Regional Cyber Exercise Lead & Senior Planner

Leidos Inc; Reston (VA); On-site; USD 83,000 - 149,000; Full time

Job summary

Leidos in Reston, Virginia is seeking a Senior Exercise Planner to serve as Regional Exercise Lead for the CISA National Cyber Exercise Program (NCEP). You will lead all exercise design, development, planning, conduct, and evaluation for the assigned region.

The role supports multiple concurrent exercises, coordinates with leadership and stakeholders, and develops core exercise documentation and artifacts. A proven background in HSEEP, strong writing, and leadership are essential.

Qualifications

• 10+ years experience in HSEEP exercise design, development, conduct, and evaluation.
• 8+ years experience in exercise management or leadership, including managing multiple exercises, exercise teams, schedules, and concurrent execution.
• FEMA HSEEP certification required or ability to complete HSEEP certification within 30 days of contract start.
• Ability to obtain CISA EOD.
• Demonstrated experience planning and delivering exercises or exercise-like events that require structured documentation, coordination, and post-event reporting.
• Strong writing skills to develop polished exercise materials and documents (EXPLANs, SITMANs, MSELs, and controller/observer instructions) and post-exercise products (AAR drafting).
• Demonstrated ability to lead high-level meetings, exercise facilitation, and give customer-facing presentations.

Responsibilities

• Lead all exercise design, development, conduct, and evaluation for exercises in the assigned region.
• Participate in initial meetings with leadership, CISA, and exercise stakeholders to determine scope, resources, and schedule.
• Identify and allocate appropriate personnel and resources to exercise support teams.
• Define roles within exercise support teams and staff them for the cycle.
• Lead coordination of planning meetings (C&O, IPM, MPM, MSEL) and develop agendas, presentations, and notes.
• Develop core exercise documentation and artifacts (CONOPS, EXPLAN, SITMAN, MSEL, COSIN, evaluation forms).
• Manage multiple concurrent exercises across the region.
• Communicate with regional leads and PMs to ensure resource allocation and deconflict schedules.
• Maintain regular communications with stakeholders and report to management.

Skills

HSEEP knowledge

Exercise design

Leadership

Stakeholder communication

Education

FEMA HSEEP certification

Security clearance eligibility (CISA/TS-SCI potential)

Job description

Leidos in Reston, Virginia is seeking a Senior Exercise Planner to serve as Regional Exercise Lead for the CISA National Cyber Exercise Program (NCEP). You will lead all exercise design, development, planning, conduct, and evaluation for the assigned region.

The role supports multiple concurrent exercises, coordinates with leadership and stakeholders, and develops core exercise documentation and artifacts. A proven background in HSEEP, strong writing, and leadership are essential.