Cross-Border Confidence: Establishing US Leadership for the European Defense Industry

The Client

Boyden’s client is a top-15 global aerospace and defense manufacturer. With a 100-year tradition, the client has a distinct and successful culture, and an industry-leading portfolio of complex weapon systems considered among the most effective in their respective mission areas globally.

The Challenge

After decades of experience serving the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) through joint ventures with U.S. manufacturers, the client’s military customers requested that they become a prime contractor on key classified programs. This required establishing a distinct corporate entity with a U.S. board of directors under a Special Security Agreement (SSA). These agreements require that the organization be managed with a high level of autonomy from the parent company to protect classified information under U.S. law. As a result, corporate leadership needed to have strong confidence in subsidiary leadership and their understanding of the parent company’s global operations.

The Solution

The search for a President presented a three-dimensional challenge.

The client had previously experienced cultural misalignment when recruiting internationally, often due to executives’ inability to grasp the nuances of the parent company’s culture, leading to alignment issues between headquarters and the U.S. business.

Given the client’s focus on major weapon systems, they required a leader with experience in large-scale defense platforms—someone with general management acumen at a prime contractor overseeing multi-billion-dollar systems.

While the client was already established in the U.S., the selected candidate also needed the business savvy to scale operations quickly—from $100 million in revenue to supporting an enterprise capable of generating $2 billion and managing multiple manufacturing sites.

To ensure a seamless process addressing all three aspects of the role, a Boyden Managing Partner directly executed all stages of the search—from in-depth research and candidate development to participating in client-candidate interviews. This enabled a thorough understanding of the dynamics at play during the vetting process.

It was essential for the client to benchmark executive competencies within peer group companies in the U.S. and determine an optimal assessment framework. Boyden also conducted psychometric assessments to validate interview results and ensure alignment.

The Results

The search was completed successfully within the projected timeframe, overcoming the logistical challenges of a transatlantic interview process. Eighteen months into the role, the newly appointed President had already partnered with Boyden to recruit key executives for a leadership team tasked with executing the growth strategy. The new hires established the following functions:

• Strategic Finance & Corporate Development (M&A)
• Independent Research & Development and Business Development
• Contracting, Compliance, and Security
• Marketing, Communications, and Government Affairs

Today, the U.S. subsidiary executive team is managing programs, business development, and manufacturing directly. Plans are underway to break ground on a major new manufacturing facility.

The Impact

The client is now positioned to pursue major programs, offering the DoD custom solutions alongside expanded domestic manufacturing capacity. They are actively identifying new areas for growth within the U.S. aerospace and defense landscape.