Principal Supplier Strategist / Small Business Advocate

Leidos • Huntsville, AL

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

Leidos’ Defense Sector is seeking a Principal Supplier Strategist / Small Business Advocate to join their team. This high-impact role will report directly to the Vice President, Material and Procurement Operations and will serve as an integrated member of the Defense Contracts and Supply Chain organization. The Principal Supplier Strategist / Small Business Advocate will shape Sector supplier strategy to enable competitive growth across Programs of Record and strategic capture pursuits. This individual will manage strategic supplier relationships, drive long-term agreement negotiations, support supply base optimization, and advance small business utilization goals across the Defense Sector. The successful candidate will lead development and oversight of small business plans, support compliance reporting, and help position the supply base for future program success. This role is ideal for a strategic supply chain leader who thrives in complex, government-regulated environments and understands how supplier ecosystems support mission-critical defense objectives.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field and 12+ years of prior relevant experience, or a Master’s degree with 10+ years of prior relevant experience. Equivalent experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Experience in supply chain, procurement, subcontract management, contracts, supplier strategy, business operations, or a related discipline.
• Experience supporting federal, defense, aerospace, or highly regulated contracting environments.
• Deep knowledge of FAR/DFARS, small business program requirements, and government reporting obligations.
• Proven experience negotiating complex supplier agreements, including long-term agreements, Sector agreements, strategic procurement arrangements, or other high-value supplier contracts.
• Demonstrated experience developing supplier strategies, leading strategic sourcing initiatives, managing supplier relationships, and supporting supplier performance governance.
• Strong understanding of subcontractor spend analysis, supplier segmentation, supplier risk management, and sourcing strategy development.
• Experience supporting Small Business Subcontracting Plans, small business reporting, supplier diversity initiatives, or government subcontracting compliance requirements.
• Ability to analyze complex supplier, spend, program, and performance data and translate findings into executive-level recommendations and action plans.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate across Contracts, Supply Chain, Program Management, Business Development, Engineering, Manufacturing, Finance, and executive leadership.
• Strong communication, negotiation, influencing, and executive presentation skills.
• Ability to work independently, lead cross-functional initiatives, and manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Must be a US citizen and able to obtain and maintain a US DoW security clearance.

Nice To Haves

• Experience supporting Department of Defense programs, Programs of Record, capture pursuits, or proposal development for large government acquisitions in defense industry.
• Working knowledge of CPSR compliance, NIST SP 800-171, and cyber/supplier readiness requirements.
• Experience developing executive dashboards, supplier heat maps, spend analytics, or supply base risk assessments.
• Knowledge of eSRS reporting, Summary Subcontracting Reports, Individual Subcontract Reports, and Small Business Subcontracting Plan administration.
• Experience with Costpoint ERP.
• Knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma, or similar process improvement methodologies.
• CPSM, CPC, CFCM, ISM, APICS, PMI PMP, or other relevant professional certification.
• Experience working with RF, electronic warfare, missile, radar, SATCOM, aviation, space, manufacturing, or advanced defense technology supply chains.
• Experience identifying cost savings, affordability improvements, supplier consolidation opportunities, and Sector procurement efficiencies.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively lead and/or manage change.
• Demonstrated ability to build trusted relationships with internal stakeholders, government customers, and strategic suppliers.

Responsibilities

• Lead Sector supplier strategy development across priority Defense programs and capture pursuits, aligning sourcing approaches with Sector growth objectives, customer needs, affordability goals, and mission requirements.
• Develop and maintain an Sector view of supplier/subcontractor spend across Defense programs to identify common product and service categories, duplicated buys, supplier concentration, and opportunities to aggregate demand.
• Analyze supplier use across Defense programs to identify suppliers with broad Sector reach, including those supporting three or more programs or multiple product and service categories.
• Segment the Defense supplier base into strategic partners, leverage opportunities, critical/risk suppliers, small business partners, and transactional suppliers based on spend, program reach, product/service diversity, mission criticality, performance, risk, and growth relevance.
• Drive strategic sourcing actions, including demand consolidation, make/buy recommendations, competitive sourcing strategies, Sector-term negotiations, long-term agreement development, supplier performance governance, and supplier risk mitigation.
• Lead negotiations and execution of strategic long-term agreements with key suppliers to support supply continuity, affordability, innovation, and long-term procurement savings.
• Conduct market analysis, supplier landscape reviews, and supply base assessments to identify strategic sourcing opportunities, capability gaps, emerging supplier options, and supplier development priorities.
• Collaborate with Contracts, Supply Chain, Business Development, Program Management, Engineering, Manufacturing, Finance, and other stakeholders to integrate supplier strategies early in capture, proposal, and program lifecycles.
• Represent Defense Sector Contracts and Supply Chain leadership in strategic sourcing reviews, program gate reviews, supplier strategy sessions, and business growth campaigns.
• Serve as the Defense Sector advocate for small business engagement, ensuring supplier strategies support FAR/DFARS requirements, customer commitments, and small business participation goals.
• Oversee development, coordination, and execution of Small Business Subcontracting Plans for proposals and active programs.
• Monitor, analyze, and report performance against small business objectives to internal stakeholders, external customers, and applicable government reporting channels.
• Lead Defense Sector support for Summary Subcontracting Report and Individual Subcontract Report submissions, coordinating with programs, subcontractors, and internal stakeholders to ensure subcontracting plans and reports are submitted in accordance with government requirements and regulations.
• Promote long-term partnerships with diverse suppliers and support supplier development initiatives that enhance capability, compliance, competitiveness, innovation, and mission readiness.
• Build executive-level dashboards, heat maps, and supplier analytics that provide leadership with visibility into cross-program spend patterns, supplier concentration, strategic sourcing opportunities, small business performance, savings opportunities, and active supplier management actions.
• Translate supplier data into executive-ready insights, recommendations, and action plans that enable measurable savings, stronger supplier performance, improved compliance, and reduced Sector risk.

Benefits

• 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.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal