Director, Strategic Engagement & Partnerships

Position Summary

Odyssey isa rapidly evolvingmid-marketgovernment contractor delivering advanced technology engineering and mission solutions to the U.S. Department of War. As we transition from a Small Business to a competitive Full & Open prime contractor we are investing in leaders who can help shape the next era of our growth.

We value curiosity accountability collaboration our leaders to model those values every day.

Our culture is grounded our core values: Respectfor our people customers and partners;Ambitionto grow innovate and compete at the highest levels; andCommitmentto mission success and unwavering support of the Warfighter.

Odyssey seeks an experienced Director of Strategic Engagement and Partnerships to lead and scale our Strategic Engagement function. This individual will propel the stewardship of Odysseys relationship ecosystem with teaming partners customers and stakeholders in support of our businesses that serve the Department of War and other Governmental agencies. This is a builder role: the ideal candidate has grown partnership functions from tactical activities into repeatable data-informed strategic relationship-building capabilities that improve win rates and market position.

This is an externally facing role designed to engage Odysseys Business Development and Capture teams with key government stakeholders. The role is an individual contributor with support from Marketing and Business Development. The ideal candidate will already bring government contracting executive presence a vast network of C-Suite relationships and a solid thought leadership history to the table. Must be known as an industry dot-connector and door opener in federal government contracting community and key program influencers.

The ideal candidate is self-motivated and energetic with a strong understanding of DoW acquisition competitive positioning andlong-termrelationship development.A key attribute is an ability to communicate Odysseys strengths to partners and customers while maximizing engagement opportunities that drive overall corporate success in a Full & Open competitive environment.

Responsibilities

Duties include but not limited to:

Leadership & Team Development

• Coach teams to identify customer engagement opportunities identify pain points and leverage the Odyssey enterprise to solve customers toughest problems.
• Define Strategic Engagement KPIs (e.g. partner pipeline coverage JV cycle time event-to-meeting conversion etc.) and report against them to executive leadership.

Business Development Empowerment

• Work with BD & Capture Managers to build a bench of vetted business partners mapped against upcoming pursuits rather than sourcing reactively deal-by-deal.
• Contribute to Odysseys overarching teaming and partnership strategy thats aligned to growth plans across DoW components.
• Implement methods to evaluate relationship quality customers and industry partners. Help identify areas where we must increase relationship building efforts and work to develop strategies to build those connections.

• Team with multiple functions to maximize CRM tools and processes with a focus on gathering and considering key insight to serve our customers and drive growth.

Strategic Growth & Market Expansion

• Identify companies who Odyssey can partner with to respond to emerging mission needs technology trends and competitive shifts across the DoW landscape.
• Expand Odysseys presence beyond legacy client sets by opening new doors and cultivating new relationships.
• Develop & implement a framework for exploratory conversations with prospective teaming partners to assess strategic fit map capabilities past performance strengths and cultural alignment. This will include a process for routing qualified partners to the appropriate capture managers functional leads or operational directors for deeper engagement.
• Lead or oversee JV suitability evaluations and negotiations working closely with Legal/Contracts on JV agreement structuring SBA compliance (mentor-protégé considerations ostensible subcontractor rule affiliation risk) and long-term partner governance.

Synchronizing External Presence

• Synchronize your teams efforts with BD and Capture Managers to identify and establish engagement opportunities that support pipeline development.
• Support corporate strategy development including market segmentation investment priorities and planning for future strategic partnerships with other companies FFRDCs or academic institutions.

Qualifications

Citizenship: Must be a US citizen

Minimum Required Qualifications:

Clearance: Secret or eligible

Education: Bachelors degree

Years of Experience: 10 years in business development strategic partnerships/alliances capture management or teaming roles within the GovCon/defense industry including at least 35 years in a leadership or director-level capacity.

Preferred Qualifications:

Clearance: Top Secret or eligible

Education: Masters degree or equivalent experience

Years of experience: 15 years professional experience with 10 years of experience in Business Development Capture or related roles with a government contractor systems integrator or DoW-focused technology engineering or services firm.

Technical Skills:

• Understanding of DoW acquisition processes contracting methods procurement pathways and competitive marketplace dynamics.
• Demonstrated success building and managing relationships that lead to high value prime contract wins.
• Experience with or ability to learn how to use CRM tools and the Microsoft suite of products (especially Teams Sharepoint PowerPoint and Outlook).
• Demonstrated experience structuring and evaluating joint ventures including working knowledge of SBA regulations (8(a) mentor-protégé JV compliance). Direct experience standing up or managing a JV is strongly preferred.

Interpersonal Skills:

• Leading mentoring or coaching professionals with a people-first approach.
• Proven ability to build long-term customer relationships that translate into strategic opportunities.
• Strong business acumen emotional intelligence and communication skills with the energy to match.
• Ability to prioritize and delegate not only for yourself but for your team.
• Ability and willingness to travel as needed to key industry events and corporate locations.
• Approachable & friendly presence combined with strong judgment in early-stage partner conversations. Able to assess strategic fit and organizational chemistry not just capability overlap and the ability to tactfully say no to partnerships that dont fit Odysseys culture or strategic goals.
• Established personal network across the defense industrial base primes mid-tier competitors and small businesses along with credibility to open doors at the executive level.

Additional Information:

Location: Remote

Travel: Up to 25%

Remote Onsite or Hybrid: Remote/Hybrid with heavy preference to candidates located near the National Capital Region.

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Company Overview

Odyssey is a world-class technical engineering and integration company serving the warfighting ecosystem with airborne integration ISR C2 and warfighter readiness capabilities. Odyssey meets the militarys operational needs by integrating layered defense systems from equipment technology and services to data information and business operations. We streamline defense acquisition and sustainment engineering the technical battlefield with domain-specific proficiency to ensure lethality. Odyssey is dedicated to excellent contract execution peak organizational performance and fostering a workplace built on employee care.

Odyssey is proud to live out our core values of commitment ambition and respect in our work and communities through OdysseyCares a philanthropic group focused on giving back through direct donations an employer match program and volunteering events.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

Please Note:

Final compensation for this position will be determined by various factors such as the Federal Government contract labor categories and contract wage rates relevant work experience specific skills and competencies geographic location education and certifications.

This position is filled through continuous recruitment and will remain open until a sufficient pool of applications has been received.

Hired applicants may be eligible for benefits including but not limited to medical dental vision life insurance Tricare supplement short-term disability long-term disability 401(k) match flexible spending accounts health savings accounts employee assistance program learning and development benefit paid time off and holidays.

Required Experience:

Director