One of the most common strategic questions I hear from defense contractors and aerospace manufacturers is deceptively simple: Do we hire an ITAR consultant first, or do we appoint an Empowered Official?
It sounds like a sequencing question. It's actually a question about risk, accountability, and organizational maturity — and getting the answer wrong can cost you a license, a contract, or your export privileges entirely.
After working with 200+ defense and aerospace clients over eight-plus years, I've seen both approaches succeed and both approaches fail. The outcome almost always depends on one thing: whether the organization understood what each role actually does before making the decision. This article breaks it all down so you can make the right call for your specific situation.
What Is an ITAR Empowered Official?
Before you can decide which comes first, you need to understand exactly what an Empowered Official (EO) is — because it's one of the most misunderstood roles in export compliance.
Under 22 C.F.R. § 120.1(e) of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), an Empowered Official is a U.S. person who:
- Is directly employed by a registered U.S. entity in a position that grants the authority to sign export license applications and other Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) correspondence;
- Has authority to bind the organization legally on matters of export control;
- Understands the provisions and requirements of the ITAR, the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and any other export control statutes applicable to the organization; and
- Takes personal responsibility for the accuracy of certifications submitted to DDTC.
This is not an honorary title. An Empowered Official who signs a false or misleading statement to DDTC faces individual criminal liability under 22 U.S.C. § 2778, including penalties of up to $1 million per violation and 20 years imprisonment. The role carries real, personal legal accountability.
Citation hook: Under 22 C.F.R. § 120.1(e), an Empowered Official must be a direct employee — not a contractor — with the authority to legally bind the organization on export control matters.
What Does an ITAR Consultant Actually Do?
An ITAR consultant is an external expert who provides advisory, implementation, and training services to help organizations build and maintain export compliance programs. The key word is external — a consultant, no matter how experienced, cannot serve as your Empowered Official under the ITAR. DDTC requires that the EO be a direct employee of the registered entity.
What a qualified ITAR consultant can do:
- Conduct gap assessments against the ITAR's 22 C.F.R. Parts 120–130 requirements
- Build compliance programs from scratch, including Commodity Jurisdiction (CJ) support, Technical Assistance Agreements (TAA), Manufacturing License Agreements (MLA), and export license applications
- Prepare and train your Empowered Official to discharge their legal duties competently
- Manage DDTC correspondence and license applications on behalf of the organization (as a preparer, not signatory)
- Conduct internal audits and mock DDTC inspections
- Support voluntary disclosures and respond to enforcement inquiries
- Draft and implement ITAR/EAR compliance manuals and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
Citation hook: An ITAR consultant can prepare, draft, and advise on DDTC license applications, but under 22 C.F.R. § 120.1(e), only a direct-employee Empowered Official can legally sign and certify those submissions.
The Core Distinction: Accountability vs. Expertise
Here is the fundamental tension at the heart of this question:
| Dimension | ITAR Consultant | Empowered Official |
|---|---|---|
| Role Type | External advisor / implementer | Internal accountable signatory |
| Can Sign DDTC Submissions? | No | Yes (required) |
| Personal Legal Liability? | Limited (advisory) | Yes — criminal and civil |
| Employment Requirement | Independent / contracted | Must be direct employee |
| Expertise Level | Typically high (specialized) | Varies; training required |
| Cost Model | Project/retainer-based fees | Salary + benefits |
| Scalability | Flexible — scale up/down | Fixed headcount |
| Program Continuity | Dependent on engagement | Embedded in organization |
| Availability | Scheduled / on-demand | Full-time internal |
| DDTC Registration Authority | None | Required for license apps |
This table reveals something critical: these two roles are not competing options. They are complementary functions that address different organizational needs. The question is never really which — it's always which first, and how do they work together?
Why the Sequencing Question Matters
Most companies asking this question fall into one of three situations:
- Early-stage registration — You're a new registrant under the ITAR and need to stand up a compliance program before you can pursue contracts or licenses.
- Program remediation — You've had a compliance gap, violation, or audit finding and need to fix your program quickly.
- Growth stage — You're scaling, winning more defense contracts, and your ad hoc compliance approach isn't sustainable anymore.
Each situation calls for a different sequencing strategy. Let me walk through each.
