Senior Director, International Affairs

Description

Position Summary:

AIA’s International Division at AIA is responsible for promoting domestic and international policies and practices that help American companies compete in the global marketplace and cooperate with our allies and foreign partners. This position is responsible for providing analysis, policy, legislative, and communications recommendations on international affairs issues impacting the aerospace and defense industry. These topics include but are not limited to defense trade, regional security issues, relationships with U.S. government and foreign governments, and regulations/policies made by U.S. and foreign governments. 

Activities may be related to any area of the International Division portfolio but are expected to focus primarily on U.S. and international regulatory policy. Likely issue areas include: defense trade (foreign military sales and direct commercial sales), offset policies, multilateral agreements, and the foreign regulatory environment. This position will also provide division leadership at the direction of the Vice President, International Affairs.

This position reports to the Vice President, International Affairs.

Key Responsibilities: 

The Senior Director, International Affairs will be responsible for AIA’s overall defense trade agenda by developing policy recommendations, advocacy strategies, and communications and legislation recommendations on defense trade policy, FMS, DCS, global defense industrial base cooperation, exportability, multilateral security partnerships, defense trade treaties, and other policy aspects. The incumbent will be responsible for leading AIA committees and subcommittees focused on defense trade, interacting with AIA leadership, members, and outside industry and government stakeholders, and other key personnel to advance the Association’s defense trade program. As the staff lead for AIA’s defense trade policy agenda, this position is a critical element of the division’s overall international affairs policy and advocacy program. 

In addition to the policy and regulatory portfolio, the Senior Director, International Affairs will be responsible for assisting the Vice President, International Affairs with day-to-day operations of the division and, as needed, the strategic direction of the international advocacy portfolio. They will also serve as the primary backup to Vice President when that person is unavailable to represent the division or the Association on international issues. 

Direct Policy and Advocacy Development in Defense Trade and Related Issues (35%)

• Serve as the primary staff liaison to, and independently manage, AIA’s Defense Trade Committee, Offsets Subcommittee, and any other ad hoc working groups for policy development, outside stakeholder convening, and advocacy strategy development
• Draft, edit, and develop defense trade-related materials for AIA leadership, members, and outside stakeholders, including policy memos, meeting minutes, remarks and talking points, meeting agendas, letters, background materials, and white papers
• Interface, build, and maintain relationships with U.S. government defense trade agencies, including  the State Department’s Regional Security and Arms Transfer (RSAT) bureau, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and the Defense Department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA)
• Monitor government Federal Register Notices (FRNs) related to U.S. defense trade impacting the aerospace/defense industry
• Maintain AIA International Affairs defense trade-related committee and working group materials and ensure timely distribution of meeting notices to members and invited guests

Conduct Policy Analysis and Provide Action Recommendations (25%)

• Research, monitor, maintain, and provide updates on changes in defense trade-related policy regulations and legislation, multilateral security partnerships, and defense trade treaties
• Provide expert analysis and recommendations on strategy, positions, and actions for AIA leadership and members on defense trade-related matters, multilateral security partnerships, and defense trade treaties, exportability, etc. to include consensus-based responses to Federal Register Notices (FRNs) and any pending legislation

Member Management and Stakeholder Engagement (20%)

• Work closely with the defense trade, government affairs, and business development teams in AIA member companies to develop defense trade-related advocacy and engagement strategies 
• Represent AIA on a continuous basis and interface with outside defense trade-focused stakeholders, including the U.S. government, other trade association partners, foreign governments, etc. 
• Contribute written and oral division-wide updates through articles, webinars, weekly newsletters, and other communications products

Division Management and Enterprise-wide Collaboration (20%)

• Assist the Vice President, International Affairs with day-to-day operations of the division and, as needed, the strategic direction of the international advocacy portfolio
• Represent the Division and, as directed, the Association on international affairs issue before key constituencies, including congressional staff, news media, and outside government stakeholders
• Provide support to AIA-wide flagship events, including bi-yearly meetings, quarterly executive meetings, monthly industry-wide interactions, and international air and trade shows
• Collaborate with other divisions on organization-wide requirements 
• Serve as division/company representative in internal collaboration meetings as directed by the Vice President, International Affairs

Requirements

Minimum Requirements: 

• The Senior Director, International Affairs must be a known and respected practitioner in the defense trade community, with focused experience in defense FMS, DCS, and technology security.
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., international affairs, political science, public affairs/public policy/public administration, business/economics, etc.) is required. Master’s degree or commensurate work experience is preferred.
• Minimum 10 years work experience with a knowledge of international trade and regulatory issues, particularly as they relate to U.S. industry and/or defense trade policy.
• Ability to quickly analyze defense trade policy issues and synthesize the information for senior AIA leadership and members.
• Native understanding and extensive work within the Microsoft Office environment (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project, SharePoint) is required.
• Strong oral and written communication skills (concise, timely, positive nature).
• Ability to work under time pressure to meet deadlines and capability to quickly flex to changes in priorities.
• Strong people skills with an ability to interface at all levels of the organization, with all levels of leadership, and work within a diverse organization.
• Organized, attentive to details, ability to independently prioritize, timely, and have the ability to multi-task duties. 
• Must possess well-developed interpersonal and time management skills. 
• Analytical, flexible thinker with the ability to prioritize, multitask, and collaborate across AIA.
• Natural desire to take ownership to contribute to the broader team.
• Motivated, “can-do” attitude that contributes to the mission of the organization and the industry. 
• Ability to handle confidential and/or proprietary information with professionalism, maturity, discretion, and trust.

Desired Skills/Experience: 

• Past experience in running long-term projects or advocacy campaigns is desired.
• Writing skills orientated towards senior leaders, including the ability to develop background and talking points quickly and in a concise manner is sought after.

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Equal Opportunity Employer

AIA is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace, committed to non-discrimination regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity/expression, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law. 

This job description is not intended to be a complete statement of all duties, which may be assigned by the supervisor according to varying business needs.