Senior Director - Strategic Operations and Development

The Strategic Operations, Analysis, and Research (SOAR) Sector of Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) is seeking a Senior Director for Strategic Operations and Development to work within a team reporting directly to the Sector Vice President. Responsibilities will include providing strategic guidance to a set of emerging programs supporting readiness, science and technology, and industrial security. In this position, the successful candidate will also build earnest relationships to seek out business development opportunities and promote strategic initiatives with Congressional equities.

This individual will have a proven track record of engaging senior decision-makers and subject matter experts across the national security focused organizations of the U.S. government to identify issues and deliver novel solutions. Candidates should also possess an attitude of detail-oriented follow through and be comfortable performing other duties as assigned.

Primary Responsibilities:

Project Oversight

On behalf of the SOAR Sector Manager (SM), this position will oversee and performance for ARA’s work performed in West Virginia or with West Virginia partners or customers.

The incumbent will familiarize themself with the programs, the ARA employee-owners engaged in preparation for or execution of the programs, and current and future customers. Duties will include mapping current, ongoing tasks and future goals necessary for program success, and executing these tasks or, where necessary, assigning execution to other employee-owners to ensure operational and financial success of the programs and a high degree of customer satisfaction with the programs, now and in the future.

The incumbent will also lead and manage all aspects of senior leader visits to and engagements with these projects, including customer and government official inspections, meetings and updates, and site visits.

Relationship management

This position will serve as the primary point of contact for relationship development and management for ARA’s West Virginia partners and customers, including academic and commercial partners, all West Virginia state and local partners, including the Governor’s office and administration, the West Virginia National Guard, the West Virginia Department of Economic Development, and others.

The incumbent will familiarize themself with these partners, ARA’s relationships to these partners, and will deliver a high degree of mutual satisfaction between ARA and these partners to ensure strong, long-lasting, and durable relationships leading to increased business opportunities and revenues through partnerships. A successful incumbent will grow and expand these existing partnerships and will further identify new West Virginia partnerships that will lead to new lines of profitable business opportunity.

New and current customer engagement

This position will establish new community customers for existing ARA technologies. The incumbent will also help manage and positively impact ARA relationships with existing customers.

Solving SOAR Sector problems and challenges

The incumbent in this position will serve as an operational problem solver and point of contract for project-based challenges and issue resolution for the SOAR Sector Manager on an ad hoc, as-directed basis.

Government relations engagement

The incumbent in this position will also support the ARA Government Relations team and the Senior Vice President, Government Relations (SVP GR), with lobbying support amounting to roughly 10 percent of workload.

The incumbent will map current working relationships and friendships for the SVP GR and develop a periodic rhythm for engagement with these offices. The incumbent will serve as ARA’s primary liaison to these offices, including for ARAPAC activities. The incumbent will pursue and successfully achieve project-based goals through engagements with these offices as directed by and under the supervision of the SVP GR.

Required Qualifications:

• BS with 8-12 years of relevant experience
• DoD Top Secret clearance with SCI eligibility
• Demonstrated experience with Congressional and Administration budgetary and policy processes
• Demonstrated experience transitioning national security concepts into programs of record
• Demonstrated experience leading teams with diverse backgrounds

 

COMPANY INFORMATION:

Applied Research Associates, Inc. is an employee-owned international research and engineering company recognized for providing technically superior solutions to complex and challenging problems in the physical sciences. The company, founded in Albuquerque, NM, in 1979, currently em