Scenario 1: Early-Stage ITAR Registration
If your company is newly registered with DDTC — or is preparing to register — the single most important early action is designating an Empowered Official. You literally cannot complete DDTC Form DS-2032 (the Statement of Registration) without identifying your EO. DDTC requires the EO's name, title, and signature before registration is approved.
However — and this is the critical nuance most first-time registrants miss — designating someone as EO does not make them competent. I have seen EOs who were designated by default ("you're the VP of Legal, so you're it") who had never read 22 C.F.R. Part 120, had no idea what the U.S. Munitions List (USML) was, and could not have identified a controlled article if their liberty depended on it. Which, legally speaking, it does.
My recommendation for early-stage registrants: Engage an ITAR consultant before or simultaneously with designating your EO. The consultant should:
- Guide the selection of the right internal candidate for the EO role
- Provide foundational ITAR training to that individual
- Build the compliance infrastructure (program manual, SOPs, commodity classification records) before any licenses are submitted
Citation hook: DDTC's registration form DS-2032 requires identifying a named Empowered Official before registration is approved, making EO designation a prerequisite — not a follow-on step — for new ITAR registrants.
According to DDTC data, there are approximately 13,000+ active ITAR registrants in the United States at any given time, the majority of which are small to mid-sized businesses that lack dedicated in-house export counsel. For these organizations, an external ITAR consultant is not a luxury — it is the most practical path to a functional compliance program.
Scenario 2: Program Remediation After a Compliance Gap
If you're in this situation, you've already identified that something went wrong. Maybe you received a DDTC inquiry. Maybe an internal audit uncovered unlicensed exports. Maybe a new VP reviewed the compliance program and found it was more of a compliance folder.
In remediation scenarios, bring in the consultant first — fast. Here's why:
- An experienced ITAR consultant can quickly assess the nature and scope of the compliance gap
- They can determine whether a Voluntary Disclosure under 22 C.F.R. § 127.12 is appropriate (and filing a timely VD can significantly mitigate penalties)
- They can build or rebuild the compliance infrastructure while the organization stabilizes
- Critically, they provide attorney-client privilege protection when engaged through legal counsel, protecting the findings of the gap assessment from discovery
Remediation is not the right time to be training a brand-new EO from scratch simultaneously. Stabilize first with expert external support, then invest in developing internal capability.
DDTC civil penalties for ITAR violations can reach $1,308,725 per violation (adjusted for inflation under 15 C.F.R. Part 6), and criminal penalties can reach $1 million per violation. The investment in a consultant during remediation is almost always a fraction of the enforcement exposure.
Scenario 3: Scaling a Growing Defense Contractor
This is the most nuanced scenario. You have an EO, you probably have a consultant (or did at some point), and now you're winning more contracts, pursuing more licenses, and handling more controlled technical data than your current setup can manage.
At this stage, the question shifts from which comes first to how do we build the right long-term model?
The hybrid model I recommend to scaling clients:
- Retain an ITAR consultant on a strategic retainer for complex license work, audits, training, and regulatory interpretation
- Develop your EO (or appoint a dedicated Export Compliance Manager as EO) to handle day-to-day program administration, employee training, and routine compliance monitoring
- Document the division of responsibilities clearly in your compliance program manual
This model provides the best of both worlds: embedded accountability and institutional knowledge on the inside, deep regulatory expertise and surge capacity on the outside. It also protects you against the single most dangerous compliance event for a growing company — EO turnover.
When your sole Empowered Official leaves, resigns, or is terminated, your ability to submit new license applications to DDTC is immediately impaired. I've seen contracts delayed by months because a company's EO departed and the replacement was not yet designated or trained. A consultant engagement provides continuity during that transition.
The Hidden Risk Nobody Talks About: Misplaced Reliance
There's a failure mode I see regularly that deserves direct attention: organizations that hire an ITAR consultant and then mistake the consultant's engagement for a compliance program.
A consultant is not a compliance program. A consultant is a resource that helps you build and maintain a compliance program. If your entire export compliance function is "we call Jared when we have a question," that is not a program — it's a phone number. DDTC expects registered entities to have an institutionalized compliance infrastructure, not reactive ad hoc consulting.
