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Defense Sales Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Defense Sales Lead

Chicago, IL ยท On-site

$150 - $210/hr

About the role Parallel Works is hiring a Defense Sales Lead to create pipeline and run capture across the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community. Our defense business includes a ...

Defense Sales Lead

Chicago, IL ยท On-site

$120 - $190/hr

About the role Parallel Works is hiring a Defense Sales Lead to create pipeline and run capture across the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community. Our defense business includes a ...

About the role Parallel Works is hiring a Defense Sales Lead to create pipeline and run capture across the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community. Our defense business includes a ...

About the role Parallel Works is hiring a Defense Sales Lead to create pipeline and run capture across the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community. Our defense business includes a ...

Responsible for direct OEM sales of Defense Products such as Hydraulics, Electric Motor & Drive, Pneumatics for developing new opportunities. Need a capability of market trend analyze and establish ...

Reports to Sales Manager. Responsibilities Responsibilities * Develops and maintains strong client relationships with Defense Market OEM customers. * Ensures Parker Fluid Connector products are ...

Xometry is looking for a Sales Manager, US Defense Sales responsible for building and leading a high-performing sales team focused on direct U.S. Government demand across the Department of War (Army ...

Xometry is looking for a Sales Manager, US Defense Sales responsible for building and leading a high-performing sales team focused on direct U.S. Government demand across the Department of War (Army ...

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Defense Sales information

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How much do defense sales jobs pay per hour?

As of Aug 31, 2026, the average hourly pay for defense sales in the United States is $17.58, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $13.46 and $18.27 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is defense sales?

Defense sales is the process of selling military equipment, technology, and services to government agencies, armed forces, or authorized contractors. Professionals in this field work with defense manufacturers and liaise with government procurement departments to ensure compliance with regulations and requirements. The role often involves negotiating contracts, understanding export controls, and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders. Defense sales can be domestic or international, and requires knowledge of both the defense industry and government procurement processes.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a defense sales professional?

To thrive as a Defense Sales professional, you need strong knowledge of defense products, government procurement processes, and a background in business or engineering, often supported by a relevant degree or industry-specific certifications. Familiarity with CRM software, contract management systems, and compliance tools is important for managing client relationships and regulatory requirements. Exceptional negotiation, relationship-building, and communication skills help establish trust with clients and navigate complex sales cycles. These capabilities are essential for meeting sales targets, ensuring legal compliance, and building long-term partnerships in a highly regulated and competitive industry.

How does a defense sales professional typically collaborate with engineering and procurement teams during the sales cycle?

In Defense Sales, professionals frequently work alongside engineering and procurement teams to ensure that proposed solutions meet client requirements and comply with regulatory standards. This collaboration often involves coordinating technical presentations, addressing specific client needs, and facilitating the customization of products or services. These cross-functional efforts are essential for aligning technical capabilities with client expectations and for ensuring a smooth handover from sales to project delivery. Building strong relationships within these teams helps Defense Sales professionals respond quickly to changes and maintain credibility with clients.

What is the difference between Defense Sales vs Security Sales?

AspectDefense SalesSecurity Sales
Required CredentialsSales experience, industry knowledge, sometimes security clearancesSales experience, industry knowledge, certifications like CISSP or CISM
Work EnvironmentGovernment agencies, defense contractors, military projectsPrivate security firms, corporate security departments, technology providers
Employer & Industry UsagePrimarily defense contractors and government agenciesSecurity technology companies, corporate security teams
Common Search & ComparisonDefense Sales vs Security SalesSecurity Sales

Defense Sales and Security Sales both involve selling security-related products and services, but they differ mainly in their target clients and industry focus. Defense Sales typically targets government agencies and defense contractors, often requiring security clearances and specialized knowledge of military systems. Security Sales usually focus on private companies and organizations seeking security solutions, with certifications like CISSP being common. Understanding these differences helps professionals and employers align their skills and expectations accordingly.

More about Defense Sales jobs

What cities are hiring for Defense Sales jobs?

Cities with the most Defense Sales job openings:

What states have the most Defense Sales jobs?

