Leadership in Defence and Aerospace

UK defence spending is moving beyond baseline commitments, exceeding 2% of GDP and continuing to rise, while the focus of that investment is shifting towards advanced capability, digital infrastructure and next-generation technologies.

The industrial impact is already clear with the UK defence sector generating over £30bn annually and strong export performance reinforcing its position as a globally relevant partner, but this is not simply a story of scale.

Geopolitical pressure is accelerating change as the UK deepens collaboration with international partners and responds to immediate operational demands, from counter-drone capability to maritime security, yet at the same time tension is building within the system, with budget constraints, programme complexity and competing priorities forcing difficult trade-offs even as expectations of capability continue to rise.

The result is a sector that is simultaneously expanding and becoming more complex, and that has a direct implication for leadership.

The most effective leaders in UK defence today are not defined purely by technical expertise or tenure, but by their ability to operate at scale, manage ambiguity, align multiple stakeholders and deliver outcomes in environments where commercial, political and operational pressures intersect.

That combination is rare.

At Friisberg, we are seeing this play out consistently in our client work, and through our long-standing experience in senior appointments and advisory in the sector. Andrew Guy, who leads Friisberg’s Global Defence Practice Group, is currently working with organisations navigating this shift, supporting the identification and assessment of leaders who can operate at this level of complexity, including those with deep experience of the UK Ministry of Defence as a customer.

As a result in the UK, we are currently engaged with a number of clients across Defence & Aerospace on senior executive searches, with a particular interest in UK-based leaders at Director, VP, SVP, EVP and CXO level who have led Business Units or held divisional P&L responsibility, or delivered programmes and projects typically in the range of £100m to £1bn+, and who understand how to operate effectively within the Ministry of Defence’s commercial and operational environment.

For those with the capability the UK defence sector now requires to meet its objectives, this is the moment to step forward.