Senior Executive Director, Strategic Programs & Partnerships in Elmira, New York at Evolved Aerospace

Senior Executive Director, Strategic Programs & Partnerships

Location:

Employment: Full-time, onsite

Travel: Regular domestic and international travel

Evolved Aerospace is managing this search directly. Recruitment agencies should not contact our leadership team or submit candidates without prior approval. Any agency enquiries should be directed to Connor Hird via LinkedIn.

Evolved Aerospace develops complete mission systems for defence and national-security customers.

Our work is driven by the mission requirement rather than the platform. Current programmes include maritime surveillance and security applications, alongside continued development of the M200 as a flexible mission platform for defence and security operations.

We work internationally with customers, operators, technology partners and industry to move from operational requirement to deployable capability quickly.

The Role

We are looking for a senior leader to develop strategic programmes, partnerships and customer relationships across Evolved’s global business.

Based at our US site in Horseheads, you will represent Evolved with military, government and industry stakeholders, identify opportunities where our capabilities can deliver meaningful operational advantage, and develop the partnerships required to bring those opportunities forward.

The position combines strategic engagement with execution. You will work closely with customers, partners and our technical teams from the early identification of a requirement through demonstrations, programme development and delivery.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop senior relationships across defence, government and industry.
• Identify and progress strategic programmes and customer opportunities.
• Build partnerships with primes, technology companies, integrators and other organisations that strengthen Evolved’s offering.
• Engage directly with military users to understand operational requirements and emerging capability needs.
• Represent Evolved in senior customer, partner and government engagements.
• Work closely with engineering and operational teams to connect customer requirements with executable solutions.
• Support demonstrations, exercises and programme activity across the US and international markets.
• Contribute to Evolved’s wider commercial and partnership strategy.

What We’re Looking For

We are looking for someone with established credibility in the defence and national-security community and a track record of turning relationships into meaningful outcomes.

Relevant experience may have been gained across defence technology, government, military programmes, operational environments or through supporting specialist defence and national-security customers.

You should be able to demonstrate:

• Strong relationships across relevant defence, government and industry communities.
• Experience developing significant partnerships, programmes or customer opportunities.
• Direct understanding of military operations and end-user requirements.
• Credibility with senior stakeholders while remaining comfortable working directly with technical teams.
• Strong commercial and strategic judgement.
• An ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving environment with a high degree of personal ownership.
• Willingness to travel regularly across the US and internationally.

Experience across ISR, UAS, C-UAS, EW, autonomy, sensors, C2 or broader mission systems would be particularly relevant.