Senior OSINT & Vendor Strategy Lead

This role is the control tower for OSINT data vendors inside the consortium. The Senior OSINT & Vendor Strategy Lead identifies high-value data providers, evaluates their technical and legal posture, negotiates agreement terms, and turns fragmented vendor ecosystems into a coherent, scalable capability for government missions.

This is not a passive analyst role. It blends market intelligence, deal structuring, technical literacy, and leadership. The role sets standards, mentors junior analysts, and ensures the consortium’s OSINT portfolio is credible, defensible, and ready for operational use.

Core Responsibilities

OSINT Vendor Strategy & Market Intelligence
- Identify, assess, and prioritize OSINT and commercially available data providers across domains such as GEOINT, maritime, cyber, financial, social, mobility, trade, and sensor data
- Maintain a forward-looking view of the OSINT vendor landscape, including emerging providers and consolidation trends
- Translate government mission needs into vendor sourcing strategies
- Advise leadership on gaps, redundancies, and investment priorities

Vendor Engagement & Deal Execution
- Lead vendor outreach, qualification, and onboarding efforts
- Negotiate agreement terms including pricing models, usage rights, licensing constraints, SLAs, data refresh rates, and security requirements
- Balance vendor commercial realities with government acquisition constraints
- Structure agreements that scale across agencies while maintaining cost discipline

Technical & Legal Alignment
- Evaluate vendors for data quality, provenance, update cadence, API accessibility, and integration readiness
- Partner with legal, contracts, and security teams to ensure agreements are compliant and defensible
- Identify and mitigate licensing, IP, and re-use risks early
- Ensure vendors are aligned with consortium technical architectures and data standards

Leadership & Mentorship
- Mentor junior analysts and vendor coordinators
- Set analytical standards, templates, and evaluation frameworks
- Review and elevate analyst work products before they reach senior stakeholders
- Build repeatable processes that scale beyond individual heroics

Government & Stakeholder Support
- Support briefings, whitepapers, and acquisition strategies related to OSINT and data access
- Engage directly with government customers, program managers, and technical leads
- Help shape pilot efforts, demonstrations, and operational use cases
- Act as a trusted advisor rather than a salesperson

Required Qualifications
- 8+ years of experience in OSINT, data sourcing, intelligence analysis, vendor strategy, or related fields
- Demonstrated experience working with commercial OSINT or data vendors
- Strong understanding of data licensing models, usage rights, and commercial terms
- Proven ability to negotiate agreements and manage vendor relationships
- Experience mentoring or leading analysts or small teams
- Ability to communicate clearly with technical, legal, and executive audiences

Preferred Qualifications
- Experience supporting U.S. Government, Defense, or Intelligence Community customers
- Familiarity with OTAs, consortium agreements, or non-traditional acquisition models
- Understanding of API-driven data products and modern data architectures
- Existing network within the OSINT or data-provider ecosystem

What Success Looks Like (First 12 Months)
- A curated, high-confidence OSINT vendor portfolio aligned to mission needs
- Cleaner, faster vendor onboarding with fewer legal and licensing surprises
- Negotiated terms that reduce cost, risk, and re-work for government customers
- Junior analysts producing sharper work with less oversight
- Leadership making decisions with confidence rather than caveats

Growth Path
This role can evolve into:
- Director of Data Strategy
- Head of OSINT & Commercial Data
- Chief Data Partnerships Officer

This is a seat for someone who knows the terrain, spots leverage early, and turns complexity into momentum.