Partner – Organisation and Leadership — Mission-Systems Portfolio

The mandate

An advisory partnership needs a Partner for mission-systems clients redesigning organisations around international programmes. Boards often create global engineering structures without resolving who may access technology, direct controlled work or accept customer risk. The new Partner – Organisation and Leadership will ground design in actual mission and export decisions rather than hierarchy alone.

Approximately 1,250 employees and material partners sit across organisation, people, programme, engineering, security, export and implementation advisory. The Partner reports to the Global Managing Partner and regional partner council, owning client origination, engagement quality, economics, confidentiality and talent. The hybrid Washington, DC appointment is advisory and categorised as CONTRACTOR.

Organisation diagnosis begins with work and authority. Teams will trace requirements, design, technical-data release, supplier instruction, programme acceptance and customer escalation. Reporting lines should support these decisions. A global role cannot exercise authority merely because its title implies enterprise scope.

Export governance should be designed into accountabilities. Employing entity, location, nationality, programme access and licence may constrain assignment. The Partner will help clients distinguish leadership visibility from technical access, creating lawful escalation and collaboration routes.

Decision rights will be tested through real scenarios. Who can move an engineer, share a model, approve a foreign supplier discussion or respond to customer change? Responsibility charts should be revised when leaders cannot act with available evidence and authority.

Leadership selection must include governance behaviour. Candidates will be assessed on early escalation, controlled collaboration and response to ambiguity, alongside delivery. Criteria should be established before incumbents are known. A celebrated programme record cannot excuse repeated pressure to bypass access review.

Culture work will focus on the moments where schedule and control conflict. The Partner will examine incentives, meeting routines and leader consequences. Employees need confidence to pause uncertain sharing without being labelled obstructive. Values statements without consequence will not change behaviour.

Matrix design can create hidden dual authority. Engineering functions, programmes and countries may each claim decision rights. The practice will clarify technical, resource, contract and customer authority separately. Escalation should reach a person both accountable and legally able to decide.

Workforce planning must recognise eligible capability. A named successor or resource pool may not cover every programme. The Partner will include clearance and licence conditions in capability and succession, while protecting sensitive personal data and lawful employment practice.

Integration and restructuring need operational sequencing. Moving teams, data or leadership before authorisations can stop work or encourage workarounds. Organisation implementation will include access, systems, facilities, contracts and customer communication, not only appointments.

Client confidentiality is acute. Engagements may expose clearance, conduct, succession and customer information. Access will be restricted, data held in approved environments and conflicts assessed by programme and technology. The Partner will refuse requests to use organisation advice to legitimise a predetermined removal.

Outcome measures will include decision time, access exceptions, eligible succession, programme staffing and leadership conduct. New charts and workshop sentiment are insufficient. Post-implementation review will test real cases and whether client leaders can operate without advisers.

The replacement transition must preserve relationships held by the outgoing Partner while distributing them. Emerging colleagues will gain board ownership and delivery accountability. Account credit will reward collaboration rather than encourage hoarding.

The practice will develop reusable questions and scenarios, not fixed organisational answers. Government missions, export frameworks and customer rights differ. The Partner must use disciplined judgement and local specialists.

What you will own

• Mission-systems organisation and leadership proposition.
• Work-led design and export-aware decision rights.
• Executive selection, succession and culture.
• Matrix, integration and restructuring implementation.
• Client confidentiality, conflicts and engagement risk.
• Post-design outcome verification.
• Account transition and partner development.
• US practice reputation and economics.

The first 12 months

Within 45 days, review inherited accounts and live designs, correct structures that confuse authority with access and agree incumbent handover.

By month six, lead two major implementations through selection and live decision testing. Introduce export-aware succession and outcome reviews.

At twelve months, deliver USD 55 million of quality-reviewed revenue at target contribution, with eight client organisations showing measurable decision or access improvement. Ninety per cent of priority roles should have eligible successors, 75% of inherited accounts should have shared partner ownership and no material confidentiality or export breach is acceptable.

What the council will examine

• Organisation derived from mission decisions.
• Technical leadership separated from access permission.
• Selection testing behaviour under ambiguity.
• Matrix rights divided by decision type.
• Implementation sequenced with authorisation.
• Client leaders operating without adviser dependence.

The person

You bring 22–28 years in organisation, defence, leadership advisory or senior people roles. Your record includes government mission systems, export-controlled organisations, executive selection and post-design implementation in the United States.

Candidates must show a design changed after access conditions were tested and a difficult leadership recommendation made from evidence. The hybrid Washington, DC role requires secure client presence. Eligibility and conflicts will be assessed.

Compensation and terms

Base compensation is USD 360,000–480,000 plus annual incentive and long-term participation linked to client outcomes, quality delivery, security, practice contribution and succession. The permanent advisory role uses a hybrid Washington, DC base and reports to the Global Managing Partner and regional partner council. Replacement is urgent.

Confidentiality

The partnership, clients, programmes, leaders, access conditions, technologies and succession remain confidential. Further disclosure follows eligibility, conflicts and signed confidentiality. Applicants must not contact defence boards or advisers to infer the hiring firm.