Vice President, Applied Technologies

Orbis Ops•McLean, VA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Applied Technology Service Line delivers tailored technology solutions to address complex, customer-specific challenges by combining Orbis capabilities, third-party technologies, and purpose-built solutions based on the unique requirements of the mission. The Vice President, Applied Technologies owns that service line end to end: its technical direction, its delivery performance, its staffing, and its financial health. This is a builder’s executive role. It exists because some mission problems do not fit an existing product or program, and someone has to stand up the team, shape the approach, and deliver working capability against an incomplete problem statement. The VP leads engineers assigned to the line, sets the standard for how solutions are architected and delivered, and is the senior technical voice with the customer. This is a hands-on role: the VP is expected to stay in the technical work – design, architecture, and delivery – and to use that expertise to land on the right solution for what the customer actually needs. Success is measured in fielded capability, repeat work, and a team that can carry the next problem without being rebuilt.

Requirements

Twelve or more years delivering technology solutions in national security, defense, or intelligence, including five or more years leading engineering or delivery organizations
Demonstrated ownership of a service line, portfolio, or program P&L, including staffing, pricing, and utilization decisions
Technical depth in software or systems engineering sufficient to challenge an architecture, assess an estimate, and earn the trust of the engineers being led
Proven record of standing something up rather than only running an established organization, with the ability to walk through what was built, what failed, and what was changed
Demonstrated ability to define scope and deliver against an ambiguous or incomplete problem statement from a customer who cannot hand over a specification
Experience integrating third-party and open-source technology alongside internally developed capability, and defending the trade-offs
Proven ability to serve as the senior technical presence with government customers and partners, including shaping requirements and supporting capture
Experience hiring, developing, and retaining technical talent in a competitive cleared market
Strong written communication. This role produces the documentation, decision memos, and reports that executives and customers rely on
Active TS/SCI and eligibility for CI polygraph
Authorization to work in the United States

Nice To Haves

Mission environment: operational or field experience supporting intelligence, special operations, or defense missions; familiarity with DIGINT, OSINT, or targeting workflows
Data and platform depth: data movement and transformation across network and domain boundaries, data governance, federated access control, or zero-trust architectures
Modern engineering practice: cloud and hybrid deployment, containerized delivery, CI/CD, and delivery into disconnected or edge environments
AI and automation: delivering AI-enabled capability into production, including where the output has to be trusted by an operator
Compliance and accreditation: delivering within CMMC, FedRAMP, ATO, or equivalent accreditation regimes
Business growth: contributing to or leading capture, proposal, and pricing work for services and solution engagements
International delivery: standing up or supporting technical work with allied partners, including in Indo-Pacific or UK environments

Responsibilities

Own the service line. Define the offering, the delivery model, and the standards the line is held to.
Own the P&L, utilization, and staffing plan, including engineers charging directly to programs within the line.
Architect the solution, not just the schedule. Stay hands-on in design and delivery, working directly in the technical detail alongside the team rather than managing from a distance.
Lead the translation of ambiguous mission problems into executable technical approaches that combine Orbis products, commercial and open-source technology, and purpose-built development where nothing suitable exists.
Hold a defensible position on build, buy, and integrate.
Deliver. Hold programs in the line to schedule, quality, security, and contractual obligations, including work performed in accredited and customer-controlled environments.
Surface risk early and with a recommendation attached.
Incubate new efforts. Take concepts with no scope of work and carry them through definition, staffing, and first delivery.
Recommend clearly when an effort should remain a bespoke engagement, graduate into a product, or be declined.
Build and lead the team. Hire, develop, and retain engineers and technical leads assigned to the line.
Establish the right role construct for each effort rather than defaulting to one shape, and grow people into work that is harder than what they arrived doing.
Own the customer relationship on technical ground. Serve as the senior technical voice with customers and partners, shaping requirements, informing pursuits, and converting delivered trust into follow-on work.
Integrate across Orbis. Work with Product & Engineering so the line exploits Catalyst, Pulse, Discovery, and platform AI rather than rebuilding them, and feed real mission requirements back into the product roadmap.
Coordinate with the forward-deployed engineering model where engineers remain matrixed to programs for product delivery.
Keep the economics honest. Track what solutions cost to build and to operate, price and staff realistically, and retire approaches that cannot be sustained at scale.
Institutionalize what works. Ensure architectures, decisions, and operating procedures are documented well enough for another team to run them. Nothing critical lives only in one person’s head.
Report with substance. Deliver the recurring picture leadership depends on: delivery status, financial performance, staffing health, technical risk, and growth opportunity, with the judgment behind the numbers.