Federal Civilian DHS & DOJ Business Development & Proposal Pinnacle Capture Leader

Job Family:

Pinnacle Capture Leader

Travel Required:

Up to 75%+

Clearance Required:

Ability to Obtain Top Secret (TS)

What You Will Do:

The Federal Civilian Business Development & Proposal Pinnacle Capture Leader is responsible for shaping, leading, and winning large, complex capture efforts across the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), including enterprise-scale Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) programs. This leader owns the end-to-end capture lifecycle for high-visibility, mission-critical opportunities that support national security, law enforcement, intelligence, cyber defense, border protection, and public safety. This role serves as the single accountable capture leader for major and very large $100M+ to billion-dollar DHS and DOJ pursuits, integrating customer engagement, competitive intelligence, solution shaping, teaming, pricing strategy, and proposal execution to deliver compliant, compelling, and operationally credible solutions aligned to civilian national security missions.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Capture Leadership (DHS & DOJ Focus)

• Lead end-to-end capture strategy for large, complex $100M+ DHS and DOJ opportunities from early shaping through contract award.
• Own capture execution for enterprise IDIQs, single-award programs, large task orders, and multi-agency vehicles.
• Develop and manage a multi-year pipeline strategy aligned to DHS and DOJ mission priorities, budget cycles, and acquisition roadmaps.

Customer Engagement & Mission Understanding

• Build and sustain trusted relationships with senior leaders and stakeholders across DHS components (e.g., DHS HQ, CBP, FEMA ICE, TSA, CISA, USCIS) and DOJ organizations (e.g., FBI, DEA, ATF, USMS).
• Translate law enforcement, intelligence, and homeland security mission needs into actionable capture strategies and solution approaches.
• Lead customer shaping activities, including requirements influence, acquisition strategy insight, and early solution positioning.

Competitive & Win Strategy Development

• Develop and execute win strategies for highly competitive civilian national security environments, including incumbent displacement strategies.
• Conduct competitive intelligence and Black Hat analysis, assessing incumbents, integrators, niche competitors, and small business dynamics.
• Define clear discriminators, value propositions, and win themes aligned to operational outcomes, compliance, and mission impact.

Technical Solution & Partner Integration

• Partner with technology, global managed services, engineering, operations, and solution architects to shape integrated solutions supporting law enforcement, intelligence, cyber, data, biometrics, and mission IT environments.
• Lead teaming and partner strategies, including primes, niche technology providers, and small businesses.
• Ensure solutions address security, privacy, CJIS, operational continuity, and sustainment requirements common to DHS and DOJ programs.

Proposal Leadership & Governance

• Provide senior leadership over proposal development for large, complex DHS and DOJ RFPs, including IDIQs, MACs, BPAs, and enterprise task orders.
• Establish proposal governance, milestone reviews, and executive engagement for high-dollar, high-risk pursuits.
• Ensure proposals are fully compliant, operationally credible, and clearly differentiated across technical, management, and pricing volumes.

Financial, Risk, & Compliance Management

• Own bid/no-bid decisions, capture budgets, and investment strategies for designated major DHS and DOJ pursuits.
• Partner with pricing and finance teams to develop competitive, executable pricing strategies that withstand cost realism scrutiny.
• Identify and mitigate programmatic, technical, compliance, and performance risks, particularly in highly regulated law enforcement environments.

Executive Leadership & Talent Development

• Brief and advise C-suite and executive leadership on capture strategy, probability of win, and investment risk.
• Lead, mentor, and develop capture managers, proposal managers, and business development professionals focused on civilian national security markets.
• Drive capture discipline, best practices, and continuous improvement across the DHS/DOJ portfolio.

What You Will Need (Required Qualifications & Experience):

• Must be able to OBTAIN and MAINTAIN a Federal or DoD "TOP SECRET" security clearance; candidates must obtain approved adjudication of clearance prior to onboarding with Guidehouse. Candidates with an ACTIVE "TOP SECRET" or higher-level clearance are preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, criminal justice, public policy or a related discipline.
• (Ten) 10 or more years in federal civilian business development, capture management, and proposal leadership, with a strong emphasis on DHS and DOJ customers.

What Would Be Nice to Have: Preferred Background (Highly Desirable)

• Prior senior national security, homeland security, intelligence, border security, SES, and/or government acquisition leadership experience.
• Experience leading captures in DHS and/or DOJ in classified environments and sensitive programs.
• Background in scaling or transforming enterprise capture organizations.
• Masters or Advanced Degree.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret clearance (TS/SCI strongly preferred, especially for FBI programs).

DHS & DOJ Domain Experience

• Demonstrated success leading large, complex DHS and/or DOJ captures (typically $100M+ TCV), including FBI enterprise or mission-critical programs.
• Deep understanding of civilian national security acquisition environments, including FAR-based procurements, IDIQs, BPAs, task orders, and source selections.

Capture & Proposal Leadership

• Proven experience serving as Capture Lead/Capture Executive for high-stakes DHS and DOJ pursuits from shaping through award.
• Expertise leading large, cross-functional capture and proposal teams under aggressive timelines.
• Strong experience with compliance-driven proposals in regulated law enforcement and intelligence environments.

Strategic, Competitive, & Analytical Strength

• Demonstrated ability to develop winning strategies against entrenched incumbents and top-tier systems integrators.
• Advanced experience in competitive analysis, Black Hat reviews, Pink/Red/Gold Team reviews, and executive gate reviews.
• Strong understanding of DHS and DOJ mission drivers, funding profiles, and operational priorities.

Technical & Operational Credibility

• Ability to engage credibly on complex mission IT, cyber, data analytics, biometrics, surveillance, and intelligence systems.
• Experience integrating multi-partner teams into cohesive, executable solutions.
• Strong knowledge of security, privacy, data protection, and operational resilience requirements common to DHS and DOJ environments.

Financial & Risk Management

• Experience owning capture investments, pricing strategies, and risk trade-offs for large civilian national security programs.
• Strong financial acumen related to cost realism, affordability, and execution risk.

Executive Presence & Leadership

• Proven ability to brief and influence senior executives and government leaders.
• Demonstrated success building and leading high-performing capture organizations.
• Decisive, resilient leader comfortable operating in high-visibility, high-pressure environments.

The annual salary range for this position is $179,000.00-$298,000.00. Compensation decisions depend on a wide range of factors, including but not limited to skill sets, experience and training, security clearances, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs.

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 RecruitingAccommodation@guidehouse.com. 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 guidehouse@myworkday.com.  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.

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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.