Chief AI Officer (CAIO) / VP of AI and Data

CONFIDENTIAL RETAINED SEARCH | AEROSPACE AND DEFENSE

Search Reference: TNF-CAIO-2026 | Enterprise AI Leadership Mandate

ABOUT THIS SEARCH

Top Notch Finders has been retained on an exclusive and strictly confidential basis to identify a Chief AI Officer / VP of AI and Data for a well-established aerospace and defense organization. To protect the interests of our client and of every candidate who engages with us, the identity of the company and the specific location of the mandate are disclosed only to qualified candidates under a confidentiality agreement. All inquiries and applications are received and managed solely by Top Notch Finders.

POSITION SNAPSHOT

• Reports to: CEO or CTO.
• Location: Hybrid; headquarters presence required for board and executive engagement.
• Clearance: TS/SCI or clearance-eligible required for government-facing responsibilities.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The CAIO establishes and leads enterprise AI strategy, governance, and deployment across engineering, manufacturing, operations, and business functions, ensuring AI initiatives are safe, compliant, and tied to measurable business outcomes in a highly regulated environment.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop and own the enterprise AI strategy and multi-year roadmap.
• Build and lead AI/ML engineering and data science teams.
• Establish the AI governance framework covering model risk, explainability, and compliance with DoD/FAA AI assurance requirements.
• Identify and prioritize high-value AI use cases across manufacturing automation, predictive maintenance, and program analytics.
• Advise the board and C-suite on AI risk, opportunity, and competitive positioning.
• Manage vendor and partner relationships with AI and cloud providers.
• Ensure responsible AI practices in classified and export-controlled environments (ITAR/EAR).

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 15+ years in technology leadership, including 8+ years specifically in applied AI/ML.
• Proven experience deploying AI in regulated, safety-critical, or classified environments.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
• Deep understanding of AI governance, model risk management, and data security frameworks.
• Experience translating technical AI capability into board-level business cases.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience within an active security clearance environment.
• Background scaling AI functions from founding stage to enterprise scale.
• Familiarity with responsible AI and DoD AI ethics frameworks, such as the DoD AI Principles.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND HOW TO APPLY

This is a discreet, retained engagement. Your candidacy will never be presented to any organization without your explicit prior authorization, and no application will be visible to the hiring company at this stage. Accomplished AI executives with regulated-environment credentials are invited to submit a resume in confidence through the Top Notch Finders website. Please reference search code TNF-CAIO-2026 in your submission. Do not include classified information of any kind in your application materials. Only candidates whose backgrounds align closely with the mandate will be contacted.