States with the most job openings for Defense Sales jobs include:

Infographic showing various Defense Sales job openings in the United States as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 81% Full Time, 18% Part Time, and 1% Contract. Highlights an 77% Physical, 1% Hybrid, and 22% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $36,566 per year, or $17.6 per hour.

Defense Sales Lead

Parallel Works, Inc.

Chicago, IL โ€ข On-site

$150 - $210/hr

Other

Medical, Dental, Vision, Retirement, PTO

This job post hasย expired today.ย Applications are no longer accepted.


Job description

About Parallel Works

Parallel Works builds and operates ACTIVATE, a control plane for high performance computing and AI. Our customers run large scientific and AI workloads across their own on-premises clusters, Government and commercial cloud, and commercial GPU providers, and ACTIVATE gives them one way in to all of it. The high security boundary is authorized at Impact Level 5, with FIPS validated cryptography and STIG hardening throughout.

The work reaches most fields that depend on computing at scale: weather and climate forecasting, defense and intelligence programs, aerospace and structural analysis, molecular and materials science, energy, and AI research. A quarter here can include standing up a GPU cluster for one of those communities, federating a laboratory's existing on-premises system with burst capacity it did not have before, and getting a domain code written decades ago to run on current hardware.

Customer success sets our priorities. We are a small engineering company, so engineers here work directly with the people using the systems and carry a problem from the first report through to the fix. This is what we call mission engineering: understanding what a customer is trying to accomplish and why the computing matters to it.

About the role

Parallel Works is hiring a Defense Sales Lead to create pipeline and run capture across the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community. Our defense business includes a platform authorized at Impact Level 5, prototype other transaction work, task orders with military service laboratories, and delivery as a subcontractor under large integrators.

This is a full cycle role: identify the program, build the program office relationship before a solicitation exists, assemble the team, drive the proposal with our technical staff, and stay on the account after award. Parallel Works has no separate capture organization, and you will often be the only sales person in the room on a technical pursuit. You would work with the Chief Executive Officer, the Director of Sales, and the Director of Operations on contracts and compliance.

What you will do
  • Pipeline creation:build and hold a qualified defense pipeline from program office relationships, industry days, partner introductions, and our own opportunity scoring.
  • Pre-solicitation engagement:meet program offices before the request for proposal exists, respond to sources sought notices and requests for information, and get us positioned inside the requirement.
  • Capture and proposals:run capture plans, teaming decisions, and review gates, and work with the technical team and the Director of Operations to produce compliant volumes on schedule.
  • Position the hybrid capability:explain how ACTIVATE federates a program's own on-premises HPC and GPU systems with accredited Government cloud and commercial GPU capacity under one login and one accounting model. Programs that own hardware and intend to keep it are the closest fit.
  • Vehicles and teaming:choose the acquisition path for each pursuit, and develop teaming with the integrators and mission primes that hold the programs we want to be on.
  • Forecasting:keep the pipeline tracker honest on win probability, timing, and why a pursuit slipped.
  • 10 or more years selling technology or technical services into the Department of Defense or the Intelligence Community, with awards you personally sourced and closed.
  • Working fluency in Federal acquisition: full and open competition, prototype other transactions, broad agency announcements, sole source justification, and what each demands of a small business.
  • Pre-solicitation capture work, not only proposal response.
  • Relationships inside at least one relevant buying community, for example a service research laboratory, a defense innovation or rapid acquisition organization, a combatant command, or a Defense agency computing program.
  • Enough technical literacy in cloud, HPC, or AI infrastructure to run a first meeting without an engineer present.
  • CRM discipline and forecasts that held up.
  • United States citizenship and eligibility for a Secret clearance, since the work reaches export controlled Government environments. An active clearance helps. We sponsor candidates who are eligible but not currently cleared.
Preferred Qualifications
  • Selling accredited software platforms, FedRAMP or Impact Level, where the authorization is part of the value.
  • Small business or startup experience, where the seller also does qualification, pricing input, and follow through.
  • Working knowledge of contract types: firm fixed price, cost plus, time and materials.
  • Standing up or improving a capture process instead of inheriting one.
  • Medical coverage
  • Vision coverage
  • Dental coverage
  • 401(k) with company match
  • Short term disability
  • Generous paid vacation and sick time

The role also carries sales commission.

Equal employment opportunity

Parallel Works is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

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