Senior Director, Growth – Defense Sensors Business Area

At Leidos, we deliver innovative solutions through the efforts of our diverse and talented people who are dedicated to our customers’ success. We empower our teams, contribute to our communities, and operate sustainably. Everything we do is built on a commitment to do the right thing for our customers, our people, and our communities. Our Mission, Vision, and Values guide the way we do business.

Within the Leidos Defense Systems Sector, the Defense Sensors Business Area designs, develops, integrates, and sustains advanced sensor and radar systems; delivers processing, exploitation, discrimination, and analysis capabilities; and provides operational mission expertise. The Business Area also develops Electronic Safe Arm Fuzes (ESAF), avionics and lethal mechanisms, persistent surveillance technologies, and surrogates and emulators.

The Defense Systems Sector Growth organization is seeking a Senior Director, Growth to provide executive leadership for all Business Development and Strategy efforts for the Defense Sensors Business Area. This role supports a complex portfolio with a multi-billion-dollar pipeline (>$3B) and significant annual revenue and P&L responsibility. Primary customers include the U.S. Army (PEO IEW&S, PEO M&S, Army Aviation & Missile Center), U.S. Air Force, and select commercial customers.

In this role, you will be accountable for overall growth performance, including awards, pipeline development, customer engagement, strategy execution, and management of new business investments. You will lead a team of business development professionals and serve as a key member of the Business Area Leadership Team, partnering closely with sector and enterprise leadership to drive sustained growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide executive leadership for all business development, capture, proposal, and growth strategy activities for the Defense Sensors Business Area.

• Partner with the VP of Program Integration Growth and senior leadership to define and execute near- and long-term growth strategies aligned with customer priorities, technical roadmaps, and enterprise objectives.

• Serve as a core member of the Business Area Leadership Team, contributing directly to P&L ownership, financial performance, and strategic decision-making.

• Lead senior-level customer relationship management and engagement strategies, ensuring strong alignment between customer needs, line management, and solution architects.

• Collaborate with Business Area leadership and the CTO to develop and evolve growth strategies tied to technology investments, IR&D priorities, and new and adjacent market opportunities.

• Drive disciplined pipeline development, opportunity prioritization, bid decisions, and investment alignment to maximize return and Probability of Win (PWin).

• Oversee capture and proposal execution for large, strategic opportunities, ensuring delivery of compelling, compliant, and differentiated proposals from a customer-centric perspective.

• Conduct executive-level opportunity and proposal reviews, emphasizing evaluation criteria, competitive positioning, and message quality.

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing business development organization, including talent development, performance management, and workforce planning.

• Provide executive oversight of B&P, IR&D, and other discretionary investments and assess their impact on growth objectives.

• Forecast, track, and report Business Area growth performance against annual and multi-year goals.

• Serve as a trusted advisor to Business Area leadership on opportunity pursuits, gate reviews, investment decisions, and growth risks.

• Support and evaluate mergers, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships as applicable to the portfolio.

• Identify current and future staffing needs and support recruiting efforts to ensure the organization is positioned for sustained growth.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a scientific or engineering discipline and 15+ years of extensive relevant experience in senior leadership roles, or an equivalent combination of education and experience

• Progressive experience leading business development, capture, and growth efforts for complex defense or government portfolios

• Demonstrated executive-level relationships with senior military leaders and government customers, particularly within the U.S. Army and Huntsville defense community

• Extensive knowledge of customer missions, acquisition organizations, and funding priorities

• Demonstrated access to key government customers and industry partners

• Proven record of leading and winning large, complex, and highly competitive captures and proposals

• Demonstrated ability to develop and execute multi-year growth strategies at the portfolio or business area level

• Experience building, leading, and sustaining high-performing teams

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree (MBA or technical master’s degree)

• Working knowledge of Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR)–based competitive procurements

• Experience with DoD budget formulation, investment planning, and acquisition processes

• Prior responsibility for significant budgets and workforce planning

• Strong executive communication and influencing skills

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and executive-level reporting tools

Security Clearance Requirement

• Active DoD Secret clearance, with the ability to obtain and maintain TS/SCI

If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo — because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares.

Original Posting:

Pay Range:

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.