Executive Vice President, Integrated Air and Missile Defense

Astrion$200K — $250K *
Aerospace & Defense
15+ years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in engineering, science, national security, business, public policy, or related field; advanced degree preferred.
  • Over 20 years of leadership experience in defense, aerospace, or national security settings.
  • Proven executive leadership skills with financial accountability for complex organizations.
  • Experience engaging high-level government and military stakeholders to align mission needs with execution strategies.
  • Understanding of government contracting and compliance, including FAR/DFARS.

Responsibilities

  • Develop and implement the IAMD mission strategy and align it with Astrion's financial objectives.
  • Ensure performance metrics like revenue and quality meet established benchmarks.
  • Build and maintain partnerships with key government and industry stakeholders in the IAMD sector.
  • Translate customer requirements into actionable and profitable mission solutions.
  • Drive growth initiatives by improving capture strategies and pipeline quality.
  • Oversee program execution and ensure compliance with contracts and quality standards.
  • Cultivate a high-performing leadership and technical team to align with organizational goals.

Benefits

  • Full-time position with flexible locations in Huntsville, Arlington, or Columbia.
  • Opportunity for on-the-ground leadership in a rapidly growing mission area.
  • Engaging role in national security with a focus on innovative technology and software solutions.
  • Exposure to high-level government engagements and strategic defense initiatives.
  • Supportive company culture emphasizing mission performance and employee accountability.
Full Job Description
Overview

Executive Vice President, Integrated Air and Missile Defense

LOCATION: Huntsville, AL; Arlington, VA; Columbia, MD

JOB STATUS:Full-time

CLEARANCE:Ability to obtain a Secret clearance

CERTIFICATION:None required but preferred

TRAVEL: 25% - 50%

Astrion has an exciting opportunity for an Executive Vice President for the Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) mission area. This executive will be onsite and own the mission-area strategy, customer trust, growth, program performance, talent density, and operating discipline required to expand Astrion's position in missile defense, integrated air defense, space- and sensor-enabled warning, command and control, fires, test, acquisition, systems engineering, and related national security mission environments.

The EVP will operate as an enterprise leader, not only a portfolio owner. Astrion is at a point of tremendous growth and transformation, creating the unique opportunity for entrepreneurial spirit while already having a strong book of business. We are looking for someone to lead this transformation across the IAMD mission, leveraging current business strengths derived from technical advisory services into the development and deployment of innovative software and technology solutions. The role is accountable for converting mission insight into funded, repeatable solutions; strengthening customer outcomes; meeting financial commitments; building an exceptional leadership bench; and surfacing risks early enough for decisive correction. The leader will partner across Astrion's executive team, program operations, growth, contracts, finance, legal, security, people, and technical organizations to deliver one enterprise result. This role reports directly to the President, Mission Solutions.

This role is suitable for a senior military veteran at approximately the O6/O7 level, or a civilian executive with comparable scope, who has led complex national defense missions, advised senior government stakeholders, and operated credibly at the highest levels of the Department of War/Department of Defense, Golden Dome, Missile Defense Agency, Combatant Command, Service, interagency, or national council environment.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS / SKILLS

Astrion will evaluate candidates using a total-experience standard that recognizes equivalent military, government, and industry leadership experience.

  • Bachelor's degree in engineering, science, national security, business, public policy, or a related field, or equivalent military/government executive experience. Advanced degree may be considered in lieu of a portion of experience where consistent with Astrion policy.

  • 20+ years of progressively responsible leadership experience in defense, aerospace, national security, missile defense, air defense, C4ISR, acquisition, test, systems engineering, operations, or a closely related mission environment.

  • Demonstrated executive leadership of complex organizations, portfolios, programs, or mission areas with accountability for financial performance, customer outcomes, staffing, risk, quality, compliance, and growth.

  • Experience engaging senior U.S. Government, Congressional, military, or defense acquisition stakeholders and translating mission requirements into executable business, technical, and program strategies.

  • Demonstrated understanding of government contracting, including FAR/DFARS-driven execution, procurement integrity, competitive captures, recompetes, contract performance, scope management, and compliant customer engagement.

  • Ability to lead through subordinate executives, directors, program managers, technical leaders, and cross-functional partners in a matrixed government contracting environment.

  • Strong business judgment, including ability to manage revenue, margin, cash, staffing, investment, and operating risk while preserving mission performance and customer trust.

  • Demonstrated ability to build, assess, retain, and hold accountable high-performing leadership teams and critical technical talent.

  • Excellent executive communication skills, including ability to brief senior customers, Board-level stakeholders, industry partners, and internal executive leadership with clarity and candor.

