Defense Readiness & Sustainment Growth Leader

Job Family:

Travel Required:

Clearance Required:

What You Will Do:

We are seeking an experienced Defense Business Development Executive with deep expertise in Defense readiness and sustainment capabilities, growth, and business development efforts focused on opportunities to help all the Department of War (DoW) military services achieve and continuously maintain operationally capable military forces through effective lifecycle support, logistics, maintenance, and modernization. Defense readiness is the ability of military forces to rapidly deploy, fight, and accomplish assigned missions when required. Defense sustainment is the set of activities required to keep military forces, systems, and infrastructure operational and effective throughout their lifecycle. We seek deep experience and a proven ability to identify opportunities across all DoW military services, build strategic relationships, support solutioning, and close large and complex Defense readiness and sustainment deals across all DoW military services. This role is critical to expanding our presence within DoW readiness and sustainment areas by leveraging market insights, program knowledge, and established networks to position our firm for success on major programs.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop, lead, and own our firm’s Defense Readiness and Sustainment pipeline across all DoW military services, including developing overall business growth strategy, plans, solutions, and successfully closing readiness and sustainment deals.
• Drive growth and business development strategies that enable defense customers to achieve and sustain operational readiness across platforms, systems, and mission.
• Build and execute account plans for key defense customers across all military services, including Program Acquisition Executives (PAEs), sustainment commands, depots, and combatant support organizations.
• Identify, shape, and capture opportunities focused on improving availability, mission-capable rates, and lifecycle performance of defense systems.
• Translate warfighter readiness needs into compelling, compliant business solutions spanning maintenance, logistics, modernization, and sustainment.
• Lead early customer engagement to shape requirements, acquisition strategies, and funding pathways tied to readiness and sustainment outcomes.
• Develop value propositions that demonstrate measurable impacts to readiness metrics, cost reduction, and operational resilience.
• Align sustainment solutions with program lifecycle phases, from post-production support through modernization and technology refresh.
• Develop and maintain trusted relationships with senior government stakeholders, prime contractors, OEMs, and industry partners to influence requirements and acquisition strategies across all military services.
• Drive early engagement with customers to shape requirements, technical approaches, and acquisition pathways in support of readiness and sustainment missions.
• Build and execute capture plans for sustainment, depot support, logistics, and readiness analytics programs across all DoW military services and allied customers.
• Partner with engineering, operations, technology, global managed services, and supply chain teams to ensure proposed solutions are operationally viable, scalable, and affordable.
• Establish and manage strategic teaming relationships that expand access to sustainment capabilities, OEM expertise, and depot partnerships.
• Monitor and influence defense budgets, readiness initiatives, and sustainment policy drivers to prioritize and sequence growth investments.
• Lead proposal development efforts that clearly link technical approaches to customer readiness objectives and mission outcomes.
• Manage pipeline, forecasting, and win strategies for readiness and sustainment portfolios, driving disciplined execution from pursuit to award.
• Advocate for customer mission success by ensuring delivered capabilities sustain readiness across time, tempo, and contested environments.
• Negotiate and close contracts, task orders, and strategic partnerships in accordance with FAR/DFARS requirements.
• Ensure pipeline accuracy, forecasting, and reporting to senior leadership, driving disciplined execution from opportunity identification through award.

What You Will Need:

• Bachelor's Degree; FOUR (4) years of additional professional experience in lieu of Bachelor's.
• Ten (10) or more years of experience in sales and/or capture.
• Experience in shaping, selling, and closing large readiness and sustainment opportunities across all or most DoW military services.
• Demonstrated success in business development, capture management, and client relationship management
• Strong understanding of major DoW programs and priorities, as well as all DoW military services.
• Excellent communication, relationship-building, and strategic thinking skills.
• Experience with innovative acquisition approaches including Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), and Commercial Solutions Openings (CSO)

What Would Be Nice to Have:

• Graduate-level education Master’s or Doctorate degree.

What We Offer:

Guidehouse offers a comprehensive, total rewards package that includes competitive compensation and a flexible benefits package that reflects our commitment to creating a diverse and supportive workplace.

Benefits include:

• Medical, Rx, Dental & Vision Insurance

• Personal and Family Sick Time & Company Paid Holidays

• Position may be eligible for a discretionary variable incentive bonus

• Parental Leave and Adoption Assistance

• 401(k) Retirement Plan

• Basic Life & Supplemental Life

• Health Savings Account, Dental/Vision & Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts

• Short-Term & Long-Term Disability

• Student Loan PayDown

• Tuition Reimbursement, Personal Development & Learning Opportunities

• Skills Development & Certifications

• Employee Referral Program

• Corporate Sponsored Events & Community Outreach

• Emergency Back-Up Childcare Program

• Mobility Stipend

About Guidehouse

Guidehouse is an Equal Opportunity Employer-Protected Veterans, Individuals with Disabilities or any other basis protected by law, ordinance, or regulation.

Guidehouse will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable law or ordinance including the Fair Chance Ordinance of Los Angeles and San Francisco.

If you have visited our website for information about employment opportunities, or to apply for a position, and you require an accommodation, please contact Guidehouse Recruiting at 1-571-633-1711 or via email at [email protected]. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodation.

All communication regarding recruitment for a Guidehouse position will be sent from Guidehouse email domains including @guidehouse.com or [email protected]. Correspondence received by an applicant from any other domain should be considered unauthorized and will not be honored by Guidehouse. Note that Guidehouse will never charge a fee or require a money transfer at any stage of the recruitment process and does not collect fees from educational institutions for participation in a recruitment event. Never provide your banking information to a third party purporting to need that information to proceed in the hiring process.

If any person or organization demands money related to a job opportunity with Guidehouse, please report the matter to Guidehouse’s Ethics Hotline. If you want to check the validity of correspondence you have received, please contact [email protected]. Guidehouse is not responsible for losses incurred (monetary or otherwise) from an applicant’s dealings with unauthorized third parties.

Guidehouse does not accept unsolicited resumes through or from search firms or staffing agencies. All unsolicited resumes will be considered the property of Guidehouse and Guidehouse will not be obligated to pay a placement fee.