Vice President, Business Development – Defense Engineering Solutions (DES)

Parsons•Chantilly, VA

12h•Remote

About The Position

Parsons is looking for a Vice President of Business Development to join our Defense Engineering Solutions (DES) team. This role is a strategic, mission-driven leadership position responsible for defining and executing Parsons’ growth strategy across defense engineering, modernization, and mission enablement markets. The ideal candidate will be adept at shaping demand, building strong customer relationships, and driving disciplined business development execution to achieve measurable sales outcomes and sustained growth aligned with Parsons’ Defense & Intelligence strategy. This leader will have significant ownership and accountability for DES sales performance, pipeline health, capture excellence, and conversion outcomes. Success hinges on strong market instincts, customer credibility, and the ability to translate operational needs into winning strategies and differentiated solutions. The VP will lead a high-performing BD and capture team, align cross-functional stakeholders, and ensure Parsons is positioned to win both strategic new business and on-contract growth. Remote locations near major Parsons hubs or key customer locations may be considered.

Requirements

20+ years of relevant experience across business development, capture, strategy, pricing, proposals, and/or P&L leadership, particularly in federal contracting within Defense & Intel markets
Demonstrated success leading growth in complex organizations, including experience operating within $2B+ enterprises and delivering results with revenue accountability for $500M+ portfolios.
Proven track record of leading capture and proposal execution for large-scale government programs, including shaping, positioning, and winning competitive pursuits.
Active Top Secret Clearance
Strong strategic orientation with the ability to translate vision into executable growth plans and measurable outcomes.
Technically fluent in mission areas such as Next-Generation Command and Control (NGC2), Joint/Coalition C2, C5ISR modernization (including DEVCOM C5ISR Center priorities), air base air defense and integrated air & missile defense, radar and sensing architectures, PAI/OSINT-enabled intelligence fusion, tactical network integration, and platform/vehicle integration and complex systems integration, Focus translating these capabilities into customer-relevant growth strategies and winning pursuits.
High emotional intelligence (EQ) and strong interpersonal capability—able to build trust, alignment, and consensus across diverse stakeholders.
Hands-on leader with the ability to drive operating rhythm, performance discipline, and sustained execution in a dynamic environment.
Proven ability to build, mentor, and retain high-performance teams with a culture of accountability, innovation, and collaboration.
An active Top Secret security clearance is required for this position.

Nice To Haves

Reports to: SVP Business Development, Defense & Intelligence.
Direct partnership with SVP DES and leadership team.
Functional leaders (Contracts, Procurement, Finance, Pricing, HR, Legal, Security, etc.)
External: Department of Defense customers and mission partners including: U.S. Army: DEVCOM C5ISR Center, PEO C3T, PEO IEW&S, CECOM SEC, Air and Missile Defense programs supporting air base defense and radar modernization. Joint / C2 stakeholders: Program offices and mission owners aligned to Next-Generation Command and Control (NGC2), Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2), and multi-domain integration. U.S. Air Force: Organizations focused on air base air defense, integrated sensing, and command and control modernization. Intelligence Community stakeholders including NGA, NRO. Others supporting PAI/OSINT-enabled intelligence fusion, operational intelligence, and multi-source data exploitation. Industry and mission partners enabling platform/vehicle integration, tactical network modernization, sensor integration, and operational C2 across contested environments.
Consistently high book-to-bill ratios, reflecting strong new business wins.
Sustain a book-to-bill ratio >1.0x, demonstrating continuous growth and sales performance.
Capture multiple $250M+ contracts annually in DES mission areas.
Convert a growing percentage of pipeline into awarded work, improving BD velocity/effectiveness
Enhanced market recognition for DES growth focus areas.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute the DES strategic growth plan and vision, aligned to the Defense & Intelligence Strategic Roadmap and Parsons enterprise priorities.
Define and lead DES growth focus areas, translating strategy into measurable pipeline creation, capture priorities, and conversion plans.
Drive short- and long-term business and marketing strategies to expand Parsons’ market position, relevance, and customer trust within DES-aligned mission sets.
Use market intelligence and customer insights to inform investment priorities across IR&D, technology differentiation, workforce strategy, and partner ecosystem development.
Own DES sales and book-to-bill performance, meeting or exceeding business plan metrics tied to awards, bookings, and conversion outcomes.
Consistently achieve a book-to-bill ratio >1.0x, with a focus on quarterly performance and measurable results.
Establish performance transparency through rigorous forecasting, pipeline analytics, and operating rhythm tied to quarterly and annual targets.
Build, mature, and continuously improve a high-quality pipeline across both tactical and strategic opportunities, including on-contract growth, task orders, and major competitive pursuits.
Own pipeline rigor and health metrics including: Volume: Qualified opportunities aligned to growth focus areas, Velocity: Pace from qualification through pursuit and award, Quality: Increasing pWin through positioning, shaping, and capture excellence.
Lead DES business development and capture management staff, ensuring organizational structure, capacity, and capability are aligned to growth goals.
Build and sustain a high-performance culture with clear accountability, coaching, and measurable outcomes.
Ensure staffing plans support near-term pursuits and long-term pipeline growth, including recruiting strategies for critical BD/capture roles.