Senior Exercise Planner

Leidos; United States; On-site; USD 83,000 - 149,000; Full time

Job summary

Leidos is seeking a Senior Exercise Planner to lead HSEEP exercise design, development, conduct, and evaluation for CISA’s National Cyber Exercise Program (NCEP).

This role supports the Regional Exercise Lead for assigned regional exercises and leads planning meetings, scenario development, exercise documentation, facilitation, and post-exercise reporting across multiple concurrent exercises in their region.

Qualifications

• 10+ years experience in HSEEP exercise design, development, conduct, and evaluation.
• FEMA HSEEP certification required or ability to complete within 30 days.
• Strong writing skills for EXPLANs, SITMANs, MSELs, and AARs.
• Ability to lead high-level meetings and customer-facing presentations.
• Ability to manage time, deadlines, and hold teams to requirements.
• Eligibility to meet CISA suitability and clearance requirements.

Responsibilities

• Lead all activities and documentation for assigned exercise aspect (scenario, evaluation, planning meetings).
• Coordinate regularly across exercise support team and with stakeholders to maintain timelines and staffing.
• Attend and lead planning meetings (C&O, IPM, MPM, MSEL, FPM) and develop agendas and notes.
• Develop core exercise documentation and artifacts (CONOPS, EXPLAN, SITMAN, MSEL, COSIN).
• Support end-to-end exercise execution from concept to post-exercise reporting (AAR).
• Provide SME input to internal training to improve facilitation across NCEP staff.

Skills

HSEEP design

Exercise planning

Documentation

Meeting facilitation

Stakeholder coordination

Writing polished materials

Post-exercise reporting

Team leadership

Education

FEMA HSEEP certification

10+ years HSEEP experience

Job description

At Leidos, we deliver innovative solutions through the efforts of our diverse and talented people who are dedicated to our customers’ success. We empower our teams, contribute to our communities, and operate sustainable. Everything we do is built on a commitment to do the right thing for our customers, our people, and our community. Our Mission, Vision, and Values guide the way we do business.

Leidos is seeking a Senior Exercise Planner to lead aspects of HSEEP exercise design, development, conduct, and evaluation for CISA’s National Cyber Exercise Program (NCEP). This role supports the Regional Exercise Lead for their assigned regional exercises and leads aspects such as planning meetings, scenario development, exercise documentation, facilitation, exercise conduct, and exercise evaluation, for multiple concurrent exercises across their region.

Leidos’ Homeland Sector’s Airports, Borders, and Security (ABS) business area delivers air travel modernization, border protection, and critical infrastructure security solutions that help build a safer, more resilient homeland. Operating globally across aviation security, passenger screening, cybersecurity, and border and port security, ABS integrates next-generation technologies—including AI-driven analytics, advanced threat detection, and command-and-control platforms to secure the movement of people and goods worldwide by improving situational awareness, accelerating decisions, and strengthening operational outcomes for customers.

Primary Responsibilities Include

• Work with the Regional Exercise Lead to determine specific exercise aspects to lead.
• Lead all activities, documentation, communication, and coordination among the exercise support team for assigned aspect (e.g., scenario, evaluation, exercise documentation, planning meetings, etc.)
• Communicate and coordinate regularly across exercise support team, with Regional Exercise Lead, and with exercise stakeholders to ensure planning timelines, resources, and staffing are maintained.
• Participate in initial meetings with Regional Exercise Lead and exercise stakeholders to establish familiarity with the exercise support team, with the stakeholder leads, and to confirm exercise schedules.
• Lead or support and participate in all planning meetings (as appropriate), such as C&O, IPM, MPM, MSEL Meeting, and FPM, and in developing all supporting documentation, including agendas, presentations, and notes.
• Lead or support the development of core exercise documentation and artifacts (e.g., CONOPS, EXPLAN, SITMAN, MSEL, COSIN, evaluation forms, invitations/sign-in sheets).
• Support end-to-end exercise execution: concept and scope, execution support, evaluation approach, and post-exercise reporting (AAR and assigned reports).
• Report regularly to Regional Exercise Lead and across exercise support team according to communications plan.
• Attend and participate in each exercise within assigned region as a designated exercise support role to be determined by Regional Exercise Lead and exercise support team requirements.
• Fill in as Exercise Facilitator if necessary.
• Support development of new CISA Tabletop Exercise Packages (CTEPs) and maintenance of the CTEP scenario library.
• Provide SME input to internal training activities to improve facilitation and planning skills across NCEP staff.

Required Experience, Skills, And Education

• Ability to obtain CISA EOD.
• 10+ years experience in HSEEP exercise design, development, conduct, and evaluation.
• FEMA HSEEP certification required or ability to complete HSEEP certification within 30 days of contract start.
• 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 (such as EXPLANs, SITMANs, MSELs, and controller/observer instructions) and post-exercise products (including AAR drafting support).
• Demonstrated ability to lead high-level meetings, exercise facilitation, and give customer-facing presentations.
• Demonstrated ability to manage time, meet deadlines and milestones, and hold team members accountable to requirements.
• Ability to meet CISA suitability and the clearance requirement applicable to the assigned role (TS/SCI for designated personnel; otherwise Public Trust fitness type), as described in the SOW.

Preferred Experience, Skills, And Education

• TS/SCI security clearance
• FEMA Master Exercise Practitioner (MEP)
• Experience supporting cybersecurity-focused scenarios and stakeholder engagement across government and private sector partners.
• Experience contributing to strategic plan maintenance and innovation projects in support of leadership requests.
• Cybersecurity Certifications
• • CISSP
  • CEH
  • GIAC

Original Posting

September 3, 2026

For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.

Pay Range

Pay Range $82,550.00 - $149,225.00

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline onlyand 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.

About Leidos

Leidos is an industry and technology leader serving government and commercial customers with smarter, more efficient digital and mission innovations. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with 47,000 global employees, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $16.7 billion for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2025. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com.

Pay And Benefits

Pay and benefits are fundamental to any career decision. That's why we craft compensation packages that reflect the importance of the work we do for our customers. Employment benefits include competitive compensation, Health and Wellness programs, Income Protection, Paid Leave and Retirement. More details are available at www.leidos.com/careers/pay-benefits.

Securing Your Data

Beware of fake employment opportunities using Leidos’ name. Leidos will never ask you to provide payment-related information during any part of the employment application process (i.e., ask you for money), nor will Leidos ever advance money as part of the hiring process (i.e., send you a check or money order before doing any work). Further, Leidos will only communicate with you through emails that are generated by the Leidos.com automated system – never from free commercial services (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail) or via WhatsApp, Telegram, etc. If you received an email purporting to be from Leidos that asks for payment-related information or any other personal information (e.g., about you or your previous employer), and you are concerned about its legitimacy, please make us aware immediately by emailing us at [e-mail].

If you believe you are the victim of a scam, contact your local law enforcement and report the incident to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Commitment to Non-Discrimination

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, citizenship, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, family structure, marital status, ancestry, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Leidos will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with relevant laws.

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