Conversely, I see organizations that rely entirely on their EO as a single point of failure. One person, often juggling other responsibilities, is expected to know ITAR, EAR, OFAC sanctions, FMS requirements, and whatever else crosses their desk. Without external support, training, and periodic program reviews, that EO's knowledge becomes stale and the program drifts from compliance.
The healthiest compliance programs I've encountered in 8+ years treat the consultant-EO relationship as a partnership, with clearly defined lanes, regular check-ins, and mutual accountability.
Practical Decision Framework: Which Comes First for You?
Use this framework to determine your sequencing:
Step 1 — Determine Your Registration Status
- Not yet registered with DDTC? → Designate EO candidate simultaneously with engaging consultant; consultant guides DS-2032 completion and EO onboarding.
- Registered but no active compliance program? → Engage consultant immediately; consultant assesses and builds; EO is trained during implementation.
- Registered with active program but under-resourced? → Audit existing program with consultant; develop EO capability; move to hybrid model.
Step 2 — Assess Your EO Candidate Pool
- Is there an internal candidate with legal, regulatory, or compliance background?
- Does that candidate have authority to bind the organization legally?
- Is that candidate willing to accept personal accountability for DDTC submissions?
- If no to any of these → Prioritize consultant engagement to support EO development and fill gaps.
Step 3 — Evaluate Your Compliance Complexity
- How many USML categories apply to your products?
- Do you have foreign national employees requiring Technology Control Plans (TCPs)?
- Are you pursuing TAAs, MLAs, or DSP-5 licenses?
- Do you have international customers, subsidiaries, or teaming partners?
Higher complexity = greater immediate need for consultant expertise, regardless of where you are in EO development.
What to Look for in an ITAR Consultant
Not all ITAR consultants are equal. The stakes are too high to engage someone who learned export compliance from a weekend seminar. When evaluating consultants, look for:
- Demonstrated track record — documented client outcomes, not just years in the field
- Multi-disciplinary credentials — legal background (JD), project management (PMP), quality systems, and regulatory affairs expertise all strengthen export compliance practice
- DDTC familiarity — direct experience navigating license applications, Commodity Jurisdictions, and enforcement correspondence
- References from similar-sized and similar-sector clients
- Defined scope of work — be wary of vague retainers without deliverables
At Certify Consulting, every engagement begins with a structured gap assessment against 22 C.F.R. Parts 120–130, followed by a prioritized remediation roadmap. In over 200 client engagements, we've maintained a 100% first-time audit pass rate — not because audits are easy, but because preparation is systematic.
For more information on how we approach ITAR compliance program development, visit our ITAR Compliance Consulting services page or explore our ITAR Empowered Official training resources.
The Bottom Line: It's Not Either/Or
The debate between hiring an ITAR consultant and appointing an Empowered Official is a false dichotomy. You need both. The real question is sequencing and structure — and the answer depends entirely on your organization's current registration status, compliance maturity, resource constraints, and risk profile.
Here's my final answer, distilled from eight-plus years and 200+ client engagements:
If you are a new registrant or have no active compliance program: Engage an ITAR consultant first — or at the very minimum, simultaneously with designating your EO. The consultant builds the foundation the EO stands on.
If you have a compliance program but it's under-resourced or stale: Strengthen your EO's capabilities and bring in a consultant for a structured program review and refresh.
If you're scaling: Move to the hybrid model. Retain a consultant strategically, develop your EO operationally, and document the division of responsibilities clearly in writing.
The worst outcome is paralysis — waiting to hire a consultant until you have a "real" EO in place, or waiting to designate an EO until you've "figured out" your compliance program. Neither happens in a vacuum. Start building both, in the right order for your situation, today.
Jared Clark is the Principal Consultant at Certify Consulting, with credentials including JD, MBA, PMP, CMQ-OE, CPGP, CFSQA, and RAC. He has served 200+ clients across the defense, aerospace, and dual-use industries with a 100% first-time audit pass rate. Reach Certify Consulting at certify.consulting.
Last updated: 2026-04-01
Jared Clark
Principal Consultant, Certify Consulting
Jared Clark is the founder of Certify Consulting, helping organizations achieve and maintain compliance with international standards and regulatory requirements.