Senior Director, Flight Operations (V-BAT) (R5797)

What You'll Do:

Enterprise Flight Operations Leadership 

• Lead and scale the Flight Operations organization consisting of Directors, Senior Managers, Managers, Supervisors, and technical professionals across Flight Test, Deployed Operations, Mission Control, and Training.  

• Establish enterprise governance, decision frameworks, and operating standards for all V-BAT operations across the Aircraft Division.  

• Develop organizational strategies that enable safe, scalable, and efficient V-BAT flight operations worldwide. 

• Foster a culture of operational excellence, disciplined execution, accountability, and continuous improvement.  

 

Flight Operations & Mission Execution 

• Oversee the execution of developmental V-BAT flight testing, contractor-owned/contractor-operated missions, customer demonstrations, deployed operations, and internal and customer training events. 

• Ensure operational activities are conducted safely, efficiently, and in accordance with regulatory, contractual, and company requirements.  

• Establish operational readiness standards for aircraft, personnel, support equipment, and operational sites.  

• Provide oversight of operational risk management, flight scheduling, and mission execution across all operational organizations.  

 

Mission Control & Fleet Employment 

• Provide executive oversight of Mission Control, ensuring enterprise aircraft allocation, configuration posture, and mission prioritization support strategic business objectives.  

• Balance competing operational demands across flight test, customer operations, training, demonstrations, and internal flight operations activities.  

• Ensure V-BAT employment decisions appropriately consider customer commitments, revenue recognition, technology roadmap priorities, operational readiness, and long-term fleet health.  

• Review and adjudicate high-impact operational conflicts requiring executive prioritization.  

 

Training & Operational Readiness 

• Lead internal and customer training organizations responsible for developing qualified operators, maintainers, and instructors.  

• Ensure training programs, curricula, simulators, and qualification standards evolve with product capabilities and operational requirements.  

• Supervise operational qualification, currency, standardization, and evaluation programs across all Flight Operations personnel.  

• Oversee Standardization & Evaluation leadership to ensure procedures, technical publications, and training products remain synchronized with operational execution.  

 

Strategic Leadership & Cross-Functional Integration 

• Partner with Engineering to mature next-generation aircraft capabilities, operational concepts, and flight test strategies.  

• Validate software and hardware updates for customer readiness. 

• Collaborate with Aviation Sustainment to align fleet availability, maintenance capacity, logistics readiness, and customer support with operational demand.  

• Support Business Development through customer demonstrations, operational evaluations, strategic capture efforts, and international engagements.  

• Represent Flight Operations during executive planning, customer engagements, operational reviews, and strategic decision-making forums.  

 

Operational Performance & Continuous Improvement 

• Establish operational performance metrics including mission success, fleet utilization, aircraft availability, training throughput, schedule adherence, and operational safety.  

• Ensure operational lessons learned are captured, analyzed, and incorporated into procedures, training, engineering improvements, and organizational processes.  

• Develop scalable operational capabilities that support future V-BAT programs, international expansion, and enterprise growth.  

• Champion a culture of learning, innovation, and disciplined execution across all Flight Operations organizations.  

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Aviation Management, Aerospace Engineering, Business, Operations Management, Military Science, or a related field.  

• 15+ years of progressive leadership experience in military aviation, commercial aerospace, defense, or advanced aviation operations.  

• Demonstrated experience leading large multidisciplinary aviation organizations consisting of multiple operational functions and senior leaders.  

• Strong understanding of aircraft operations, operational risk management, mission planning, aviation safety, and operational governance.  

• Demonstrated ability to balance competing enterprise priorities involving customer commitments, engineering schedules, operational readiness, and business objectives.  

• Experience developing operational strategy, organizational governance, and scalable operational processes.  

• Exceptional leadership, organizational development, communication, and executive decision-making skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree in Business Administration (MBA), Aviation Management, Engineering Management, or related discipline.  

• Former military aviation leader (Operations Group Commander, Squadron Commander, or equivalent senior aviation leadership position).  

• Proven success managing complex flight operations involving developmental testing, deployed operations, operational training, or globally distributed aviation organizations. 

• Experience leading developmental flight test, operational test, or advanced autonomous aircraft programs.  

• Familiarity with FAA, DoD, DCMA, and international aviation regulatory frameworks.  

• Experience leading globally distributed aviation operations supporting government and international customers.  

• FAA Commercial Pilot, ATP, Military Aviator, or equivalent aviation qualifications. 

• Experience integrating enterprise fleet management, operational planning, and resource prioritization across multiple product lines.  

• Experience supporting rapid organizational growth and scaling operational organizations in aerospace or defense industries.