By Mike Harris Monday, September 28th, 2026

Back in 2010, Sean Woodward was working for General Dynamics in Florida, looking for companies the aerospace and defense giant might partner with or acquire.

During his search, Woodward, a program control analyst, identified military drone maker AeroVironment in Simi Valley as a fast-growing firm that could be a great addition to General Dynamics.

While General Dynamics ultimately didn’t pursue the acquisition, Woodward got a new job out of it, leaving General Dynamics after five years to join AeroVironment.

“Having done the research on AeroVironment from a drone technology perspective, I thought it would be a great opportunity to join the company,” Woodward told the Business Times.

He started his career at AeroVironment in September 2010 as business manager finance — unmanned aircraft systems, moving across the country to Simi Valley with his family.

Over the next 16 years, Woodward worked his way up the AeroVironment ladder and, in April 2026, became CFO and executive vice president.

Founded in 1971, AeroVironment is a major defense contractor specializing in autonomous systems, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, counter-UAS solutions, directed energy weapons, robotics and space systems.

Woodward, 44, said it’s been a terrific 16-year run at the company.

“It’s been a great place to work at,” he said. “We have a great product and capability that we provide to ensure the safety of our warfighters.

“And the people that we have here are fantastic,” Woodward said. “So, I’m very, very proud to work here.”

Prior to his five years at General Dynamics, Woodward, who holds an MBA from the University of Tampa, worked for nearly two years for Honeywell Aerospace as a program planning and control analyst.

“Over 22+ years in corporate finance, I’ve worked extensively across operational and corporate finance, along with strategy — experience that’s given me a ground-level view of how defense technology gets built, priced and delivered,” Woodward says on his LinkedIn profile.

Woodward is based at AeroVironment’s main Simi Valley facility, where the company was headquartered until 2021.

That’s when it moved its home office to Arlington, Virginia, which borders Washington, D.C.

Woodward said he’s seen tremendous growth in the company since coming aboard in 2010.

“We went from about $250 million a year in revenue and a few sites, to now over $2 billion a year of revenue, 4,000-plus employees, 20 locations throughout the U.S. and we’ve announced some international locations,” he said.

About 1,300 of those employees work on the Central Coast at AeroVironment’s main Simi Valley location, three other Simi sites, a Moorpark facility and a new San Luis Obispo location established in March by the acquisition of Empirical Systems Aerospace for about $200 million.

AeroVironment on Aug. 24 announced a planned $100 million investment in a new company-owned campus in Moorpark across the street from the firm’s existing facility there.

AeroVironment’s Ventura County sites will be consolidated at the new 20-acre campus, which the company says will strengthen collaboration across research, engineering, design, prototyping and production.

“This location that we selected was after a search throughout Ventura County, trying to find a property that we could purchase and own to really solidify our ownership in the area and we found the perfect spot,” Woodward said.

AeroVironment says renovation and construction are expected to begin in fiscal 2028, with employee transitions occurring in phases and the campus expected to be fully operational in 2029.

On Sept. 9,AeroVironment reported record first-quarter revenue of $480.5 million — up 6% year-over-year — and a funded backlog of $1.5 billion.

Despite the growth, the company suffered a net loss of $5.1 million, or 10 cents per diluted share, for the quarter, compared to a net loss of $67.4 million or $1.44 per share in the same quarter a year ago. 

On Sept. 2, AeroVironment announced that it has been awarded a landmark contract valued at $464.8 million by the U.S. Army Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Fires program office for the Enduring-High Energy Laser program.  

And on Aug. 27, AeroVironment announced that its MacCready Works advanced solutions team has been awarded a contract for the co-design and co-manufacturing of three Mars helicopters for NASA’s SkyFall mission. 

Woodward said the sky’s the limit for AeroVironment.

“We’re very excited for the growth of the company,” he said. 

“The types of technology that we produce, from drones, counter-drone-based technology and cybersecurity, are all in high demand both domestically and internationally,” Woodward said.

AeroVironment is expecting total company growth on an annual compound level to be 15% to 20% through fiscal year 2030, he said.

That will increase the company’s overall size from$2 billion to $3.5 billion/$4 billion, he said.

Woodward lives in Simi Valley with his wife of more than 20 years. The couple has three school-aged children.

In his downtime, he enjoys mountain and road biking.

“But honestly, most of the time I’m following the kids,” Woodward said. “They’re very active in academics and athletics.”

Woodward said being AeroVironment’s CFO is a realized hope.

“I’ve always wanted to become the CFO of a defense company,” he said. “So, I’m very happy in this role and plan on doing it as long as I can.”

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