Strategic Planner

ECS Corporate Services; Alexandria (VA); On-site; USD 134,000 - 224,000; Full time

Job summary

Everforth ECS Federal seeks a Strategic Planner to support a DoD customer in the National Capital Region. You convert guidance into executable plans, lead planning teams, and coordinate across services and partners to meet evolving mission demands.

This fast-moving HQ environment requires initiative, minimal supervision, and a track record of delivering staff products, orders, and planning concepts on time.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of relevant operational or headquarters planning experience.
• Experience leading cross-functional planning teams and updating staff products.
• Ability to produce clear staff papers, orders, and concepts of operation.

Responsibilities

• Convert guidance and requirements into deliberate plans, branches, and orders.
• Lead and facilitate planning teams, working groups, and cross-functional efforts.
• Coordinate planning assumptions and decision points across organizations.
• Prepare briefings and staff products for leadership and partners.
• Transition approved plans into future operations and execution.

Skills

Strategic planning

Leadership

Staff coordination

Briefings

Communication

Team leadership

MS Office

Collaboration platforms

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Tools

Microsoft Office

Staff coordination tools

Job description

Everforth ECS Federal has an immediate opening for a Strategic Planner supporting a Department of Defense (DoD) customer in the National Capital Region. The Strategic Planner supports the deliberate planning perspectives for the J3 Operations Directorate by leading deliberate planning efforts and translating command guidance, emerging requirements, and evolving mission demands into executable plans and staff products. The planner develops concepts, branches, sequels, orders, and planning products, coordinates planning assumptions and decision points across the organization, and transitions approved plans into future operations. This is a fast-moving headquarters environment in a growing organization where processes are still forming. The role requires an experienced action officer who operates with minimal supervision, takes initiative, and contributes wherever the mission requires.

PRIMARY DUTIES

• Convert command guidance and emerging mission requirements into deliberate plans, concepts, branches, sequels, orders, and staff products.
• Lead and facilitate operational planning teams, working groups, and integrated planning efforts across the task force.
• Build, lead, and sustain cross-functional teams drawn from across the task force, the Services, and mission partners to address planning requirements spanning organizational boundaries.
• Coordinate planning assumptions, decision points, and dependencies across directorates and mission partners.
• Conduct deliberate planning for future mission requirements, including mission expansion across unmanned system domains.
• Take assigned planning requirements, establish ownership, coordinate stakeholders, and drive them from initiation through completion.
• Ensure planning products account for applicable authorities, jurisdictional boundaries, and operational constraints across domestic and overseas mission sets.
• Synchronize planning efforts with other staff sections, the Services, combatant commands, interagency partners, and external mission partners.
• Coordinate the transition of approved plans into future operations and execution.
• Represent the directorate at planning boards, working groups, and coordination forums.
• Support development of planning workflows and dashboard capability, including AI-enabled workflow tools.
• Prepare and deliver briefings to leadership, operational customers, and partner organizations as required.

Salary Range: $134,000-224,000

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF BENEFIT

• Must be a US Citizen
• Active DoD TS/SCI clearance
• Must have a Bachelor's Degree
• 10+ years of relevant operational, planning, or headquarters staff experience, including demonstrated experience as an action officer, planner, or effort lead.
• Additional relevant experience may be considered in lieu of degree requirements.
• Demonstrated experience leading operational planning teams, working groups, or equivalent cross-functional planning efforts to completion.
• Demonstrated experience building and leading cross-functional teams composed of personnel from multiple organizations, directorates, or agencies without direct supervisory authority over team members.
• Experience producing deliberate planning products, orders, or concepts of operation at a headquarters staff.
• Experience executing taskings with minimal guidance, establishing ownership, coordinating across organizational boundaries, and delivering a finished product.
• Demonstrated initiative and the ability to identify, organize, and execute work without continuous direction.
• Team-first approach with a willingness to contribute wherever the mission requires in an all-hands environment.
• Comfortable standing up an initial process, testing it, identifying where it fails, and improving it quickly.
• Familiarity with the legal and jurisdictional frameworks governing unmanned systems operations and counter-unmanned systems employment across domestic and overseas mission sets, and the judgment to identify when legal or policy expertise must be brought into planning.
• Working knowledge of the joint planning process and the development of staff products including orders, point papers, staff summary sheets, and concepts of operation.
• Strong writing, briefing, and communication skills, including the ability to produce staff products and briefings for senior and operational audiences.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, mission-focused environment with shifting priorities and time-sensitive requirements.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, collaboration platforms, and standard staff coordination tools.