Aerospace, Aviation and Defence Executive Search

Once we have a signed brief, our aerospace, aviation and defence practice is typically in market within days. Our consultants carry established relationships across the sector, with civil aviation businesses, defence contractors, aerospace manufacturers and the supply chain, which means we are not starting from cold.

Our typical timeline:

• Curated shortlist delivered within four to five weeks of brief sign-off
• Candidate approaches made directly and confidentially from day one
• Notice periods and any security clearance timescales factored into planning at the outset

Our aerospace, aviation and defence practice places across the full breadth of the sector. The roles we most frequently fill include:

• Chief Executive Officers and Managing Directors
• Business Development Directors, particularly those with government, MoD or NATO programme experience
• Engineering Directors and VP Engineering
• Operations Directors and VP Operations
• Programme Directors and Head of Programmes
• Finance Directors and CFOs
• Digital and Technology Directors
• Supply Chain Directors
• Board and Non-Executive Director appointments

We work across civil aviation, aerospace manufacturing, defence primes, Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, MRO businesses and defence technology companies.

Security clearance is a routine consideration in our defence practice. We work within the constraints of SC and DV-cleared environments and understand that clearance status affects both candidate eligibility and the pace of some appointments.

How we manage this:

• We identify and prioritise candidates who already hold the required clearance level where possible
• Where clearance is not yet held, we advise on realistic timescales and plan accordingly
• All candidate conversations and brief materials are handled with the discretion that sensitive government and defence contracts demand
• We are experienced in working with businesses operating under ITAR, export control and related regulatory frameworks

We work across the full spectrum of the sector, including:

• Civil aviation operators, airlines and airport groups
• Aerospace OEMs and tier one and tier two manufacturers
• Defence primes and their supply chain
• MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) businesses
• Defence technology and systems companies
• Space and advanced engineering businesses
• PE-backed and privately owned aerospace and defence businesses

We are equally comfortable working with large programme-led defence organisations and fast-moving commercial aviation businesses, and understand the very different leadership profiles each environment requires.

Every candidate is interviewed by a Novo consultant before being presented to you. Our assessment in this sector goes beyond general leadership capability and covers:

• Programme and contract experience – scale, complexity and delivery environment
• Government and customer relationship management, including MoD and prime contractor relationships
• Understanding of regulated and security-sensitive environments
• Digital and technology leadership capability, increasingly critical in modernising aerospace and defence businesses
• Cultural alignment with your organisation’s structure and operating model

We can incorporate psychometric profiling and structured referencing at the final stages where the client requires additional assurance.

Yes, and this is a routine part of our defence and aerospace work. Many of our assignments in this sector are conducted without any public-facing activity, whether we are replacing a senior leader mid-programme, building out a leadership team ahead of a major contract bid, or planning succession around a long-term programme milestone.

How we protect confidentiality:

• All candidate approaches are made directly and individually, no advertising, no job boards
• Your organisation and programme details are not disclosed until you explicitly choose to reveal them
• Brief materials are handled on a strict need-to-know basis within our team
• We are experienced in operating within the confidentiality expectations of classified and commercially sensitive defence environments