The Director of Customer Engagement is responsible for developing, sustaining, and expanding the Technical Solutions Group's (TSG) relationships across existing and adjacent customer organizations while strengthening TSG's understanding of customer priorities, emerging requirements, acquisition strategies, and mission challenges.

Serving as TSG's principal operational leader for customer engagement, the Director maintains continuous customer interaction, enables high-value executive engagement, develops actionable customer intelligence, and identifies emerging needs and opportunities for transition to Operations, Business Development, and Capture. The role also supports TSG's innovation initiatives by identifying opportunities to leverage traditional and alternative acquisition pathways, including SBIRs and OTAs.

Responsibilities include:

Customer Engagement & Relationship Management

• Develop and execute TSG's customer engagement strategy across existing and adjacent customer organizations.
• Build and sustain relationships with operational, technical, acquisition, contracting, program management, and executive stakeholders.
• Maintain customer engagement plans, relationship maps, engagement calendars, and stakeholder assessments; identify and address gaps in customer coverage.
• Expand TSG's relationships and visibility within adjacent organizations aligned with its capabilities.

Customer Intelligence & Executive Engagement

• Maintain awareness of customer priorities, budgets, organizational changes, mission needs, acquisition plans, and emerging requirements.
• Translate customer engagement into actionable intelligence for TSG leadership, Operations, Business Development, Capture, Contracts, and executive leadership.
• Prepare and coordinate senior executive customer engagements, including objectives, briefing materials, recommended discussion points, and follow-up actions.
• Maintain relationship continuity between executive engagements and identify issues requiring leadership attention.

Opportunity Identification & Growth Integration

• Identify emerging requirements, on-contract growth, follow-on work, and adjacent opportunities aligned with TSG capabilities.
• Distinguish customer interest from funded and actionable requirements and help qualify opportunities before transitioning them to Business Development and Capture.
• Partner with Program Managers and Operations to identify customer needs and support early opportunity shaping.

Innovation & Alternative Acquisition

• Identify customer needs suited to SBIR/STTR, OTAs, Commercial Solutions Openings (CSOs), and other non-traditional acquisition pathways.
• Develop relationships with customer innovation organizations, laboratories, experimentation offices, and technology transition organizations.
• Partner with technical leadership to align emerging capabilities with customer mission needs and identify viable transition pathways.

Leadership Characteristics

• Build trusted relationships through credibility, preparation, and consistent follow-through.
• Recognize sustained customer engagement as an operational capability, not simply a sales function.
• Enable executive leaders to engage where their involvement creates the greatest strategic value.
• Build enduring relationships with adjacent organizations before opportunities formally emerge.
• Exercise sound judgment regarding procurement integrity and ethical engagement.
• Balance long-term relationship development with disciplined operational execution.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to TSG leadership regarding customer priorities, organizational dynamics, and strategic positioning.

Here's what you need (Required Qualifications):

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline.
• Demonstrated experience supporting, delivering, or growing business aligned with one or more of Cydecor's core capabilities: Software Development, Data Analytics, Mission Support, and Multi-Domain Communication Solutions.
• Significant experience in customer engagement, operations, program management, business development, or government leadership within the DoD/DoW.
• Demonstrated success developing trusted customer relationships and engaging government customers from working-level personnel through senior executives.
• Strong understanding of federal acquisition processes, including FAR-based procurements, GWACs, IDIQs, BPAs, and task-order competitions.
• Demonstrated familiarity with alternative acquisition authorities and innovation ecosystems, including SBIR/STTR programs, OTAs, CSOs, and technology transition pathways.
• Experience identifying customer needs and translating them into actionable organizational opportunities.
• Excellent executive communication, relationship-building, organizational awareness, and political judgment.
• Ability to prepare senior executives for high-value customer engagements.
• Active Secret security clearance.

Bonus Points If You Have (Desired Qualificaitons):

• Prior military, civilian government, or defense industry leadership experience.
• Established relationships and demonstrated customer engagement experience within priority markets, particularly the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Space Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), and/or Intelligence Community (DIA, NGA, NRO).
• Experience supporting innovation organizations, research laboratories, rapid capability offices, technology transition efforts, prototype development, experimentation, or operational demonstrations.
• Experience supporting SBIR transitions or OTA prototype efforts through follow-on production or operational deployment.
• Experience coordinating across Operations, Business Development, Capture, and executive leadership.
• Familiarity with customer relationship management systems and account planning.
• Active Top Secret security clearance.

Security Clearance:

• Active Secret security clearance.

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline.

Work Schedule:

• Hybrid position based in Crystal City, Virginia, with in-person engagement as required.
• Travel to customer sites and meetings with teammates, partners, and other stakeholders is expected as needed to support the role.

Compensation and Benefits:
The projected total cash compensation for this position is anticipated to be in the range of $175,000-250,000, provided agreed upon performance targets are achieved. There are numerous factors that can impact a final salary/hourly rate including, but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills and competencies that align to the role, work location, education/certifications, and a contract's Labor Categories.

Cydecor offers a comprehensive compensation package including Health and Dental Insurance, Vision and Life Insurance, Short-Term & Long-Term Disability, 401(K) + company match, Paid Time Off (PTO), Paid Company Holidays, Tuition and Professional Development Assistance and more.

Tags: Director of Customer Engagement, Customer Engagement Director, Customer Engagement Lead, Senior Customer Engagement Manager, Government Customer Engagement, Federal Customer Engagement, DoD Customer Engagement, Defense Customer Engagement, National Security Customer Engagement, Government Relations, Government Relationship Management, Strategic Relationships, Customer Relationship Management, Stakeholder Engagement, Stakeholder Management, Executive Engagement, Executive Relationship Management, Senior Government Relationships, Government Customer Relations, Customer Strategy, Customer Engagement Strategy, Account Management, Strategic Account Management, Account Planning, Customer Account Planning, Relationship Mapping, Stakeholder Mapping, Customer Intelligence, Market Intelligence, Customer Insights, Mission Requirements, Requirements Identification, Opportunity Identification, Opportunity Shaping, Early Customer Engagement, Government Leadership, Defense Industry Leadership, Program Management, Government Program Management, Operations Leadership, Government Contracting, GovCon, Federal Contracting, Defense Contractor, Department of Defense, DoD, Department of War, DoW, National Security, U.S. Navy, Navy, U.S. Air Force, Air Force, USAF, U.S. Space Force, Space Force, USSF, USSOCOM, SOCOM, Special Operations, Intelligence Community, IC, DIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, NGA, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, NRO, National Reconnaissance Office, Federal Acquisition, DoD Acquisition, FAR, Federal Acquisition Regulation, GWAC, IDIQ, BPA, Task Orders, Alternative Acquisition, Non-Traditional Acquisition, SBIR, STTR, SBIR Transition, Technology Transition, OTA, Other Transaction Authority, Commercial Solutions Opening, CSO, Rapid Capability, Rapid Acquisition, Innovation Ecosystem, Defense Innovation, Government Innovation, Research Laboratories, R&D, Prototype Development, Prototyping, Experimentation, Operational Demonstrations, Technology Demonstrations, Software Development, Data Analytics, Mission Support, Multi-Domain Communications, Cleared Jobs, Secret Clearance, Active Secret Clearance, Top Secret Clearance, Crystal City, Arlington VA, Northern Virginia, Washington DC