserve Speed, Delivery, and Mission ImpactCOLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., May 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Defense Unicorns, a veteran-owned defense tech startup focused on making software a strategic deterrent, announced it has earned final CMMC Level 2 certification, with zero Plans of Action and Milestones (POAMs). This milestone authorizes the company to manage Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) under 32 CFR and prepares it for forthcoming 48 CFR enforcement. More significantly, it demonstrates Defense Unicorns' commitment to protecting the nation by securing mission-critical data and ensuring secure operations across all mission environments. "Achieving our certification with modern tools and a good unicorn experience is massive and puts us at the forefront of defense companies," said Jeff McCoy, CTO of Defense Unicorns. "There have only been about 130 CMMC assessments across the DIB this year, and they have a 50 percent pass rate. The DoD estimates there are 76,000 companies that need to attain CMMC, and many 3PAOs are booked for a year