Chief of Staff

ITA International

$120K — $166K *
Aerospace & Defense
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in Business, Management, Operations, Engineering, Public Administration, or related field required; Master’s degree preferred.
  • 10+ years of progressive leadership experience, including senior operational leadership in government contracting or federal services.
  • Experience operating at the executive or senior vice president level supporting enterprise operations and strategic execution.
  • Proven success in leading complex, cross-functional initiatives in high-growth organizations.
  • Strong understanding of government contracting operations and executive-level business management.
  • Exceptional analytical and operational planning skills.
  • Excellent communication skills for influencing decision-making across all levels.

Responsibilities

  • Serve as a strategic advisor to the CEO and executive team, translating objectives into operational initiatives.
  • Drive execution of enterprise priorities by coordinating efforts across various business units.
  • Lead operational rhythm including reviews, assessments, and performance management activities.
  • Act on behalf of the CEO in meetings and strategic initiatives as delegated.
  • Monitor overall operational performance and risks to ensure visibility into critical issues.
  • Lead cross-functional strategic initiatives from concept to execution.
  • Implement solutions for identified operational inefficiencies and gaps.

Benefits

  • Medical, dental and vision plans
  • Life Insurance
  • Short Term Disability insurance (where applicable)
  • Voluntary ancillary benefit options
  • 401k retirement benefits with employer matching contributions
Full Job Description
Overview

ITA is seeking a Chief of Staff to join the team supporting our Headquarters in Newport News, Virginia.

Responsibilities

The Chief of Staff serves as a trusted strategic advisor and key partner to the CEO and executive leadership team, driving cross-functional alignment, strategic prioritization, and executive decision support across the organization. This role focuses onfacilitatingenterprise coordination, leading high-impact initiatives, enhancing organizational effectiveness, and ensuring successful execution of strategic priorities within a fast-paced government contracting environment.

The Chief of Staff acts as a force multiplier for the C-suite by leading cross-functional initiatives, improving operational efficiency, aligning business functions to strategic priorities, and ensuring the organization is positioned to execute growth, delivery, and missionobjectiveseffectively. This highly visible role requires executive presence, sound judgment, operational acumen, and the ability to influence outcomes across all levels of the organization.

Executive Operations & Enterprise Leadership

  • Serve as a senior operational advisor to the CEO and executive leadership team, translating strategicobjectivesinto actionable operational initiatives across the enterprise
  • Drive execution of enterprise priorities by coordinating efforts across business units, operations, growth, finance, recruiting, contracts, security, and technical organizations
  • Lead enterprise operational rhythm including executive reviews, operational assessments, strategic planning sessions, and performance management activities
  • Act on behalf of the CEO and executive leadership in meetings, customer engagements, operational reviews, and strategic initiatives as delegated
  • Monitor enterprise-wide operational performance, risks, resource constraints, and organizational priorities, ensuring leadershipmaintainsvisibility into critical issues requiring executive attention

Strategic Execution & Business Integration

  • Lead cross-functional strategic initiatives from concept through execution, ensuring alignment with corporateobjectives, operational requirements, and growth priorities
  • Identifyorganizational inefficiencies, operational gaps, and execution risks while implementing scalable solutions that improve performance, communication, and accountability
  • Partner withleaders to synchronize operational delivery, staffing, financial performance, customer engagement, and strategic growth initiatives
  • Support integration of technology-enabled solutions, operational modernization efforts, and process improvements across the enterprise
  • Drive accountability for strategic initiatives, ensuring milestones, deliverables, and operational outcomes are achieved on schedule

Operational Oversight & Organizational Effectiveness

  • Oversee operational coordination and enterprise-level execution across geographically dispersed programs, business units, and corporate functions
  • Develop and implement executive-level operational dashboards, metrics, and reporting mechanisms to support informed decision-making and organizational transparency
  • Assess enterprise resource allocation, workforce alignment, and operational readiness to support current and future contract execution requirements
  • Lead continuous improvement initiatives focused on operational scalability, workflow optimization, collaboration, and organizational effectiveness
  • Anticipate operational challenges and proactively develop mitigation strategies to minimize business disruption and execution risk

Executive Communication & Stakeholder Engagement

  • Maintain close coordination with C-suite leadership, program leadership, and external stakeholders to ensure alignment of priorities and communication flow
  • Prepare executive briefings, strategic communications, decision papers, and operational analyses for internal and external leadership engagements
  • Serve as a trusted advisor and confidential sounding board to executive leadership whilemaintainingthe highest levels of professionalism, discretion, and integrity

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

  • Bachelors degree in Business, Management, Operations, Engineering, Public Administration, or related fieldrequired;Mastersdegree preferred
  • Minimum of 10+ years of progressive leadership experience, including senior operational leadership within government contracting, defense, intelligence, or federal services environments
  • Demonstrated experienceoperatingat the executive or senior vice president level supporting enterprise operations, strategic execution, and organizational leadership
  • Proven success leading complex, cross-functional operational initiatives within high-growth or mission-driven organizations
  • Strong understanding of government contracting operations, program delivery, organizational scaling, and executive-level business management
  • Experience supporting or interacting with executive leadership, boards, government customers, and senior stakeholders
  • Exceptional analytical, operational planning, and organizational leadership capabilities
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to influence and drive decision-making at all organizational levels

Key Competencies

  • Executive presence and operational leadership maturity
  • Strategic thinker with strong execution focus
  • Exceptional judgment, discretion, and integrity
  • Ability to influence without direct authority across diverse organizations
  • Highly collaborative and capable of breaking down organizational silos
  • Strong business acumen and operational problem-solving skills
  • Calm and decisive under pressure in fast-paced environments
  • High emotional intelligence and political awareness
  • Action-oriented leader with the ability toanticipateissues before they escalate
  • Trusted advisor capable of balancing competing priorities

Preferred Experience

  • Experience supporting defense, intelligence, national security, or operationally focused government contracting organizations
  • Background leading enterprise operations, transformation initiatives, or organizational integration efforts
  • Familiarity with strategic growth, proposal operations, mergers and acquisitions integration, or capability expansion initiatives
  • Experience supporting distributed operations, overseas programs, or mission-critical operational environments
  • Active security clearance preferred or ability to obtain andmaintainrequired clearance

Benefit and Compensation Transparency

ITA International proudly complies with all federal and state benefit and pay transparency laws. Employees of ITA can expect a robust benefit package, including:

  • Medical, dental and vision plans
  • Life Insurance
  • Short Term Disability insurance (where applicable)
  • Voluntary ancillary benefit options
  • 401k retirement benefits with employer matching contributions

Pay range for this position is $120,000 - $166,000 annually.

This position has a broad compensation range due to varying levels of candidate experience and qualifications.

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