Head of Government Relations

Preferred Location:
Ottawa (preferred) or Toronto

Reports to:
CEO

Type:
Full-time

About Dominion Dynamics
Dominion Dynamics is building Canada's first modern defence prime: software-defined, attritable, and sovereign.

We believe tomorrow's military power won't hinge on exquisite platforms, but on the seamless coordination of adaptable, AI-driven capabilities across every domain. We're building that family of systems, fielded with operators, sovereign by design, and accountable to Canada's democratic values.

We move fast, deploy with the CAF, especially in the Arctic, and operate with uncompromising respect for Canadian law, treaty obligations, and the CAF community.

Our founding team includes former operators from Anduril, Google, Amazon, and the Canadian Armed Forces. We're building hard tech in hard places, and we're looking for system-level thinkers who thrive at the intersection of autonomy, aerospace, and national security.

Why This Role Matters
Canada is entering a decisive window to modernize defense, secure Arctic sovereignty, and shape the future of allied autonomy programs. Dominion needs a Government Relations leader who can translate proven deployments into funded programs—closing the gap between innovation and procurement. This role ensures our mission-driven systems move from pilots to national capabilities that strengthen Canada's sovereignty and leadership among allies.

How We Do Government Relations Differently
At Dominion, Government Relations isn't about lobbying just for budgets, it's about building trust through proof, partnerships, and performance. These principles shape how we engage and what success looks like:

• Build, Show, Then Sell: Lead with working systems in real environments; use data from deployments, not slideware to unlock budgets.
• Proactive, Partnership-First: Co-design with operators, communities and program authorities, align with provincial and Northern/Indigenous partners, and structure long-term collaborations that outlive election cycles.
• Share the risk: We're willing to self-fund and shoulder early risk; in return, we expect clear transition paths and multi-year demand signaling once utility is proven.
• Faster, Better, Cheaper for Canadians: Create procurement on-ramps that compress time (pilots → limited ops → programs of record), protect value for money, and reduce lifecycle cost through software-heavy, attritable systems.
• Ethics & Compliance: Move fast without cutting corners—full compliance with Canadian law and international treaty obligations.

The Role: Head of Government Relations
The Head of Government Relations is a hands-on builder role, designing and executing the strategies that move Dominion from proving capability in the field to securing funded national programs. You'll navigate Ottawa, provinces, and Northern/Indigenous partners to shape procurement pathways, forge long-term collaborations, and convert opportunity into impact. This is a unique chance to define how a Canadian company partners with government at speed and scale, anchored in mission, trusted relationships, and real results.

What You'll Do

• Architect and lead Dominion's GR strategy for AuraNet / JADC2-North and CCA/Loyal Wingman, anchored in build-show-sell and extensible to future products.
• Map decision chains and budgets across DND/CAF (ADM(Mat), ADM(Policy), RCAF, RCN, CA, CANSOFCOM), PSPC, ISED (ITB/SIF), TBS, SSC, and provincial partners.
• Shape narratives around attritable autonomy, Arctic domain awareness, and sovereign C2 to drive near-term pilots and multi-year programs.
• Serve as a primary external face with senior officials, committees, and working groups—delivering crisp testimony and executive briefings.
• Create non-traditional procurement on-ramps (self-funded pilots, rapid demos, phased service buys) that sequence into limited ops and programs of record.
• Stand up capture plans for vehicles and gateways (RFIs/RFPs, supply arrangements, IDEaS/SIF, provincial mechanisms, CCC-enabled exports; ACAN only where compliant).
• Engineer ITB/offset strategies to convert prime obligations into Dominion-led work packages.
• Establish bid/no-bid criteria and pricing guardrails aligned to outcome-based contracts and "as-a-service" models.
• Build trusted relationships with project authorities, Northern/Indigenous partners, and provincial ecosystems to align them to deployments and measurable outcomes.
• Coordinate with NORAD modernization and Five-Eyes/NATO counterparts for interoperability and export pathways.
• Convene industry coalitions around Dominion's packages.
• Build and lead a small, high-output GR & Capture team; set goals, rhythms, and career paths.
• Implement the GR operating system (pipeline reviews, account plans, stage gates, action trackers, win-loss).
• Produce a living GR Playbook that codifies Dominion's build-show-sell approach across programs and regions.

What You Bring

• 8+ years of Canadian government relations experience with deep knowledge of federal/provincial policy and procurement.
• Relationships and credibility with senior government officials, ideally across DND/CAF, PSPC, ISED, and related agencies.
• Proven ability to navigate procurement pathways and convert opportunities into funded programs.
• Strategic and hands-on operator with the ability to set GR strategy and drive execution in fast-paced environments.
• Excellent communicator and negotiator, skilled at testimony, executive briefings, and coalition-building.
• Experience working with Northern/Indigenous partners and provincial ecosystems would

be a strong asset.

Why Join Us
At Dominion Dynamics, we're designing systems that work where others fail, in the most extreme environments on Earth.

At Dominion Dynamics you'll:

• Shape the future of Canada's sovereign defence.
• Build real capability that fields with CAF and allies.
• Move fast, field fast with small teams, high trust, and rapid iteration.
• Operate with integrity under Canadian law and treaty obligations.
• Have impact from day one with equity, responsibility, and direct access to leadership.

If you're driven by innovation, adaptability, and the opportunity to make a strategic impact, this is where you belong

Compensation
We offer competitive salary, and meaningful equity participation.