Director - ARD

avav; Dayton (OH); On-site; USD 181,000 - 289,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

401K with company matching

9/80 work schedule

Paid holiday shutdown

Job summary

AeroVironment, located onsite in Dayton, OH, seeks a Director to lead a portion of the Advanced Research and Development Division. The role reports to the Senior Director ARD and requires deep experience with the AFRL ecosystem and DoD contracting.

The leader will shape strategy across ARD, drive profitable execution, and collaborate with AV's Growth and other functions to mature technologies aligned with customer missions.

Qualifications

• Masters' degree with 7+ years DoD contracting experience.
• Experience leading technical proposals and AFRL pricing.
• Proven P&L leadership in a matrixed org.
• Experience in Congressional actions and POM planning.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• Active TS/SCI clearance.

Responsibilities

• Develop relationships in the AFRL community and industry partners.
• Create and implement an effective ARD portfolio strategy and oversee contracts.
• Collaborate across AV to align technologies with customer missions and support growth.
• Lead in a highly matrixed environment with cross-functional teams.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic planning

DoD contracting

Proposal management

Communication skills

Matrixed organizations

AFRL relationships

Security clearance

Education

Master's degree

PhD preferred

Job description

Worker Type

Regular

Job Description

Being on the AV team means working alongside the brightest minds in technology on the toughest challenges facing our nation – not just every once in a while, but every single day. Together, we are transforming the future of global defense and each AV employee plays a key role. That is why our investment in you goes beyond a rewarding salary and benefits package. We are committed to providing our people with the best opportunities to develop their skills, share their knowledge, and push their innovative ideas to the cutting-edge. From Space and Directed Energy to Cyber and Intelligence to C4ISR and Air & Missile Defense, there is no limit to where you can take your career with us. Are you ready to launch a career at AV?

AV is seeking a Director to lead a portion of the Advanced Research and Development (ARD) Division, reporting to the Senior Director Advanced Research and Development (ARD). The ideal candidate will be deeply entrenched in the Dayton AFRL environment, with a comprehensive understanding of its unique culture, operations, and strategic objectives. This position will be onsite in Dayton, Ohio.

Responsibilities

This leader will develop strategic relationships in the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) community as well as key industry partners, create and implement an effective strategy across the ARD portfolio, understand how ARD can support emerging customer requirements over see and influence the profit and loss of their portion of ARD. This leader will ensure successful execution of contracts. Working with the Growth team, this leader will not only accelerate the growth of research in the ARD portfolio. This individual will also collaborate across AV to develop those technologies that are aligned with customer missions. In addition, this role will be a key interface with government leaders and will support Congressional actions and influencing Program Objective Memorandum (POM) planning activities. This leader must successfully work in a highly matrixed environment, establishing key relationships with the Company's business development, capture, proposal, finance, contracting, and people and culture functions, among others. The successful candidate must also have a strong technical background in either biology, chemistry, physics or engineering. This role is also expected to demonstrate corporate citizenship by expanding the company customer base to include cross-division/cross-sector growth and achieving company growth goals, promoting customer satisfaction, and fostering strong customer strategic relationships.

Minimum Qualifications

• Masters' degree with a minimum of 7 years of experience with DoD contracting and acquisition processes.
• Experience leading technical proposals and pricing inputs for AFRL.
• Substantial experience in leading a Profit & Loss center.
• Experience managing complex programs within the Air Force Research and Development (R&D) community.
• Experience in creating and executing technical maturation and transition plans for emerging technologies in two of the following: RF Photonics, Biomanufacturing, Ultra High Temperature Ceramics, Electronic Protection, RF components or systems, non-destructive evaluation.
• Experience managing R&D services contracts.
• A proven leadership record within matrixed organizations.
• Have experience working Congressional actions and influencing Program Objective Memorandum (POM) planning activities.
• The proven ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.
• Well organized with strong multi-tasking and time-management skills
• Experience as part of a cohesive team and be able to deliver the highest quality service
• Ability to handle sensitive information with the highest degree of integrity and confidentiality.
• Existing customer relationships at AFRL/RX
• Active TS clearance with the ability to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI security clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hold a PhD. Degree with 5 years of experience in a related discipline: biology, chemistry, physics or engineering
• Active TS/SCI clearance.
• Existing customer relationships at AFRL/RX, AFRL/RQ, and ARFL/RY.
• Experience leading technical proposals and pricing inputs for AFRL/RX.
• Three years’ experience at the Director level and above for managing a technology portfolio of DOD Sponsored research.
• Experience in creating and executing technical maturation and transition plans for emerging technologies in four of the following: RF Photonics, Biomanufacturing, Ultra High Temperature Ceramics, Electronic Protection, RF components or systems, non-destructive evaluation.
• EVMS experience to include working with resource loaded Integrated Master Schedules (IMS).
• Experience in developing, shaping, and leading congressional actions in support U.S. Services' needs.

Clearance Level

TS/SCI

Salary

$180,500 - $289,000

AeroVironment considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the location, the role and associated responsibilities, a candidate’s work experience, education/training, and key skills.

ITAR Requirement

This position requires access to information that is subject to compliance with the International Traffic Arms Regulations (“ITAR”) and/or the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”). In order to comply with the requirements of the ITAR and/or the EAR, applicants must qualify as a U.S. person under the ITAR and the EAR, or a person to be approved for an export license by the governing agency whose technology comes under its jurisdiction. Please understand that any job offer that requires approval of an export license will be conditional on AeroVironment’s determination that it will be able to obtain an export license in a time frame consistent with AeroVironment’s business requirements. A “U.S. person” according to the ITAR definition is a U.S. citizen, U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder), or protected individual such as a refugee or asylee. See 22 CFR § 120.15. Some positions will require current U.S. Citizenship due to contract requirements.

Benefits: AV offers an excellent benefits package including medical, dental vision, 401K with company matching, a 9/80 work schedule and a paid holiday shutdown. For more information about our company benefit offerings please visit: http://www.avinc.com/myavbenefits.

We also encourage you to review our company website at http://www.avinc.com to learn more about us.

About AV

AV isn’t for everyone. We hire the curious, the relentless, the mission-obsessed. The best of the best.

We don’t just build defense technology—we redefine what’s possible. As the premier autonomous systems company in the U.S., AV delivers breakthrough capabilities across air, land, sea, space, and cyber. From AI-powered drones and loitering munitions to integrated autonomy and space resilience, our technologies shape the future of warfare and protect those who serve.

Founded by legendary innovator Dr. Paul MacCready, AV has spent over 50 years pushing the boundaries of what unmanned systems can do. Our heritage includes seven platforms in the Smithsonian—but we’re not building history, we’re building what’s next.

If you're ready to build technology that matters—with speed, scale, and purpose—there’s no better place to do it than AV.

We are proud to be an EEO/AA Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability/veterans. AeroVironment, Inc. is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer and welcomes all qualified applicants. Qualified applicants will receive fair and impartial consideration without regard to race, sex, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, genetic data,sexual orientation, gender identity or other legally protected status.

ITAR

U.S. Citizenship is required. Secret or Top Secret clearance, or the ability obtain a clearance is desired.