Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives

Position Summary

The Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives is a senior leadership role responsible for developing and executing enterprise-level strategic programs that accelerate growth, operational excellence, and competitive advantage across the organization. Reporting to the President of Kearfott, this position leads cross-functional initiatives that align with corporate strategy, customer priorities, and evolving aerospace and defense market demands.

This role will identify emerging opportunities, lead transformational programs, drive business performance, and coordinate execution across engineering, operations, business development, finance, supply chain, and government stakeholders. This leader must thrive in a highly regulated environment while balancing strategic vision with disciplined execution.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Lead the development and execution of enterprise strategic initiatives aligned with corporate objectives.
• Identify growth opportunities across defense, aerospace, intelligence, and adjacent markets.
• Evaluate market trends, competitive positioning, customer priorities, and emerging technologies to inform strategic decisions.
• Develop business cases, investment strategies, and implementation roadmaps for major initiatives.

Enterprise Transformation

• Lead complex cross-functional initiatives involving multiple business units and executive stakeholders.
• Drive organizational transformation, operational improvements, and process modernization.
• Establish governance structures, performance metrics, and executive reporting for strategic programs.
• Ensure initiatives deliver measurable business value and achieve targeted outcomes.

Growth & Business Development

• Partner with Business Development to evaluate strategic pursuits, partnerships, acquisitions, and new market opportunities.
• Support strategic planning for major defense programs and customer engagements.
• Assess potential mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and technology partnerships.
• Contribute to long-range business planning and portfolio management.

Executive Program Leadership

• Serve as executive sponsor for high-priority corporate initiatives.
• Coordinate activities across engineering, manufacturing, operations, finance, contracts, quality, and supply chain.
• Resolve organizational barriers and align stakeholders toward common objectives.
• Present strategic recommendations to executive leadership and Board-level audiences.

Customer & Government Engagement

• Build trusted relationships with DoD, prime contractors, and strategic industry partners.
• Represent the company during executive customer engagements and strategic reviews.
• Monitor evolving defense priorities, acquisition strategies, and budget trends to identify business opportunities.

Performance Management

• Develop KPIs and executive dashboards for strategic initiatives.
• Monitor financial performance, schedule, risk, and execution milestones.
• Ensure accountability through disciplined program governance and risk management.
• Drive continuous improvement using data-driven decision making.

Organizational Leadership

• Mentor and develop high-performing teams and future leaders.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, accountability, and execution excellence.
• Champion change management across the organization.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree (Engineering, Business, Operations, Finance, or related field preferred).
• Master's degree preferred.
• 15+ years of progressive leadership experience within military, aerospace, defense, government contracting, or advanced technology organizations.
• Demonstrated success leading enterprise-wide strategic initiatives or transformational programs.
• Experience working with Department of Defense customers and prime contractors.
• Strong executive communication and presentation skills.
• Proven ability to influence without direct authority across complex organizations.
• Experience managing multi-million-dollar strategic initiatives and executive-level governance.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance as required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in avionics, navigation systems, defense electronics, autonomy, space systems, or mission systems.
• Knowledge of defense acquisition processes, FAR/DFARS, and government contracting.
• Experience supporting integration activities or strategic partnerships.
• Familiarity with Lean, Six Sigma, Agile, or digital transformation methodologies.
• Active Secret or Top Secret security clearance, or ability to obtain one.

Core Competencies

• Strategic Thinking
• Executive Leadership
• Enterprise Transformation
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Organizational Change Management
• Business Acumen
• Financial Analysis
• Risk Management
• Executive Communication
• Customer Relationship Management
• Program Governance
• Systems Thinking
• Decision Making
• Negotiation & Influence
• Innovation Leadership

Success Metrics

The Senior Director will be evaluated on:

• Successful execution of strategic initiatives
• Revenue growth and new business opportunities enabled
• Achievement of operational improvement targets
• Executive stakeholder satisfaction
• Program delivery on schedule and within budget
• Organizational alignment and change adoption
• Customer satisfaction and strategic partnerships
• Enterprise KPI performance

Work Environment

• On-site
• Domestic travel (40%) with periodic international travel.

Leadership Profile

The ideal candidate is a strategic, collaborative executive who combines analytical rigor with operational execution. They possess deep aerospace and defense industry knowledge, exceptional executive presence, and the ability to lead complex initiatives across matrixed organizations. They are comfortable operating in ambiguous environments, influencing senior stakeholders, and delivering measurable business outcomes that position the organization for long-term success.

In compliance with pay transparency requirements, the salary range for this role in New Jersey is $200,000 - $250,000 annually. This is not a guarantee of compensation or salary, as the final offer amount may vary based on factors including but not limited to job-related knowledge and skills, experience, and internal consistency.

Additionally, we offer medical, prescription, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance, a 401(k) plan with company match, tuition assistance, paid vacation and sick days, paid holidays, and a 9/80 work week with every other Friday off. Our work environment embraces our people as we enjoy monthly employee events that celebrate our workplace culture.