Rachel Matthews
About Rachel Matthews
Rachel Matthews serves as the Market Sector Vice President for Aerospace & Defense at Plexus Corp., specializing in change management and negotiations within regulated industries. She has a strong background in engineering and operational management, with extensive experience in various leadership roles across multiple companies.
Work at Plexus
Rachel Matthews currently serves as the Market Sector Vice President for Aerospace & Defense at Plexus Corp., a position she has held since 2022. Prior to this role, she worked in various capacities within Plexus Corp., including Senior Director of Customer Management for Healthcare/Life Sciences from 2019 to 2022, and Senior Director of Customer Management for Aerospace and Defense from 2016 to 2019. Her career at Plexus also includes roles as Business Development Director and Senior Director of Business Development in the Defense/Security/Aerospace sector from 2011 to 2016.
Education and Expertise
Rachel Matthews holds a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from Colorado State University, which she completed between 2016 and 2018. She also earned a Bachelor of Science with Honors in Chemistry from Imperial College London from 1991 to 1995. Additionally, she studied Inorganic Chemistry at l’Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie et de Physique de Bordeaux for one year in 1993-1994. Her educational background supports her specialization in change management and negotiations within highly regulated industries.
Background
Rachel Matthews has extensive experience in the aerospace and defense sectors, with a career spanning over two decades. She began her professional journey at Viasystems as a Product Marketing specialist from 1997 to 1999. She then transitioned to Vanguard EMS, where she served as Director of Sales for Defense & Aerospace from 2009 to 2011. Prior to her current role at Plexus, she worked at Unicircuit (TTM Technologies) as Inside Sales Manager for Aerospace & Defense from 2000 to 2009.
Achievements
Rachel Matthews has a proven track record in organizational transformation and talent development. She focuses on building empowered teams and possesses strong problem-solving and interpersonal skills, which facilitate effective leadership and teamwork. Her strategic mindset enables her to translate high-level concepts into functional tasks with achievable goals, particularly in complex manufacturing environments.