Jim Sears

Jim Sears is a retired U.S. Air Force major general and senior executive with a career spanning enterprise leadership, defense test and acquisition, training and education, and international security. He is known for enterprise-level strategy and turnarounds — most recently reversing a five-year operating margin decline and delivering material improvements in financial performance through full private-sector P&L leadership, experience that complements, rather than duplicates, the strong government and military background many bring to this industry. He combines that private-sector discipline with direct insight into how major defense programs are tested and fielded, and with enterprise-scale strategic and financial planning experience across multi-billion-dollar organizations. 

Jim’s military career includes command of the Air Force Operational Test & Evaluation Center, where he directed test and evaluation of a $1.3 trillion Air and Space Force acquisition portfolio, and service as Deputy Commander of Air Education & Training Command, where he held C-suite-equivalent authority over a 60,000-person, $9.3 billion enterprise, including as Authorizing Official for the command’s cyber boundary and oversight of the accession and development pipeline for the Department of the Air Force. Earlier in his career, he led enterprise-wide strategic and financial planning at AETC, delivering $910 million in savings over seven years, and served as Special Assistant to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe at NATO — experience that gave him firsthand exposure to alliance relationships, partner-nation dynamics, and coalition operations relevant to international defense business today. 

Jim and his wife Vikki retired to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he serves on the board of several non-profits and is the founder of JSears Leadership LLC, consulting at the intersection of national security and national infrastructure — including defense, energy, and the science enterprise.