  • Ability to obtain and maintain the U.S. Government security clearance required for assigned contracts and customer engagements. U.S. citizenship required.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS / SKILLS

  • Prior O6/O7 military leadership experience, Senior Executive Service experience, or comparable senior civilian defense executive leadership.

  • Senior-level experience with Integrated Air and Missile Defense, missile defense architecture, air defense operations, sensor-to-shooter integration, command and control, fires, threat-informed requirements, and related test or acquisition environments.

  • Experience with Golden Dome for America or comparable national missile defense, homeland defense, or strategic defense architecture initiatives.

  • Direct experience with the Missile Defense Agency, Service air and missile defense organizations, Combatant Commands, Joint Staff, Office of the Secretary of Defense, or national council-level policy, strategy, or coordination forums.

  • Senior-level Department of War/Department of Defense procurement, acquisition, programming, requirements, or resourcing exposure, including ability to operate credibly with senior acquisition and mission stakeholders.

  • Experience engaging senior officials across allied militaries and governments on the development of capabilities in the Integrated Air and Missile Defense mission area.

  • Experience winning and scaling major defense services, engineering, test, digital, C4ISR, modeling and simulation, or mission-solution portfolios in the government contracting market.

  • Experience converting operational mission insight into paid field deployments, repeat deployments, reusable solutions, or differentiated offerings with measurable margin and mission value.

  • Active Secret, Top Secret, or TS/SCI clearance, depending on customer and contract need.

  • Demonstrated success leading enterprise-level transformation, productivity, AI-enabled workflow improvement, or operating-system modernization without degrading mission performance or compliance.

RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Set and execute the IAMD mission-area strategy, including market positioning, customer priorities, portfolio shaping, growth investments, and cross-enterprise operating plans aligned to Astrion's financial and strategic objectives.

  • Own mission-area performance against revenue, adjusted EBITDA/margin, cash, DSO, recompete, award-fee, CPARS, quality, safety, security, and customer-performance expectations established through Astrion's executive scorecard and Board-approved plans.

  • Build trusted senior relationships with government customers, industry partners, and mission stakeholders across IAMD, including MDA, Service air and missile defense organizations, Combatant Commands, acquisition authorities, and national-level policy or coordination bodies.

  • Translate customer mission needs into differentiated services, capabilities, and repeatable solutions that can be placed under contract, deployed in the field, reused across customers, and measured for margin, adoption, and mission impact.

  • Lead growth for the IAMD mission area by shaping opportunities, supporting capture strategy, improving pipeline quality, winning recompetes, and ensuring proposed solutions are executable, compliant, profitable, and aligned to customer mission outcomes.

  • Provide executive oversight of program execution through subordinate leaders, ensuring contract performance, funding visibility, staffing readiness, risk management, scope discipline, subcontractor alignment, and timely corrective action when programs trend off plan.

  • Strengthen the IAMD leadership team by attracting, selecting, developing, and retaining high-performing leaders and technical experts; building succession coverage for critical roles; and holding leaders accountable for performance, collaboration, integrity, and employee treatment.

  • Drive operating discipline through monthly and weekly reviews that focus on facts, trends, recovery actions, decisions required, accountable owners, and dates for closure rather than narration or unmanaged optimism.

  • Improve productivity, cycle time, efficiency, and operating leverage across the mission area by simplifying work, removing low-value activity, driving practices that improve output, quality, economics, or mission performance.

  • Lead business, technical, and organizational transformation and change management across the IAMD mission area by leveraging Astrion's technical advisory foundation and customer relationships to develop, scale, and sustain innovative software, technology, and mission solutions that drive growth across priority defense customers.

  • Ensure the mission area operates in compliance with applicable FAR, DFARS, contract, ethics, security, export control, procurement integrity, cybersecurity, classified-information, and organizational conflict-of-interest requirements.

  • Represent Astrion with executive presence in senior customer briefings, industry engagements, Board or investor-facing discussions, strategic partner discussions, and enterprise planning forums.

  • Model Astrion's executive standard: mission first, whole-result ownership, early risk disclosure, speed with judgment, direct accountability, respect for people, and a commitment to leave the company stronger.

Performance Alignment

This role is expected to contribute directly to Astrion's executive performance model. Success includes enterprise-level performance in talent density and succession, high-performing talent retention, leadership clarity, critical-role staffing, Board financial plan delivery, customer and mission performance, quality growth, funded solution adoption, verified productivity gain, and operating leverage.

The EVP is expected to expose gaps early, bring facts and recovery actions to executive reviews, own decisions and dates, and collaborate across the enterprise so that the IAMD mission area contributes to Astrion's shared scorecard and long-term enterprise value.

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