Senior Manager of Military Operations

Position Summary

The Senior Manager of Military Operations leads the companys defense operations function, owning the strategy, planning, execution, and continuous improvement of autonomous maritime programs and customer operations. This role is accountable for delivering safe, compliant, and mission-effective Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) testing, demonstrations, training, and deployments while aligning engineering, operations, and government customer expectations. The Senior Manager of Military Operations serves as the primary operational leader and senior customer interface for defense programs, ensuring operational readiness, risk management, and scalable processes across multiple projects and mission sets.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Defense Program Leadership & Operational Delivery

Provide overall leadership for defense operations, ensuring programs are executed on schedule, within scope, and to required performance standards.

Establish program priorities and operational objectives in alignment with company strategy and customer mission requirements.

Oversee development and execution of test events, customer demonstrations, training evolutions, and operational deployments.

Identify operational risks, technical issues, resource constraints, and schedule impacts, drive mitigation plans and timely decision-making.

Lead operational after-action reviews and implement corrective actions and process improvements across teams.

Partner with engineering leadership to translate mission needs into executable operational plans and measurable outcomes.

Mission Planning, CONOPS, and Customer Coordination

Serve as the senior operational point of contact for government customers and mission partners, managing expectations and operational communications.

Direct development and approval of mission plans, risk assessments, and contingencies for testing and deployment activities.

Oversee creation, review, and maintenance of operational documentation including CONOPS, test plans, SOPs, checklists, and mission briefs.

Ensure environmental factors, route planning, deconfliction, maritime safety, and mission assurance are built into all operational designs.

Coordinate internal readiness reviews, pre-mission briefs, execution oversight, and post-mission debriefs.

Unmanned Surface Vessel Operations Oversight

Ensure USV operations are executed safely and effectively, including remote piloting, supervisory control, and multi-vessel coordination as required.

Establish standards for command-and-control procedures, telemetry monitoring, payload/sensor integration, and communications discipline.

Oversee real-time operational decision-making during missions, including authorization of contingency actions and mission abort criteria when necessary.

Ensure operational readiness of vessels, control stations, and associated mission equipment prior to execution.

Incident Response, Safety, and Risk Management

Own operational safety culture and compliance, enforcing risk management practices across all defense operations.

Ensure incident response procedures, escalation pathways, and documentation standards are established and followed.

Lead investigation and reporting of operational anomalies, safety events, and near-misses; drive preventive actions with engineering and leadership.

Ensure operations comply with applicable maritime regulations, government policies, and internal standards.

Testing Strategy, Technical Feedback, and Continuous Improvement

Direct operational test execution strategy and ensure adherence to approved procedures and data collection requirements.

Establish consistent methods for logging discrepancies, capturing mission observations, and reporting test outcomes.

Ensure structured feedback loops to engineering teams to accelerate system refinement and capability development.

Improve operator workflows, test processes, training approaches, and control/interface usability based on lessons learned.

Data, Reporting, and Performance Management

Oversee collection and analysis of mission/test data; ensure operational performance metrics are defined and tracked.

Deliver clear mission reports, executive summaries, and customer-facing products documenting results, lessons learned, and recommendations.

Maintain operational dashboards for readiness, reliability, safety trends, and program execution performance.

Training, Team Development, and Personnel Leadership

Lead and develop the defense operations team, including operators, mission planners, technicians, and mission support personnel as applicable.

Establish training standards, qualification pathways, and evaluation criteria for operators and mission support roles.

Ensure government/partner training programs are well designed, executed, and aligned to system capability and operational limitations.

Build a collaborative culture across operations and engineering teams emphasizing professionalism, accountability, and mission focus.

Resource Planning and Operational Scaling

Own operational staffing plans, scheduling, and deployment readiness to support multiple concurrent programs.

Coordinate logistics planning for field events, including travel, equipment movement, support vessels, and site access requirements.

Recommend investments in tools, infrastructure, training systems, and process enhancements to scale defense operations capability.

Supervisory Responsibilities

Provides direct supervision for Military Operations staff (e.g., Military Operations Specialists, operators, technicians, mission planners, trainers).

Responsible for hiring input, onboarding, training plans, performance feedback, and professional development.

Ensures operational standards and qualifications are maintained across the team.

Physical Requirements and Working Conditions

- Extensive travel, including to test ranges, ports, military installations, customer sites, and industry events, often on short notice.

- Ability to work outdoors and on the water in varied weather and sea conditions, including early mornings, long days, and occasional weekends.

- Ability to lift and carry up to 50 lbs of camera and production equipment.

- Must be comfortable working aboard small vessels; water safety or boating certification is a plus.

Background Check

This position will require successfully completing a post-offer background check. Qualified candidates with criminal history will be considered and are not automatically disqualified, consistent with federal and state law.

EEO and ITAR/EAR Work Authorization Disclosure

Red Cat Holdings provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This position requires direct or indirect access to hardware, software, technology or technical data controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). Successful candidates for positions subject to ITAR/EAR restrictions must provide proof of U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Residence and must not require sponsorship for export-restricted work authorization.

E-Verify