Capture Strategist

Job description

About Northwood: Northwood is a modern space infrastructure company bringing the benefits of space to the masses through advanced communications technology. We are building a global network of phased array ground stations that enable real-time, reliable communication for satellite missions such as national security, global connectivity, and disaster response. With a vertically integrated approach, Northwood designs, builds, and rapidly deploys scalable systems that power the next generation of space missions. If you like solving complex challenges and seeing your work deployed around the world with real impact, Northwood is the place to do it. Role: Northwood Space is seeking a Capture Strategist to shape and win strategic opportunities across U.S. Government, international government, and commercial customers. This person owns opportunities from early identification through award: building customer relationships, reading procurement and competitive signals, shaping win strategy, and running proposal execution to get deals across the line. This role sits at the intersection of business development and strategy. The right candidate builds trust with customers early, understands competitive dynamics, and knows how to turn a well-shaped opportunity into a winning proposal. They will work closely with growth, engineering, mission, product, and leadership teams across the full opportunity lifecycle. Responsibilities: - Own capture strategy for priority opportunities across U.S. Government, international government, and commercial customers, from opportunity identification through award - Build and manage customer relationships ahead of formal solicitations to understand mission needs, procurement timelines, and decision criteria - Assess competitive landscape and develop win themes, teaming strategy, and differentiated positioning - Lead black hat assessments, price-to-win analysis, and go/no-go recommendations - Serve as primary author and project manager for proposals, coordinating inputs across business development, engineering, product, mission management, legal, and finance - Build and maintain capture playbooks, competitive intelligence, and reusable proposal infrastructure Basic Qualifications: - 5+ years in capture, business development, or proposal strategy roles in aerospace, defense, government technology, or other complex technical industries - Experience shaping opportunities pre-RFP, including customer engagement, competitive positioning, and teaming strategy - Experience leading or supporting responses to RFIs, RFPs, or similar solicitations - Ability to work in-person in Los Angeles or Washington, DC Preferred Qualifications: - Experience in the space industry, including familiarity with SATCOM, RF, and communications infrastructure - Experience capturing U.S. Government opportunities, including defense, civil, or national security agencies - Experience with commercial or international customer capture, strategic bids, or partnership development - Familiarity with federal acquisition processes and evaluation criteria - Comfort using AI tools to speed proposal development and content reuse - Experience at an early-stage startup or other fast-paced, high-growth environment Additional Information: To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Northwood is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Northwood is governed on the basis of merit, 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. Additional Information: If you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know. To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Northwood Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Northwood Space is governed on the basis of merit, 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.