ISTAT Jetrader - Autumn 2021 - 11

Marc Allen
Chief Strategy Officer, Senior Vice President of Strategy and
Corporate Development, The Boeing Company
Jetrader spoke to Marc Allen about favorite
moments from his career, what it's like taking
on a new role during a pandemic, challenges
and opportunities Boeing sees for the future,
and more.
Jetrader: How did your career in aviation start? What made you move from
practicing law to working for Boeing?
Marc Allen (MA): From an early age, I had a passion for business, as well as law
and government, but I did not have an obvious focus on aerospace. My father was
a political science professor. We often sat around the table and talked about the
constitution, among other great things. I did have a passion for flying - for aviation,
generally, as a novice. In my career journey, those things all managed to intersect
beautifully together. I entered the business world coming out of university; I did
strategy consulting, then moved over to law. I went to work for the government, then
for a law firm and, suddenly, I found myself with an opportunity to come into Boeing
Joining Boeing as the international general counsel
was a perfect place to begin because I was able to see
the breadth of the enterprise across business units and
functions, as well as its scope across the world.
as international general counsel. I had done a bit of international arbitration, and I
had loved all things international from living in France as a young child, so it was as
if all of these passions came together in a serendipitous way in 2006 when I was
approached, and then I ultimately landed at the company in 2007. I am fortunate
to be in such a great environment, and joining Boeing as the international general
counsel was a perfect place to begin because I was able to see the breadth of the
enterprise across business units and functions, as well as its scope across the
world. I was able to appreciate one of the things that's so unique about aerospace,
which is that it plays at a global level and it connects us both locally and globally.
Jetrader: You've been with Boeing
in various capacities for quite some
time. What has been your most
exciting (or rewarding) role within
the company?
MA: I have four kids, and it's like
choosing my favorite among them!
But I've always said that the easiest
answer is the last one - the last job
is always the greatest. I've had the
good fortune of leaving with a lot of
passion from every role to the next.
There have been several proud team
moments for me here at Boeing.
Number one was the creation of our
India engineering center. We have close
to 3,000 engineers in India, making a
tremendous contribution to The Boeing
Company, and I got to be part of the
team that came together to make it
happen. That was a really unique part
of our globalization process. Early on,
as a lawyer, one of the things that
also stands out was the work we did
Jetrader * AUTUMN 2021 * 11
ISTAT Jetrader - Autumn 2021

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