Mr. John T. Bailey

Mr. John T. Bailey is the Senior Materiel Leader for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft Program in the Agile Development Office, which falls under the Fighters and Advanced Aircraft Directorate, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Air Force Materiel Command. He manages the Next Generation Air Dominance Family of Systems and drives the application of agile and digital acquisition approaches into the Division’s portfolio. He has a strong technical background and has held acquisition positions of increasing responsibilities throughout the Air Force.

Mr. Bailey is a 2002 graduate of Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering at Cedarville University. His career started as an airframe structures engineer for many USAF aircraft which included the. B-2, F-117, C-17, RC-135 and EC-130H. He prepared Modified and Structured integrity plans, evaluated finite element models and static testing. He received his Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering at Ohio State University in 2004. In 2012, he became a lead systems engineer specializing in airworthiness for SOCOM commercial derivative projects and other classified programs. He developed approaches that leveraged FAA approvals and created operating instructions for Big Safari in airworthiness, technical assistance, system safety and test and evaluation.

Prior to his current position, in 2016 he became Chief Engineer and Delegated Technical Authority of the Big Safari program. He led a 21 person Engineering team, part of 450-person enterprise at 5 locations. He led organizational priorities and created a strategy for cybersecurity. He also led communication with external agencies GAO, SAF/AQ, Scientific Advisory Board and Safety Investigation Boards. In 2019, he was selected for the MIT Sloan Fellows program where he specialized in enterprise leadership, innovation and artificial intelligence.