Executive Director- Open Innovation Center

Riverside Research Institute•Fairfax, VA

4d•Onsite

About The Position

Riverside Research is an independent National Security Nonprofit dedicated to research and development in the national interest. We provide high-end technical services, research and development, and prototype solutions to some of the country’s most challenging technical problems. All Riverside Research opportunities require U.S. Citizenship. We are seeking a high-caliber, growth-oriented Executive Director of Strategic Business Development to serve as the Deputy to the Open Innovation Center Vice President. In this executive-level growth role, you will wield the authority to orchestrate, align, and execute our long-term growth strategy across the Department of War and Intelligence Community needs in cyber, hardware security, and tactical modernization ecosystems. This position requires a leader who can balance high-level executive authority with strategic restraint. You will be responsible for driving multi-agency revenue generation across DARPA, USCYBERCOM, AFLCMC, and the Army C5ISR Center, ensuring flagship portfolios in Defensive/Offensive Cyber, Cryptography, and Anti-Tamper Hardware Reverse Engineering scale into major programs of record. Crucially, you will act with the mandate of the VP to align major capture efforts, while deliberately protecting and empowering the smaller, highly agile "shaping" initiatives that our technical directors manage directly with research lab program managers.

Requirements

This position requires an Active Top Secret / SCI security clearance, for which U.S. citizenship is required.
A bachelors's degree and 15+ years of progressive experience in business development, capture management, or technical leadership within the defense cyber and hardware security landscape.
Proven track record of operating successfully at a deputy or executive level, with verifiable success driving major defense program wins ($10M+ individual award values).
Deep, demonstrable familiarity with the funding lines, procurement mechanisms, and organizational structures of DARPA, USCYBERCOM, AFLCMC, and C5ISR, alongside DOD Anti-Tamper evaluation frameworks.
Strong conceptual and operational fluency across cyber operations, cryptographic resilience, and hardware/silicon-level exploitation methodologies.
Exceptional understanding of technology transition pathways, with a knack for moving rapid prototypes and OTA awards into sustained programs of record.
Collaborative communicator who can comfortably bridge the gap between principal deep-tech engineers and executive buyers.

Nice To Haves

Strategic Deference: The rare ability to wield significant corporate authority when aligning large captures yet consciously defer to frontline technical experts when they are quietly shaping early-stage R&D requirements with customer PMs.
The Land and Expand Mindset: A strategic builder who views an initial prototyping or seed contract as a critical beachhead to deliver outsized mission value and organically scale our footprint.
The Technical Bridge: A leader who can comfortably debate complex system architectures or silicon-level analysis methodologies with principal scientists and instantly translate those concepts into clear, strategic value propositions for mission needs.

Responsibilities

Drive Joint Revenue: Design and execute capture strategies for joint initiatives spanning DARPA, USCYBERCOM, AFLCMC, and the Army C5ISR Center.
Manage the Cyber & Hardware Security Pipeline: Mature a multi-year portfolio focused on defensive cyber operations (DCO), offensive cyber operations (OCO), advanced cryptography, and Hardware Reverse Engineering specialized in Anti-Tamper (AT).
Integrate Emerging Capabilities: Support adjacent growth plays by pulled-in capabilities from growing portfolios in AI/ML and RF/Electronic Warfare.
Orchestrate High-Value Captures: Lead cross-functional coalitions of internal engineering groups, defense primes, and non-traditional partners to secure major program wins ($10M+).
Provide Strategic Governance: Serve as an executive leader with authority for macro-captures while maintaining the strategic awareness to purposefully safeguard ongoing, grassroots shaping efforts led by technical directors at DARPA, service labs, and advanced research partners.
Translate Technical Value: Convert complex concepts such as formal mathematically verifiable software hardening, silicon-level vulnerability research, and cognitive RF spectrum operations into clear win themes centered on risk reduction and mission acceleration.