Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary

Following a successful IPO and recent listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), AADX is entering an exciting new phase of growth, scalability, and value creation. The company is seeking a highly strategic and business-oriented Chief Legal Officer to serve as the organization's top legal executive and trusted advisor to the CEO, Executive Leadership Team, and Board of Directors. The CLO will serve as Corporate Secretary, and will be responsible for building and leading a world-class legal function capable of supporting a rapidly growing publicly traded aerospace and defense platform.

The General Counsel will provide leadership across all legal, regulatory, governance, compliance, M&A, commercial contracting, litigation, intellectual property, and securities matters while helping drive the company's long-term growth strategy.

Key Responsibilities:

Corporate Governance & Public Company Leadership

• Serve as principal legal advisor to the CEO, Executive Leadership Team, and Board of Directors.
• Lead all public company legal matters, including SEC reporting, disclosure requirements, insider trading compliance, and corporate governance.
• Advise directors and executives on fiduciary responsibilities, governance best practices, and evolving regulatory requirements.
• Support Board meetings, committee governance, resolutions, and shareholder communications in Corporate Secretary function.
• Oversee legal entity management, rationalization, and governance across the company's multi-site, multi-entity structure.
• Provide legal leadership on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategy, disclosure, and compliance.

Securities & Regulatory Compliance

• Oversee compliance with NYSE, SEC, and applicable federal and state regulations.
• Partner with Finance, Human Resources, Investor Relations, and external counsel on 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, proxy statements, and other securities filings.
• Advise on legal and regulatory requirements for aerospace, defense, government contracting, export control, and international trade, including International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR), in partnership with the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and Export Control function.

Mergers, Acquisitions & Strategic Growth

• Lead legal aspects of diligence, structuring, negotiation, and integration activities for acquisitions, divestitures, and strategic investments in support of Corporate Development and Integration Management Office.
• Support continued growth initiatives in partnership with executive leadership and key stakeholders.
• Advise on enterprise risk associated with expansion strategies, joint ventures, and commercial partnerships.

Commercial & Government Contracts

• Provide legal review, negotiation support, and risk management of complex commercial agreements and government contracts in partnership with the Contracts Management function.
• Advise business leaders on contractual, regulatory, and operational matters across the company's portfolio.
• Support customer engagements with major aerospace, defense, and government entities.

Compliance & Risk Management

• Develop and enhance enterprise legal, ethics, and compliance risk management programs; provides consultative support to SOX and Mission Assurance risk management programs.
• Lead investigations, dispute resolution, litigation management, and crisis response activities.
• Ensure appropriate legal oversight of cybersecurity, data privacy, and intellectual property matters.

Leadership

• Build, develop, and lead a scalable legal organization capable of supporting a rapidly growing public company.
• Manage outside counsel relationships and legal spend.
• Foster a pragmatic, business-focused legal culture aligned with company objectives.

Qualifications:

• Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school.
• Licensed to practice law in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
• 15+ years of progressive legal leadership experience.
• Significant experience serving as General Counsel, Deputy General Counsel, Associate General Counsel, or senior legal executive within a publicly traded company. Defense and Space industry preferred.
• Deep expertise in SEC regulations, corporate governance, securities law, and public company reporting.
• Experience supporting M&A transactions and complex commercial negotiations.
• Aerospace, defense, industrial manufacturing, government contracting, or highly regulated industry experience strongly preferred.
• Working knowledge of FAR/DFARS, ITAR, EAR, and government contracting regulations is highly desirable.
• Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, high-growth, private-equity, and public-company environment.

Why Join Applied Aerospace & Defense?

• Join a newly public, rapidly growing aerospace and defense platform at a pivotal stage of its evolution.
• Play a key role in shaping the legal, governance, and compliance framework of a NYSE-listed company.
• Partner directly with an accomplished executive team, Board of Directors, and investors.
• Influence strategic growth initiatives, acquisitions, and enterprise transformation efforts.
• Opportunity to make a lasting impact on a company supporting some of the world's most critical aerospace and national security programs.

This position is currently accepting applications.

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