Jill Kale, president of Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions (CAES), a U.S. subsidiary of British firm Cobham plc, will retire on July 1 and be replaced by the current chief operating officer, Shawn Black.

Black has years of leadership experience, from his role as a United States Marine Corps officer to a position as vice president and general manager for Leonardo DRS, which he held prior to joining CAES. In his new role, Black will report to the CAES board of directors.

“We welcome Shawn to his new role. He has provided excellent operational direction to the organization and has established a strong basis for all CAES’ business areas to be successful.” — David Lockwood, CEO of Cobham plc and a director of CAES

Kale became president of CAES in 2012. Scott Webster, chairman of the CEAS board, said “She guided the organization as it overcame multiple challenges, providing strong leadership throughout her tenure.” Kale recently implemented a new organizational structure for CAES that removed organizational layers, bringing customers and employees closer to CAES decision makers. Microwave Journal interviewed Kale in November 2018.

CAES supplies defense, aerospace, security, medical and industrial markets with off-the-shelf and customized products and subsystems including RF, microwave, high reliability microelectronics, antenna apertures and motion control solutions. CAES has a Special Security Agreement (SSA) with the U.S. Department of Defense.