Senior Exercise Planner - Regional Exercise Lead

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

Job summary

Leidos seeks a Senior Exercise Planner to serve as Regional Exercise Lead for the CISA National Cyber Exercise Program. This role leads exercise design, development, planning, conduct, and evaluation across the assigned region, directing exercise support teams to execute multiple concurrent exercises for CISA stakeholders nationwide.

Responsibilities include coordinating planning meetings, developing CONOPS/EXPLAN artifacts, and ensuring timely execution.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in HSEEP exercise design, development, conduct, and evaluation.
• 8+ years in exercise management or leadership, including multi-exercise coordination.
• FEMA HSEEP certification required or ability to complete within 30 days of contract start.

Responsibilities

• Lead all exercise design, development, conduct, and evaluation for exercises in the assigned region.
• Coordinate planning meetings and develop core exercise documentation and artifacts (CONOPS, EXPLAN, SITMAN, MSEL, COSIN).
• Manage multiple concurrent exercises and coordinate resource allocation across regional teams.
• Provide SME input to training activities to improve facilitation and planning skills.

Skills

HSEEP

Exercise design

Leadership

Project management

Stakeholder engagement

Job description

Description

Looking for an opportunity to make an impact?

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.

Your greatest work is ahead!

Leidos is seeking a Senior Exercise Planner to serve as a Regional Exercise Lead for the CISA National Cyber Exercise Program (NCEP), including leading all exercise design, development, planning, conduct, and evaluation as required for their assigned region. This role leads exercise support teams - comprised of Junior to Senior Exercise Specialists - across their assigned region that develop and execute multiple, concurrent exercises for CISA stakeholders across the country.

If this sounds like the kind of environment where you can thrive, keep reading!

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.

Are you ready to make an impact? Begin your journey of a flourishing and meaningful career, share your resume with us today!

Senior Exercise Planner/Regional Exercise Lead

Primary Responsibilities Include:

• Lead all exercise design, development, conduct, and evaluation as required for the exercises in their assigned region.
• Participate in initial meetings with leadership, CISA, and exercise stakeholders to determine scope, team requirements, resources, schedule, etc., for each exercise in their assigned region.
• Support PM and DPM/IM in identifying and allocating appropriate personnel and resources to each exercise support team for each exercise in their region, based on type, size, complexity.
• Identify roles in each exercise support team and staff to assume those roles for the lifetime of the exercise cycle, including a lead for meetings, documentation, content development, etc.
• Lead coordination of planning meetings (as appropriate), such as C&O, IPM, MPM, MSEL Meeting, and FPM, and all supporting documentation, including agendas, presentations, and notes. Work with identified team lead for this role.
• Lead coordination for the development of core exercise documentation and artifacts (e.g., CONOPS, EXPLAN, SITMAN, MSEL, COSIN, evaluation forms, invitations/sign-in sheets). Work with identified team lead for this role.
• Focus on managing multiple concurrent exercises across their assigned region.
• Communicate and coordinate with other Regional Exercise Leads and PM/DPM to ensure appropriate resource allocation and deconflict schedules.
• Maintain communications with regular meetings with exercise stakeholders in their region.
• Report regularly to management based on communications plan.
• Establish own battle rhythm for meetings and coordination/communications with regional exercise teams.
• Fill in as a SME and Exercise Facilitator if necessary.
• Support development of newCISA 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.
• 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.
• 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

If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo - because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 - and moving faster than anyone else dares.

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.

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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