Merrill Stoddard is Division President and General Manager for CAE Defense & Security, USA. In this position, he leads the U.S. Division of Defense & Security (D&S), which supports defense customers in achieving the highest levels of mission readiness.
Stoddard joined the CAE D&S Executive Leadership Team as Vice President and General Manager in the U.S. in August 2021. Prior to this post, he most recently served as Vice President of Operations for the L3Harris Technologies Broadband Communication Systems Sector. In this role, Stoddard had full operational and fiduciary responsibility for 1,300 employees, delivering over 8,000 unique end items annually in a high-mix, low-volume, engineer-to-order business model. He has a varied background in C4ISR, counterintelligence, and foreign material acquisition, delivering proven results in program management, P&L leadership, global supply chain management, and manufacturing operations in the defense and aerospace industry.
Previously, Stoddard served as Director of Manufacturing, including all manufacturing and test-related activities to include many aspects of production, engineering, continuous improvement, training, and systems integration. He was also Director of Programs, with many responsibilities, including daily oversight of business managers, planners, and program engineers, ensuring successful analysis, accuracy, and evaluation of business strategies and alignment of financial plans with strategic planning.
Before joining L3Harris, Merrill was Chief, Strategic Acquisition Contracts and Division Operations Officer at Hill AFB, Utah, providing executive leadership in multi-site international supply chain and logistics operations. He managed a $5B portfolio of highly classified advanced development programs and logistics support across seven geographically separated international locations. Merrill retired from the Air Force as a Chief Procuring Contracting Officer with unlimited warrant authority and over 20 years of service, including five combat deployments.
Stoddard holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of South Carolina and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Grantham University.
