Morrison Scott are an executive Search company focusing in the Defence industry. We are partnering with a global leader in Counter Unmanned Arial Systems so welcome conversations with candidates who have the experience outlined below.
The VP Operations is accountable for end-to-end operational delivery and continual performance of operational services across the company. This includes oversight of customer deployments, internal and external IT and networking, programme delivery, 24/7/365 operational monitoring and threat triage, field service engineering, managed services, and customer success.
We expect the successful candidate to be capable of stepping up to the COO role within 12 months.
Operating at the centre of a high-impact emerging technology business, the VP Operations leads multi-disciplinary, distributed teams in the UK and abroad, including embedded customer-site teams. This role demands strategic clarity, deep operational oversight, confident leadership in ambiguity, cross-functional collaboration, and the personal accountability to deliver exceptional service.
Skills and behaviours
* Strategic mindset with the ability to operate confidently at executive level while also diving into operational detail where needed.
* Demonstrated ability to thrive decisively in fast-paced ambiguity, juggle multiple competing priorities, and maintain calm under pressure.
* Personable and trusted leader who takes full ownership of outcomes.
* Excellent communicator who shares information freely and fosters collective ownership.
* Customer-focused with a commitment to delivering high-quality solutions that meet customers' needs and expectations.
* Strong technical background with knowledge of engineering, software support and maintenance methodologies, and IT infrastructure.
* Strong understanding of safety, compliance, and quality assurance in high-risk environments.
Experience
* Substantial experience in senior Operations roles within a software and hardware technology business.
* Experience delivering programmes and services to critical infrastructure, defence, or government customers, ideally with international exposure.
* Experience in establishing or maturing operational disciplines in scaling organisations.
* Proven leadership of complex technical implementations and field service engineering, IT, and embedded team operations.
* Demonstrated leadership of developing cross-functional, geographically distributed teams.