Role Spotlight: The VP of Manufacturing Automation Aerospace and Defense Plants Need for 2027

Aerospace and defense manufacturers are heading into 2027 with ambitious automation plans and a familiar constraint. A report published by Xometry this month, covered by National Defense Magazine, found that half of A&D manufacturers find AI and automation operators difficult to hire, and that manufacturers across industries rank them as the hardest positions to fill. The same report found that nearly 80 percent of A&D companies plan to add workers in 2027.

Earlier in the year, Xometry's survey of manufacturing leaders found that 90 percent of A&D respondents called reshoring essential to their success, and 47 percent expected to upskill or reskill their workforce as AI tools spread through sourcing and production.

Put together, the picture is clear. Capital for automation is available, but the people to run it are not. In many plants, the gap starts at the top, with no executive who owns automation from business case to the shop floor. This brief looks at that seat.

What the role is accountable for

The title varies: VP of Manufacturing Automation, VP of Advanced Manufacturing, Head of Smart Factory. The accountability is the same. This executive turns automation spending into reliable output on programs that cannot slip.

• The roadmap. Which cells, lines and processes get automated, in what order, and with what return
• Integration. Bringing robotics, machine vision, AI-driven inspection and data systems into plants that already run qualified processes
• Qualification and quality. Making sure every change holds up to AS9100, customer requirements and first article inspection
• Workforce transition. Building the technician and operator pipeline, and moving existing staff into new roles
• Cyber and data. Working with security leaders so connected equipment doesn't create new exposure, a growing concern as CMMC requirements expand

Why the seat is hard to fill

The best candidates combine three things that rarely sit in one career.

First, deep manufacturing experience in regulated production, where a process change needs evidence and approval, not just a good idea. Second, hands-on experience with modern automation and industrial AI, not only a strategy deck. Third, the leadership to bring a skeptical workforce along.

Executives from consumer electronics or automotive often bring the automation depth but have never run a qualified aerospace process. Long-tenured A&D operations leaders know the qualification world but may not have led a major digital program. The search is often about finding the rare leader who has done both, or deciding which gap the organization can fill around them.

Five questions to settle before you search

1. Where does the role sit? Reporting to the COO gives operational weight. Reporting to the CTO gives technology weight. Decide which matters more for your next three years.
2. What is the scope? One flagship plant, a network of sites, or the supply base as well?
3. What does success look like in 24 months? Throughput, first-pass yield, labor hours per unit, or a defined number of cells live?
4. What authority comes with it? Budget, vendor selection and the right to pause a deployment that is not ready.
5. How will the workforce be involved? The answer shapes the kind of leader you need.

What great candidates have in common

In our experience, leaders who succeed in this seat share a handful of traits:

• They have taken at least one automation program from pilot to stable, qualified production
• They talk about yield, uptime and cycle time before they talk about technology
• They can explain a failed deployment and what they changed afterward
• They have built a technician pipeline, not just hired one
• They are trusted by quality and program management, not only by engineering

Where the strongest candidates sit

The best candidates for this seat are rarely in an automation title today. In our experience, they tend to come from four places:

• Plant and operations leaders inside primes and tier 1 suppliers who have already led a major automation or digital program at one site
• Advanced manufacturing heads at engine, structures and electronics makers, where precision automation is mature
• Automotive and semiconductor operators who have run highly automated production and are willing to learn a qualified aerospace environment
• Engineering leaders from automation integrators who have deployed systems across many plants and want to own the result inside one company

Each pool brings a different gap. Plant leaders may need support on technology strategy. Integrators may never have carried a P&L or a workforce. Automotive and semiconductor leaders will need time to learn AS9100 and program accountability. A good search is honest about which gap the organization can carry, and builds the team around the hire accordingly.

Confidentiality matters here too. Many of the strongest candidates are central to programs at their current employer, and will only engage in a discreet, partner-led process.

When to start

Automation programs planned for 2027 are being budgeted now. A senior search in this space typically takes several months from brief to start date, and the strongest candidates are rarely looking. Boards and CEOs who want this leader in place before the capital is spent should be defining the role this quarter.

The bottom line

The automation gap in aerospace and defense is often described as a shortage of operators. The constraint above it is leadership. Companies that put an accountable executive in this seat will turn their 2027 investment into delivered output. Companies that don't will own expensive equipment that never reaches its potential.

Nexoval Search Partners leads confidential executive searches in Aerospace & Defense, Advanced Manufacturing and Technology & AI, with a partner leading every search from intake to offer. For a confidential conversation about an automation or operations leadership search, contact admin@nexovalsearchpartners.com. Related reading: Advanced Manufacturing Reshoring Drives Plant Leadership Demand.

Sources: Xometry research as reported by National Defense Magazine, October 1, 2026; Xometry aerospace and defense survey, 2026.