Heather Campbell

Heather Campbell is the Chief Operations Officer and Director of Staff of the Space Development Agency (SDA). Established in March 2019, SDA is responsible for unifying and integrating the Department’s space development efforts, monitoring the Department's threat-driven future space architecture, and accelerating fielding of new military space capabilities necessary to ensure U.S. technological and military advantages in space.

Ms. Campbell has a distinguished track record of providing strategic oversight of technology applications for U.S. Department of Defense investments. Currently, as the Chief Operations Officer, Ms. Campbell is responsible for ensuring SDA’s staff is aligned with SDA’s mission and vision for capability delivery, with a focus on corporate strategic planning and organizational effectiveness.

Prior to joining SDA, Ms. Campbell held long-term consulting assignments with both the Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, where her responsibilities included development of new tools and processes that strengthened DOD’s ability to identify and leverage innovative independent research and

development projects across the defense industrial base. During her tenure in the Director's Office at DARPA, Ms. Campbell focused on the use of prize competitions to accelerate technology and product development and worked on high-profile projects to include the DARPA Grand and Urban Challenges that accelerated autonomous vehicle technology development worldwide.

Ms. Campbell holds a Master’s of International Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University and a Bachelor’s in sociology from Washington University in St. Louis. She was selected for the Senior Executive Service in December 2021.