In this role, you will lead the strategy, execution, and stakeholder partnerships needed to move promising commercial and dual-use technologies toward defense and national security application. Key responsibilities include:

Lead Program Strategy and Operations

• Provide overall direction for complex defense innovation programs, ensuring activities align with sponsor priorities, mission needs, RTI expectations, and program-defined playbooks and operating procedures.
• Set the operating rhythm for assigned programs, including governance, prioritization, resource planning, risk management, escalation, and performance oversight.
• Lead multidisciplinary RTI teams, subcontractors, and partners to deliver high-quality execution across outreach, intake, scouting, assessment, validation, transition support, communications, and reporting.

Build Ecosystem and Stakeholder Partnerships

• Serve as the senior representative for assigned programs with sponsors, mission partners, regional government, industry, investors, academic institutions, and other innovation ecosystem stakeholders.
• Develop and maintain trusted relationships across regional and national innovation ecosystems, including startups, venture capital firms, accelerators, technology developers, nonprofits, and academic partners.
• Design and lead facilitated engagements, workshops, forums, and other convenings that connect mission partners with relevant commercial technologies and expertise.

Translate Mission Needs into Technology Opportunities

• Work with defense and national security partners to understand operational problems, requirements, constraints, funding pathways, acquisition considerations, and success criteria.
• Guide targeted technology scouting efforts that identify commercial and dual-use solutions aligned to specific mission needs, problem sets, or capability gaps.
• Oversee assessment of company and technology readiness, mission fit, transition pathways, and barriers to adoption.

Support Validation, Transition, and Adoption

• Connect promising capabilities with the right stakeholders, funding sources, pilot opportunities, test environments, contracting pathways, and operational deployment needs.
• Coordinate validation and assessment activities, including technology demonstrations, independent evaluation, test facility access, readiness assessments, and transition planning when applicable.
• Help reduce barriers for nontraditional companies by clarifying requirements, navigating process constraints, and supporting practical pathways from engagement to pilot, contract, or operational use.

Drive Reporting, Communication, and Continuous Improvement

• Ensure timely, accurate data capture and reporting on pipeline activity, engagement metrics, participant progression, readiness indicators, financial inputs, and program outcomes.
• Prepare executive briefings, written summaries, decision-support materials, and program updates for sponsors, mission partners, RTI leadership, and external stakeholders.
• Use program data, lessons learned, and stakeholder feedback to improve services, refine playbooks and operating procedures, and strengthen alignment with evolving mission needs.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in science, engineering, technology commercialization, business, public policy, national security, or a related field and at least 12 years of relevant experience; or a Master's degree and at least 10 years of relevant experience; or a PhD and at least 6 years of relevant expreience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Significant experience leading complex programs, partnerships, or innovation initiatives involving defense, national security, government, commercial technology, venture, research, or dual-use innovation ecosystems.
• Demonstrated ability to lead multidisciplinary teams, manage operational execution, set priorities, and drive accountability across multiple stakeholders and workstreams.
• Experience engaging senior government, military, industry, investor, academic, or regional economic development stakeholders with credibility and executive presence.
• Strong understanding of technology commercialization, innovation ecosystems, emerging technology assessment, and pathways for moving technology from identification to pilot, validation, acquisition, or operational use.
• Ability to translate mission needs and technical concepts into clear, actionable strategies, engagement plans, briefings, and decision-support materials.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with technical, nontechnical, executive, and external audiences.
• Ability to work onsite or in a program-designated location when required and travel domestically as needed for regional engagement, national meetings, and mission-critical activities.
• Domestic travel is expected and may include in-state or regional stakeholder engagement, sponsor or national program meetings, ecosystem events, mission partner engagements, and mission-critical travel approved by program leadership.
• To qualify, applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States and should not require, now or in the future, sponsorship for employment visa status (e.g., H-1B visa status, etc.).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in a relevant technical, business, public policy, national security, or related discipline.
• Relevant experience with defense innovation organizations, military service, the Intelligence Community, acquisition pathways, technology transition, or federally funded R&D programs.
• Experience developing or managing regional innovation programs, accelerators, venture engagement programs, public-private partnerships, technology transition programs, or defense-focused commercialization initiatives.
• Experience with technology readiness, commercial readiness, manufacturing readiness, test and evaluation, independent validation and verification, or transition planning.
• Experience leading competitive proposals, capture efforts, sponsor growth, or new program development.